Problem with changing light

[jack Sparrow]

Hi all.

Yesterday i was at a butterfly farm, and i took my canon 400d.

My questionis how do you quickly change your camera setting for changing in light condition, like one shot can be over exposed and one could be under in a matter of seconds. i had my camera set to manual, and was just using the dial on the front to change shutter speed, but im just wondering how other manage to control fast light changing conditions.

regards
Jack

[Cody21]

In constant changing light situatons, it might be better to set to Aperture Priorty mode and let the camera manage the shutterspeed for you. But that might also result in underexposed situations thus requiring a faster ISO ... just a thought.

[jack Sparrow]

cheers for that, my problem is ive got stuck working in manual and dont even give the other settings a thought now, maybe i should change my chain of thought

regards
jack

[SkipD]

Jack, I also work with the camera in manual exposure mode most of the time. I often use a handheld meter in incident mode to measure the light falling on the subject and transfer that reading to the camera's settings. While I use the hand held meter for the specific measurements that I transfer to the camera, though, I use the camera's built-in meter to clue me in on possible changes of the light level from time to time. When the built-in meter shifts, I take another reading with the incident meter.

Why do I use the handheld meter? It's because the camera's built-in meter is often fooled by the color(s) or reflective characteristic(s) of the subject. An incident meter is not affected by the subject at all. You merely need to read light that is falling on the subject or light that is the same as that falling on the subject (light from the sky, for example, assuming sky light falling on your position is the same as that falling on the subject).

[PhotosGuy]

like one shot can be over exposed and one could be under in a matter of seconds. But how much time was there between changes? Pick your shots, & I'll bet there was way more time than it takes to do this: Need an exposure crutch? (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89123)