Manual vs Aperture Priority+EC?

I just signed up for a portrait workshop for amateurs/advanced amateurs. I have very little portrait experience. It indicated that participants should have 'working knowledge of manual mode'--I do have 'working' knowledge but I never use it. About 80% of the time I am in aperture priority and I use exposure compensation if I need it (I generally know when and why I should use it) and ISO to get the photo that I want. The other times I am using shutter priority, especially for bird photography.

What am I missing about manual mode? I have seen this before--that I should be using manual mode if I am to be a good photographer. When would manual be better than the other methods?

Thanks!

Using Manual mode gets you away from using the cameras meter.

If your shooting with fix lighting, then using manual mode will give you constant exposures regardless of the cameras meter reading.

Remember, the cameras meter reads light reflected from the scene, so dark and light subjects, under the same light, will give different exposures. You can adjust using EC, but you never really know exactly how much to adjust by.


It's also likely you will do some work with lights, which generally requires manual mode.

Moppie wrote in post #13966480
Using Manual mode gets you away from using the cameras meter.

If your shooting with fix lighting, then using manual mode will give you constant exposures regardless of the cameras meter reading.

Remember, the cameras meter reads light reflected from the scene, so dark and light subjects, under the same light, will give different exposures. You can adjust using EC, but you never really know exactly how much to adjust by.

It's also likely you will do some work with lights, which generally requires manual mode.

I'm still not sure I understand. Does this mean that for manual exposure, you should always be using a handheld exposure meter to measure the light actually falling on the subject? And that it is best for artificial light sources? My owner's manual for 'manual' for my 7D, p. 102, says "To determine the exposure, refer to the exposure level indicator in the viewfinder or use a commercially-available handheld exposure meter." If you use the camera's meter, then using manual exposure really doesn't give you any additional advantage?? Is that right?

Not really. It gets you away from the camera's meter unduly influencing the exposure, though; once you've done your metering and have it set, you don't have to change your settings, dial in EC, or anything else.

M is just a much simpler to shoot in known lighting conditions and doesn't get fouled up when something lighter or darker wanders into your frame.

If you remeter before every frame using the cameras meter, then your right, there is no difference to using one of the auto modes. This is called "chasing the meter"

But as long as the light stays constant (this can be out doors, or in doors) then you can still use the cameras meter and histogram to set and exposure in manual mode, then don't change it unless the light changes.
This way every photo you take will have the same exposure regardless of how reflective the subject is.

April wrote in post #13966643
I'm still not sure I understand. Does this mean that for manual exposure, you should always be using a handheld exposure meter to measure the light actually falling on the subject? And that it is best for artificial light sources? My owner's manual for 'manual' for my 7D, p. 102, says "To determine the exposure, refer to the exposure level indicator in the viewfinder or use a commercially-available handheld exposure meter." If you use the camera's meter, then using manual exposure really doesn't give you any additional advantage?? Is that right?

No, you can use your in-camera metre in manual mode as well. But with AP, your exposure is constantly changing and you're not in complete control. You need to control both your shutter speed (ambient exposure) and your aperture (your flash exposure). Using AP, your exposure is going to constantly jump around. This means inconsistent results and makes batch processing a pain in the butt.

AP makes sense if your light conditions are frequently and dramatically changing, but you still have to understand how it's determining your settings and keep an eye on it and make adjustments when necessary.

If your light is consistent, then using AP is counter-productive and making your work needlessly more complicated and likely reducing quality by not nailing your exposure in each shot.

Manual mode is good for when you're in a studio environment or your light is otherwise consistent. When you use AP, your exposure is jumping around. This makes for inconsistent results and makes batch processing a pain in the butt. To use something like AP when using strobes for portraiture (which I'm assuming is something your class will be covering) makes no sense -- it's just making things more difficult for you. Much easier, and better, to manually set your exposure properly yourself once, then let it be until your light changes.

Thanks for all the replies! This is starting to make a bit of sense to me now, but I need to digest all the information here... I guess because almost ALL of my photography has been outdoors and mostly nature, I haven't used M as much as I should have... And I need to figure out a way to practice this in the next month before my workshop

The reason for using a handheld meter (and therefore manual mode) in the studio is that that meter will be an incident meter. Such a meter has to be used at the subject position, so it can't be in the camera. Hence you or the model read the exposure setting on the meter and copy it into the camera in manual mode.

