Understanding Exposure - Bryan Peterson

I just finished reading this book and really enjoyed it, but have a few questions.

1) he often talks about shooting in manual mode and adjusting the shutter speed and aperture until the meter reads it as properly exposed. How is this any different than shooting AV, knowing in your mind the kind of aperture you want for the shot and then letting the camera set the shutter speed? If I shot AV and knew I wanted a slower shutter speed than what it was telling me I would just have to close the aperture down a bit. It just seems twice the work to shoot in manual because you need to be adjusting both to get it right.

2) he also talks about presetting his focus via the distance scale on the lens and knowing that everything from 2 feet to infinity would be in focus. How exactly do these distance scales work?

It was a great book though. Very enjoyable read.

1) Using different automation modes plus manual becomes very fluid when you are experienced. But, yes, for some work when you need a specific aperture but want the highest speed, for example sports, then Av is very efficient, more efficient than manual. But you need to know how to use the adjustment plus/minus and when to use it.

2) That's "hyperfocal distance". Search for that.

shane_c wrote in post #12148056
1) he often talks about shooting in manual mode and adjusting the shutter speed and aperture until the meter reads it as properly exposed. How is this any different than shooting AV, knowing in your mind the kind of aperture you want for the shot and then letting the camera set the shutter speed?

"Properly exposed" according to the meter is seldom properly exposed in situations where the subject & background are not an average gray. Here's one of them that you'll see all the time: Post #47

See if this makes sense to you: Need an exposure crutch?

shane_c wrote in post #12148056
I2) he also talks about presetting his focus via the distance scale on the lens and knowing that everything from 2 feet to infinity would be in focus. How exactly do these distance scales work?

• You have few distances on the distance scale
  
• You have only f/16 marking on the DOF scale (which is present only on fixed focal length lenses but not most zooms)

shane_c wrote in post #12148056
1) he often talks about shooting in manual mode and adjusting the shutter speed and aperture until the meter reads it as properly exposed. How is this any different than shooting AV, knowing in your mind the kind of aperture you want for the shot and then letting the camera set the shutter speed? If I shot AV and knew I wanted a slower shutter speed than what it was telling me I would just have to close the aperture down a bit. It just seems twice the work to shoot in manual because you need to be adjusting both to get it right.

I describe Av and Tv as simply 'setting automation' where YOU set ONE variable, and the camera sets the other. Your question appears to recognize this difference. Manual merely has you set both variables in exposure.

If you wish to shoot 'per the meter suggestion', using Av with EC is absolutely no different (from an exposure point of view) from shooting in manual and putting the 'needle' biased to one side rather than centered on the meter scale in the viewfinder. The difference lies in only the fact that if you changed framing slightly, or if a person in a white outfit walked into the frame, your meter would instantly reflect the different scene brightness and change the suggested exposure even though the lighting in the scene was absolutely unchanged! For example, shooting a soccer game, your shots would each be different in exposure as players ran in and out of your frame, even though the sun's lighting was unchanged. Shooting in Manual, all the shots would be identically exposed, greatly easing the task of postprocessing adjustments to exposure.

I shot in Manual for years using film cameras starting with the old Pentax Spotmatic. Then Av came in, and I switched to that. Now I use Tv for sports where I want a fast shutter speed, and I use Av for scenics and fill-flash outdoors. As mentioned above, Exposure Compensation will enable you to fine-tune either of these modes. The one time where I regularly use manual is for indoor flash portraiture, if I want to use max flash sync speed (1/250 on the 60D) and an aperture like f/8. I dial that in in M mode and let the flash via ETTL illuminate the scene. In this case Flash Exposure Compensation can be used to fine-tune the final exposure.

Standardizing on M for all shooting seems to me like returning to the 1970s and ignoring the incredible computer power present in DSLRs. I'd just note that Joe McNally of Hot Shoe Diaries fame and a previous National Geographic photographer says he uses Av about 90% of the time. His book contains a passionate argument for using it in the early chapters.

HughR wrote in post #12149465
I'd just note that Joe McNally of Hot Shoe Diaries fame and a previous National Geographic photographer says he uses Av about 90% of the time. His book contains a passionate argument for using it in the early chapters.

Yeah, I just got through reading hot shoe diaries and was very surprised by this. I'm not totally a convert to his style, but he makes good points. No point in being a snob about using manual only if you can get the same results (and possibly get them quicker) in AV. The thing I don't like about that though is that (like mentioned above) it makes for more editing to get the shots all "equalized" in some cases. And sometimes if I'm in AV I'm not paying as close of attention as I should to the shutter speed and it drops too low... in manual I'm more conscious about when I need to bump up ISO to maintain a decent shutter speed.

It's been several years since I read Understanding Exposure -- from what I understand he's put out a revision where he covers digital things a little "better".

But I don't recall how he discusses exposure modes. Oh well.

