Second wedding shoot in manual changed to p mode

I'm sure others can chime in with what the benefits of Manual shooting is, but I'll give one: if I determine that a given exposure is ideal for a given circumstance, then I don't want changes like for example, someone with a white dress walking by, fudging with that exposure choice. If I am in an Auto mode (whether it is P or Av or Tv), and in this scenario, my camera will change my settings from the ideal exposure I have chosen to, in this case, one that is slightly underexposed.

Much of the time when we're shooting, we're dealing with fairly fixed lighting circumstances. I like that when I edit a bunch of shots from the same perspective, the exposures of those shots are identical, so I can basically tweak one and copy across the 'set'.

I confess that I shoot 99% of my stuff in manual, but I honestly do see good reasons for sometimes shooting in an auto mode, especially when light is changing faster than we can really adjust.

I have taken all advice to my ever improving mind in photography. I have done two more shoots and yep a lot better in AV mode with changing light and when light stable I flip to manual and wow getting the hang of this. Still learning but getting there. Thanks guys, great site this.

yeah, the nice thing about shooting in manual is the consistency of the exposures in a given lighting situation with different subjects, etc.. it makes for a quicker post processing experience.
of course, this goes out the window as soon as there are changing variables in the available lighting (if you aren't solely relying on your own anyway)

Cheers Mitch

tim wrote in post #14720153
There's nothing wrong with P mode, so long as you understand your camera and get good photos no-one other than annoying superior photographers will care what mode you shot in.

For what it's worth, Joe Buissink shoots P-Mode.

Gatorboy wrote in post #14840215
For what it's worth, Joe Buissink shoots P-Mode.

Interesting for sure.

Thomas Campbell wrote in post #14717011
Shooting manual isn't that hard. You just need experience. After enough dedicated experience, all those 'calculations' become reflexes.

boom. exactly.

tim wrote in post #14720153
There's nothing wrong with P mode, so long as you understand your camera and get good photos no-one other than annoying superior photographers will care what mode you shot in.

+1 to that.

If you want a famous photographer who uses P mode look at Joe Buissink. Just as long as you can understand how light works then who cares what mode you use.

Personally I dont use P mode as im so use to M. But whatever works for people then stick to it.

P-mode is like a combination of Tv and Av. For some reason many think P-Mode is similar to green box mode.

What ?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought P-mode was exactly like green-box mode except you set the ISO. This would be very different from Tv or Av because at least with those it's at least plausible that you as the photographer are making a creative choice by putting the shutterspeed (in the case of Tv mode) or aperture (in the case of Av) exactly where you want it to be. In p-mode, no such creative choice is being made, it's simply aimed at getting a decent exposure.

I don't use P-mode, so I'm not 100% about the above. Can someone confirm this ?

Gatorboy wrote in post #14866839
P-mode is like a combination of Tv and Av. For some reason many think P-Mode is similar to green box mode.

I believe Program mode, or P mode, allows you to adjust the combination of shutter/aperture that the camera has chosen for the correct exposure. For example, if you're in P mode and the camera chose 1/60th and f8 but you wanted more DOF, you could use your dial to change that to 1/250th and f4.

Woh--seriously ? That's cool. My mistake.

Edit: just tried it out and it's far more respectable than I thought it was. My apologies to P-moders !

I always now shoot P 85% of the time. Yes I know how to shoot M but here is the problem with M. If your a wedding shooter and something happens let say across the room while the bride is getting ready. If your shooting in M you will not have time to set your camera to get those setting. You will have a way better chance if your shooting P. You can always AE lock then change either the shutter speed or the aperture. It always works for me. By the way ALWAYS SHOOT RAW! JMO

JohnThomas wrote in post #14867074
I believe Program mode, or P mode, allows you to adjust the combination of shutter/aperture that the camera has chosen for the correct exposure. For example, if you're in P mode and the camera chose 1/60th and f8 but you wanted more DOF, you could use your dial to change that to 1/250th and f4.

Yes you are 100% right.

JohnThomas wrote in post #14867074
I believe Program mode, or P mode, allows you to adjust the combination of shutter/aperture that the camera has chosen for the correct exposure. For example, if you're in P mode and the camera chose 1/60th and f8 but you wanted more DOF, you could use your dial to change that to 1/250th and f4.

billrhea wrote in post #15795978
Yes you are 100% right.

In the way that he's 50% wrong. In P you can change the settings, but f/4 has less DoF than f/8.