Your camera uses a reflective metering system... which measures the light being reflected off of the subject and is prone to being influenced strongly by subject tonality. That's why you have to use EC in any of the auto modes, to correct errors in the metering.

Often with portraiture you are using fixed lighting or carefully controlled ambient light. Metering initially with a separate, handheld incidence meter, which measures the light falling onto the subject instead of what's reflected, is much more consistent and accurate. Most flash meters are incidence meters, for example.

Take a reading, lock in all the exposure parameters (ISO, shutter and aperture), shoot away.... you might want to tweak it a little, but once dialed in every shot will be correctly exposed, so long as lighting remains the same.

Studio lighting is often set in 1/10 stops, can be highly accurate (at best your camera is set up in 1/3 stops and steps).

I have had an AH-HA moment! Actually several AH-HAs since I have read all your replies Some missing pieces connecting my theoretical/reading knowledge vs my more limited practical experience finally fell into place. It actually kept me awake for an extra couple of hours last night because I was so excited thinking about it... (and thinking of times when I should have used manual in the past and I would have had much better results).

Today I set up a quick still life under natural light wtih a black ballcap and a creamy white ballcap. I did some test shots of each to 'recreate' my AP+EC way of doing things to confirm that I do get the proper 'white' or 'black' exposures (at least I have some of that theory down). I proved to myself that the proper exposure for either hat was the same (or very close) exposure. Hence, the same manual settings works for both. Amazing. And I saw how every comment above absolutely explained and fit in this simple little experiment.

I know, it's basic--but somehow I missed a connection because I have been so focused on getting the right aperture, or the right shutter speed, for a single photo that I didn't see the big picture. I read the books but didn't get the 'why' of the manual exposure.

Thanks so much for all your input--I really get it now and I am looking forward to my workshop. Now I have to learn about that scary thing called flash...
April

April wrote in post #13970607
Now I have to learn about that scary thing called flash...

And now you understand Manual exposure, Flash won't be so scary any more

Flash is really easy once you understand Manual mode.

Just use manual settings to include as much or as little ambient light as you want in the exposure, and then let the flash do its thing. You need to set an f-stop that gets you the DOF you want, and a shutter speed less than the sync speed, but fast enough to stop subject movement if there is any, or slow enough to get the manual ambient exposure where you want it. It's all about compromise, but you get to choose. Then the flash will expose the scene as it automatically thinks is best.

There is also flash exposure compensation that can be dialed in if you wish.

I took a few pictures of inline skating today. With her dark clothes and the bright sunshine, the pictures would likely be overexposed if I hadn't used M mode to lock exposure. I measured the grass beside the road and exposed according to that. Due to the difficulty in aiming at the same place all the time, having EC set with a continuously updated exposure from the meter would have been troublesome.

Example picture:

April wrote in post #13966442
I just signed up for a portrait workshop for amateurs/advanced amateurs. I have very little portrait experience. It indicated that participants should have 'working knowledge of manual mode'--I do have 'working' knowledge but I never use it. About 80% of the time I am in aperture priority and I use exposure compensation if I need it (I generally know when and why I should use it) and ISO to get the photo that I want. The other times I am using shutter priority, especially for bird photography.

What am I missing about manual mode? I have seen this before--that I should be using manual mode if I am to be a good photographer. When would manual be better than the other methods?

Thanks!

Since you have the 7D, manual is easy once you get used to thinking about it. With the top and back dials, getting exposure set is a snap, compensating is faster than using EC, and you don't have to deal with EC as often. You set exposure for the subject, then ignore when background tries to make yo change your mind. In Av, the camera's meter is going to try and change the setting every time the frame includes more light or dark than the subject you want the exposure set on. Even doing expose, lock and recompose is a hassle if you want to take several tries of the same subject, having to follow the same procedure for each. In manual, set what you want then shoot as many as you like, compensating only if you really aren't sure if the setting is exactly right.

I used to question it too, but since changing my T1i for 60D, now I get it. The 2 dial setup is the kicker for easier manual shooting.