a question for those who shoot in auto mode.

marian wrote in post #2316450
It's funny to read the replies when I mentioned manual mode. For years, I shot MANUAL mode only with medium format film.

Advocatus Diaboli mentions that he used the P mode when things got too busy for him. (Shooting manual for years, never got "busy" for me!)

A friend of mine ruined a wedding shooting the whole thing on P mode. (I guess you have to face a law suit to figure that out on your own. )

Advocatus Diaboli is my title, Tim is my name.

I'm wondering why it is you can't get good results from P mode. Like I said i've never used it before, but you let the camera set the exposure based on your metering mode, you choose your aperture/shutter speed split based on what you're tring to do. What's hard about that? And what's wrong with it? Why would you get sued for letting the cameras meter do some of the drudge work? Only if you don't understand you your equipment and can't effectively use it. Sure I could stay in manual mode, but it might take me an extra second or two to get my exposure right, and under high dynamic range conditions when a bride is walking in and out of the sun it's just a pain.

Under some situations (ie average dynamic range) it works fine. If there's high dynamic range (ie a light or a shaft of sunlight) then you have to be careful to use partial or spot metering, and you use exposure compensation depending on what you're shooting (tux/wedding dress). With film you don't have to make very accurate exposures because the lab fixes them for you, and you'd never know that you were way off unless they told you.

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I didn't mean that P should be used all the time! I know perfectly well how to use M (my photography course was all based around M and film use). It's just that a lot of weddings can get really hectic.

I've never shot a wedding before, I'm in university! But I doubt that because I've never done it my ability to assess a scene and see things photographically should be irrelevant.

I served behind the bar for one wedding in a marquee - constantly changing lighting due to sun (cloudy day), flashes, disco, and there were a hell of a lot of people crammed into that space. Sometimes you want to grab that candid of someone, and unless you're really fast with those dials there's a good chance you could miss it. I would think a marquee is quite nice for bounced flash though, and that's a few too many settings to all do manually.

My advice ... control DOF with Av mode ... let the camera do the rest. In P mode, if you're not careful you could be getting too much DOF (yes there is such a thing as TOO MUCH DOF) ... instead, shoot Av, and control the DOF, let the camera decide the shutter speed. Much less risky IMO than running and gunning with P mode.

For me, the big crime is a fully in-focus background. Nothing ruins a shot faster for me ...

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When you let a camera shoot in P mode, the camera decides what to do. When a bride looks at pictures and they are not "well exposed" as they should be, you can wind up in court. Have you ever read a letter from a lawyer, where he is asking for compensation for his client, for the "emotional pictures" that were ruined? My friend had to bend over backwards for a bride! That was a serious mistake to him and he has never shot in P mode since. (It's now all Manual or Av )

I still use my Sekonic and Minolta light meters when I am on a job. (Force of habit or just years of experience??) Do any of you "guys" have external hand held light meters or just use the "in camera" meter?

I'm just trying to pass some advice to some of you as others have passed advice to me throughout the years. (Shot my first wedding in 1975! How about you?) I'll "stick my neck out" and say that some of you have never manually focused a camera lens in your life!

There are a lot of forums on the net and it seems that every forum only has a hand full of "real working knowledgable photographers," who know what to do. And there are a lot of photographers who give out advice that do not know what to do. (Some people have only shot one or two weddings and suddenly, they are "self proclaimed pros" who give out advice to everyone.) It is really confusing.

Are any of you, members of any local, state, regional, national pro photography organizations? Ever pick up any ribbons for your work?

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A really good friend of my husband's parents is an excellent photographer and he has been doing it for 25-30 years and he shoots in P mode when doing weddings. He checks the preview and if it's underexposed or overexposed he will adjust accordingly.

I'm not sure why you are reffering to all of us as photographers (on this forum) as people that don't have a clue on what we're doing. It seems very judgemental to me.

I've had my camera for about 2 months and learning a bit more each time I use it...and mess up. I began in full auto and moved to P and really learned alot about aperture and Shutter speed letting the camera choose it for me in different light. I then realized you can toggle the AV/TV split by using the main dial, learned which combinations worked together. I'm slowly learning to use AV mode and will move to TV and then to M.

I don't see a problem letting the camera help me...I think technology has come a long way and while it can't make better choices than people it can come semi-close.

I have heard the same debate in some guitar forums I visit. Purists are stuck in the past and won't give technology a chance. I agree and disagree. I'll stay open-minded.


JA

marian wrote in post #2322060
When you let a camera shoot in P mode, the camera decides what to do.

Your first statement is incorrect, you still have full control when in P mode, if you understand your camera. Before you keep going on about this i'd suggest you learn your camera better. A good photographer can work in P, Tv, Av, or M, and still get good photos.

Oh incidentally, I think I remember Jamie saying he shoots parts of some wedding days in P mode. Go take a look at some of his photos and tell me he has no control and has stuffed them up.

I can't believe how pious some people can be. I admit I shoot 90% of the time in manual mode and the rest is split between AV and shock, horror P, to suggest that it is a valid method of using a camera is stupid, as Tim says it is about know how your camera works and using the different modes to your advantage. In fast changing and fast moving conditions P mode is very handy.

As for Marian I shot my first wedding in 1985 using a Pentax LX, I do own and regularly use a light meter and no I am not a member of any particular photographic organisations, I've never seen the point.

Hell, I may not be as old as all you old fogies ( ), but I used to use a Nikon SLR on full manual, and I used it for two years of my photography course, photographing everything from hot air balloons to ducks (huzzah!)
I just don't see the point a lot of the time. Why bother using M when P will produce the same effect faster, allowing you to capture a moment you may otherwise have missed (not always the case, but many of you probably understand what I mean).

marian wrote in post #2316450
A friend of mine ruined a wedding shooting the whole thing on P mode. (I guess you have to face a law suit to figure that out on your own. )

I'd say your friend ruined the wedding shoot because they didn't know how to use their equipment properly in the circumstances not because they used P mode.

I think if someone doesnt know their equipment very well they are far more likely to mess shots up in full manual mode than they are in P mode .... if marians friend managed to mess things up in P mode then i would have thought they were more likely to screw things up shooting manual where they are in full control of everything. Maybe you can explain a bit more about how the shots were messed up Marian ?

I shoot quite a bit in P mode at the moment, particularly messing about in the photography studio at college just so I can get a "feel" for the camera and the exposure traiangle and effects that the ISO/Apeture/SS have on each other.

I understand it fully but not having much SLR time under my belt I want to build up more of a "feeling" of it ready for my shoots next year and P mode helps do that, as does using some of the other modes.