this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023
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Photography
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“You aren’t a proper photographer if you aren’t using fully manual settings”
Manual mode has its moments but auto/semi auto modes are not something that will make you ‘unprofessional’
Yeah, doing street photography in constantly changing lighting in manual is frustrating, Aperture Priority makes the most sense for that
Honestly for wildlife, if you’re in absolute full manual then your exposure will be all over the place, or you miss shots adjusting - I go manual with auto iso
Auto iso is a lifesaver
Having to only really adjust shutter speed is insanely helpful.
Recently went on a wildlife photography expedition in africa, I'm in the same boat. Manual with auto iso is pretty much the way to go - can use the iso indicator in the viewfinder to see make sure I'm alright especially in lower light conditions (though shooting 600mm at 1/80 is a bit of a challenge)
Auto iso is a must for live music. The lights change so quickly that you don’t have a chance.
I’ve been photographing for awhile now, but honestly unless I’m shooting landscapes or flowers, there is ZERO way I can manually finesse all my settings when trying to get an animal photo. It’s far too hard lol
I've used aperture priority mode since 2007, when I started taking photography seriously as a 17 year old. Fucking around with changing the aperture AND the shutter speed might make you miss the shot. At the same time, I obviously like the amount of control manual does afford, but as with all things, it's situational.
I generally know exactly the settings I want going into a given scenario. If someone knows one of their settings truly doesn't matter I won't blame them for using auto, but I think some people do themselves a disservice over relying on it and never mastering handling everything.
I can't imagine getting some of the shots I got as well as I got them (especially in tough situations like concerts) without manually controlling everything.
AP mode is my favorite, it's my most used one shooting digital for sure.
It’s also the same thing… like if you change aperture on a properly exposed photo, you have to change shutter speed as well…
This is why Aperture priority rocks.
Open lens. Frame shot. Stop down lens until light meter points within acceptable shutter speed range. Click.
I took a beginners workshop with a camera club as a review (been away from photography for 30 years) and wouldn't you know one of the instructors made that comment. There were several of us that called BS.
And they'll still be auto focus and auto white balance. Some how metering got the M in manual.
Have fun shooting a wedding without some kind of semi-auto mode.
The same with TTL flash. I saw someone on Facebook insisting that if you were a professional you didn’t use TTL and thought “do you want to tell Joe McNally he’s not a professional or shall I?” It’s a tool, sometimes it’s the correct tool, sometimes it isn’t.
Exactly that, tools are there to be used so why complicate things by constantly changing settings during a shoot?
I agree that when you start out it is good to stick to manual to see how to balance an image. Understanding the fundamentals is important with photography but use the tools you’ve got at your disposal
I used to be like this, but mostly because the auto settings were always terrible. Now they're so good I haven't left P mode in years. 😂
Being a professional is more about how you conduct yourself than the exact way you take a photo.
My pro manual argument for myself is that it's actually one more variable to deal with in terms of getting the images to look exactly how I want.
ISO/Aperture/Shutter Speed
OR (using A-mode as the example) - ISO/Aperture/Exposure Compensation/Metering mode.
And if I make a mistake in manual, it's my fault and I can learn from it. If the camera guesses the scene wrong, it will never learn.