More North Shore sunrise images

[JayMorr 0]

Perfect! Thank you for the information. This helps a lot. I will experiment a bit. I love the photo by the way. Let me ask you one more question....

 

When you are out birding do you go into AV mode or Manual? How do you decide when you are going to switch between the two? Just curious. I have almost never used AV and have gone all manual.

 

 

[JayMorr 0]

Mainly when I am getting frustrated by the camera's exposure I will meter on what's important, take a few test shots, and adjust...?

[JJD 0]

Nice shots!

[Vito1 0]

Thanks Vito.

Keep an eye out for my next post then. To put it mildly Im tickled with some of the shots I got

Can't wait...

 

Damn, I have a lot to learn. As soon as I decipher your last post and learn what it means, I'll thank you!

[Wulff 0]

Got to run, taking my daughter to the archery range. We both got Recurves recently.

 

Will answer in more detail when I get back.

 

 

[Tybugs1 0]

lynn use +/- EC when your shooting in AV or TV and when in M just dial it in directly. Meaning if the meter is telling X is a proper exposure increase or decrease your SS by 1/3 to 1 full stop.

 

THeres different times when you want = or -. Most of goes back to discussions about black and white. Meaning if you are taking a landscape wih alot of snow add a little + ec, either 1 or 2 thirds. Likewise i shooting ablack bear underexpose a bit.

 

Adding exposure brings out more detail in shadows and blacks, underexposure does the same in whites. But theres a delicate line bcause sometimes as with a snowscape you want your whites, white, not grey, inwhich case you need to overexpose a bit

 

Maning if shooting a swan Id likely underexpose a bit because I want to record as much feather detail as possible. If shooting a Snowman id likely add a bit as I want it white.

 

Get in the habit of checking your histogram, push it to the right butno so far as to blow your highlights. If you have a clipping warnings on your lcd trn it on. Any blown details will blink. Then you know i you need to adjust + or -.

 

J

 

 

It has the clipping warnings. I'm not sure how I got them working or how they went away. Just trying to learn a little more than I knew yesterday I have been reading the book you recommended and it's helped along with your pointers.

 

[Wulff 0]

When you are out birding do you go into AV mode or Manual? How do you decide when you are going to switch between the two? Just curious. I have almost never used AV and have gone all manual.

 

It depends Jay.

On the whole Id say I'm split 60/40 on AV and M, with more images being kept that we're taken in AV. Mainly because with wildlife shooting you often don't have the time to change your settings. Worded another way, in the 2,3 or 6 seconds it might take to change you ISO,F/stop or SS your subject can bolt.......Lost opportunity.

 

The other determinant between choosing M or AV for me, depends on the intensity and consistancy of the light. A good example would be intermittant clouds where the subjects in direct light one minute and not the next as the sun moves behind a cloud. Would flat out suck to grossly overexpose the shot of a lifetime because in that cruscial .5 second the sun came out from behind a small cloud.

 

Facing. What if your facing/shooting mostly to the East with the sun behind you, when all of a sudden an Eagle Swoops down to the right (south) and nails a Rabbit thats maybe in the shade. If your in M your either deleting the shot or overcooking it in PS to try and save it.

 

So when I get in my car, before I sit down I set my ISO at 400 or 800 depending on light quality. Maybe 1600 if its right at dawn. Then set my fstop at f5.6, meter to spot, and mode to AV. How many times have I hit the brakes, jumped out and had only 2 or 3 seconds to get shots before the target bolts? Hundreds.

if Im in M Im probably screwed.

 

I use M when.

1) Lights consistant. Either few clouds or mainly overcast etc

2) My facing is very unlikely to change dramatically. Example. Im on the edge of a swamp shooting ducks and my field of view is always going to be in the same direction.

3) I have time to compose, check my Histo, change settings etc.

 

bascaily I take full control of the camera when Im in control of what Im shooting, not the other way around.

 

Using AV for flying birds has its pitfalls. I "prefer" M but its about control.

The problem with AV is the camera will change your SS when you dont want it to.

 

Example.

Gorgeous white bird coming in for a landing on a swamp/lake.

 

Problem 1) My spot meter is 3% of the viewfinder. If I slip off target even just a bit that 3% is now all sky and my exposure setting changes.

 

Problem 2) Im on the white bird which is against a blue sky. Exposure is perfect I start to take frames. The birds on final approach the the Background changes from Blue Sky to Dark Treeline/Swamp Grass.

The cameras going to change the SS to a slower SS as things just got darker. Will it be so slow as to mean motion blur? My nice exposed white bird will also likely be overexposed, have I blown the highlights now?

 

No time to check the Histo and ask the bird for a retake

 

Theres good and bad in both AV and M.

Which to use (imo) depends entirely on the individual and for me, I usually base that decision on "intangles". The more intangbles Im in control of the more likely it is Im in M as AV in a nutshell means the camera is partially in control and not.

 

You

 

 

 

 

[JayMorr 0]

Wulff,

 

You are the man!!! You just saved me serious headaches and frustration!!!! Seriously, I was not understanding AV all that well and it is going to help a lot with my birding! I have been doing everything manual up to this point while out shooting, and hoping for the best (especially with birds in flight). I have fumbled and gotten really upset when a bird has flown at the last second only to have me holding the camera and trying to fix settings based off my last shot.

 

Thanks for the advice! That was huge.