So, my only comment here -- there's nothing "wrong" with any of the exposure modes and, in fact, there are settings where one mode could be considered the "most useful" and other settings would suggest changing modes to one "more useful".

In fact, I've heard of experienced photographers who, for the particular work they do, prefer using the "P" mode. I myself have never used the P mode for actual shooting (beyond just playing/testing a bit with it but I'm not gonna cast any stones at someone who does and gets good results!

As to the fact that Peterson stresses the use of Manual, I'd say, well, take it as "learning" advice -- in other words, go ahead and learn using Manual and become proficient with it, yes, that is very good advice because, like some have mentioned above, there are times when M is "more useful"!

Then, getting a feel from experience when a certain mode would be "most useful" will not be confusing, it can be a simple choice as long as you are familiar with each.

shane_c wrote in post #12148056
I just finished reading this book and really enjoyed it, but have a few questions.

1) he often talks about shooting in manual mode and adjusting the shutter speed and aperture until the meter reads it as properly exposed. How is this any different than shooting AV, knowing in your mind the kind of aperture you want for the shot and then letting the camera set the shutter speed? If I shot AV and knew I wanted a slower shutter speed than what it was telling me I would just have to close the aperture down a bit. It just seems twice the work to shoot in manual because you need to be adjusting both to get it right.

I've also pondered the same problem. When shooting in M, especially with spot metering, you can adjust your exposure based on the target, or for instance a neutral tone in the shot. Often by zooming in. Having set the exposure you can zoom in/out, adjust framing or focus point etc. and shoot and your exposure is now "permanently" set.

In AV mode you have have to set Exposure Lock to obtain the same functionality. I also feel that using M makes you more aware of the risk of over/under exposure, especially wrt blowouts or clippings.

Having said that, for many given situations I just switch to AV/TV and let it rip!

elogical wrote in post #12151295
Yeah, I just got through reading hot shoe diaries and was very surprised by this. I'm not totally a convert to his style, but he makes good points. No point in being a snob about using manual only if you can get the same results (and possibly get them quicker) in AV. The thing I don't like about that though is that (like mentioned above) it makes for more editing to get the shots all "equalized" in some cases. And sometimes if I'm in AV I'm not paying as close of attention as I should to the shutter speed and it drops too low... in manual I'm more conscious about when I need to bump up ISO to maintain a decent shutter speed.

Joe is also a Nikon shooter and while Nikon's Av Mode isn't different for daylight shooting, I'm told it works very differently than Canon when it comes to flash use.

And that is Joe's bread and butter...

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #12153358
Joe is also a Nikon shooter and while Nikon's Av Mode isn't different for daylight shooting, I'm told it works very differently than Canon when it comes to flash use.

And that is Joe's bread and butter...

Joe is indeed a Nikon shooter, and Nikon flash Av does work somewhat differently than Canon. However, I don't think that explains his preference for Av with flash, because the Canon controls and wireless now seem to be as good, just a bit different. I'll be at the Flashbus event in Chicago in less than 2 weeks, so I'll get to see exactly how he sets up his Av plus flash. Let you know any insights then.

Tell ya what. They didnt put AV and TV on these cameras to look at. I am using AV more and more and i really like using TV mode as well. Im using manual less and less except when flash is involved and now after reading what Mcnally and Syl Arena are doing with av mode and flash photography, im slowly changing my habits. i really experimenting with it. Its just a different way of thinking The results are very cool, at times much better than my all manual mode ive been doing forever. I think you really open up your creativity by learning to use different tools and thats what these modes really are.

I prefer AV mode as well, I switch to M when I'm using lights, but I really like the results I've been getting with shooting in AV & ETTL.

HughR wrote in post #12154699
Joe is indeed a Nikon shooter, and Nikon flash Av does work somewhat differently than Canon. However, I don't think that explains his preference for Av with flash, because the Canon controls and wireless now seem to be as good, just a bit different. I'll be at the Flashbus event in Chicago in less than 2 weeks, so I'll get to see exactly how he sets up his Av plus flash. Let you know any insights then.

I'm certainly willing to get "schooled" on this but AFAIK, Canon's design only ever sees Av with Flash as "Shutter Speed" dominant with the flash always only a source of fill.

IOW, in Av Mode with a Speedlite attached, a Canon camera will always want to make an ambient light image and will drop the shutter speed as far as necessary to do it even if it means a shutter speed measured in seconds. Then it will pop the flash just because...

Nikon's Av with Flash is much more balanced approach which doesn't yield such long shutter speeds before it takes advantage of the flash as a light source.

We have Joe McNally scheduled to make a presentation next month in San Diego as part of an aviation photography symposium. I'll be interested in seeing how Joe works in person.

There has been 1 or 2 previous threads about this book and someone asking the exact same thing as the OP did. Do a search and find even more info and answers.

2) distance scales are only on primes and you need to understand depth of field to know how to manual focus the lens to get the DOF you desire.