outdoor photography

Northern Mockingbird Silhouette Just saying the word "manual mode" can be scary for new photographers.  The thought of being in complete control of your camera's exposure  often causes beginners to shy away from using it all together.  The sad part about this is that manual mode is actually the easiest way to get proper exposure in certain situations.  There is no shooting mode that is inherently better than any other.  I believe you should use the shooting mode that allows you to most quickly and reliably get the exposure you want.  In at least three situations, this mode is very likely to be the manual mode: Whenever you are using your spot meter.  Zoom in to the area you want to spot meter , set your exposure manually, and you have it set until lighting conditions change. For Exposure Compensation more than 2 Stops . In many camera models,  aperture priority  and  shutter priority  modes limit your  exposur...

Shutter Priority MOde Gives you the most control over your shutter speed Shutter Priority Mode (Tv or S) works just like Aperture Priority Mode except the dial operations are reversed.   The main dial (by the shutter release) controls the shutter speed.  You set the  shutter speed  you want and the camera will choose the  aperture  that it believes will give you the right exposure.  You dial in your exposure compensation, either by turning the second dial or by holding down a button and turning the same dial by the shutter release. This shooting mode has some very useful purposes.  Whenever you care more about the shutter speed of your camera than the f/stop, consider using this mode.  Here are some possible applications: Panning shots.  Perhaps you've seen photographs where a fast moving subject (car, bike) is in focus but the background shows a lot of motion blur.  This is achieved by choosing a relatively slow shutter ...

Aperture Priority Mode gives you the most control over your depth of field Now that we have the basic concepts concerning  exposure , balancing exposure and exposure compensation in our heads, we need to look a little more closely at how these concept translate into the mechanics of taking a picture.  We need to consider the "shooting modes" or "exposure modes" on your camera that you can use get the image you want.  On your digital SLR, you'll notice a dial near the top, and among other things, you'll see a series of letters.  On a Canon, those letters will be P  Tv  Av  M On a Nikon or Sony, they will be: P  S  A  M These are all shooting or exposure modes that you can use.  In the grand scheme of things, it makes no difference which one you choose.  As long as you get the  shutter speed ,  aperture , and  ISO  you want, the shooting mode has accomplished its purpose. But some modes are mor...