Comments on: Going Beyond Automatic: Photography in Africa

By: rmaspero

rmaspero — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:30:37 +0000

Some really great photos there Michael, well done. One thing I do with my camera is not to shoot in Manual but to shoot in Aperture priority so it gives you some control but also adjusts the other setting ISO and Shutter speed to allow for the Aperture you have set.

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:09:54 +0000

Bob –

True. I often find myself in Aperture priority the most. But the best way to learn how each setting affects a photo is in complete manual mode. This gives you control of all the variables, and allows you to see the direct affect each change makes to your photography.

The Aperture and Shutter priority modes are no doubt faster, but like you said, manual gives you most interesting and creative photos.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:59:17 +0000

Certainly some great advice for a field where it is becoming all too easy to take a picture. Setting all of these things before I take a photo allows more thought and meaning than simply pressing the shutter ever would.

However, before telling people to dive straight into all manual, you may want to consider an intermediate step like aperture priority. For the uninitiated, this allows you to set the ISO and the aperature, and lets the camera take care of the shutter speed.

But yeah, manual allows far more control and you end up with at least more interesting photos.

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:44:56 +0000

Exactly. That’s always been a problem I’ve had. Sometimes I pull out my camera the next day to snap some shots of a sunrise, and find I’ve taken all the photos at ISO 800.

That’s one of the worst feelings.

By: Mike Cohen

Mike Cohen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:43:01 +0000

Some of those pictures are really amazing!

One thing I find that I always have to watch out for in non-automatic modes is leaving the exposure compensation or white balance left at some previous setting, since it doesn’t get reset when you turn off the camera or change modes.