What is Lawrence up to - 2015?

[Lawrence]

I am going to post here because I don't think this deserves a whole new thread ....

Please tell me this gets easier!

Because of a couple of threads I have been following regarding "correct" exposure and something I was reading last night in a magazine I decided to go out this afternoon and try a few settings with one thing in mind. Learn more about exposure and in particular how my camera's sensor measures it.

To do this I took only my 70-300mm and kept it on the long end where aperture options were limited.
I switched to aperture mode (the magazine article's influence) and set ISO to auto with minimum shutter speed of 1/400th
So far so good. Maximum ISO was set to 1600 which I have found in the past to be a bit high for my D5100.

Next I set off in search of a fox (the magazine is from the UK) and I soon realised that there weren't many around. I based this conclusion on the fact that there were lots of ducks out - they wouldn't be out if a fox was around - and not on the fact that we don't get foxes here.

The fun began and I continually kept referring to my histogram trying to shoot so that I was "exposing to the right" and something to do with the 18%.

The pictures weren't great (hey ducks are pretty boring - especially if they are plain brown) but I found out a few things about my camera with these settings. I still haven't worked them out but it seems that the ISO was stuck on 1600, the shutter speed was moving around and went below 1/400 at times.

I also discovered that when i was trying to adjust the shutter speed I was adjusting the exposure compensation. A lot of the shots were exposed too far to the right as a result.

I still haven't got my head around all of this and why it happened. The +/- button which should have been the shutter speed change was the one that was changing the Exposure adjustment. My conclusion is that once you hit the parameters of your minimum and maximum settings the only thing you can change with +/- is exposure compensation.

Having reached that conclusion I adjusted maximum ISO down to 800 and from there things seemed to work more or less as I am used to them working.

I never use aperture but want to try it tomorrow at a polo event.

Its ongoing and ever learning - I just hope it comes naturally to me at some point. Like a flash going off.

Thanks for listening.

PS I may post some of the boring duck photos once I have looked at them.


O

 

[adityasoman]

When in PAS +/- does exposure compensation !!!

Use only the back dial to change A or S as required

Sent from my GT-I9070 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lawrence]

Had a quick look and exposure wise this is probably the best one.
I am going to have to be quicker tomorrow with horses galloping around.

 

[Scott Murray]

I am going to post here because I don't think this deserves a whole new thread ....

Please tell me this gets easier!

Because of a couple of threads I have been following regarding "correct" exposure and something I was reading last night in a magazine I decided to go out this afternoon and try a few settings with one thing in mind. Learn more about exposure and in particular how my camera's sensor measures it.

To do this I took only my 70-300mm and kept it on the long end where aperture options were limited.
I switched to aperture mode (the magazine article's influence) and set ISO to auto with minimum shutter speed of 1/400th
So far so good. Maximum ISO was set to 1600 which I have found in the past to be a bit high for my D5100.

Next I set off in search of a fox (the magazine is from the UK) and I soon realised that there weren't many around. I based this conclusion on the fact that there were lots of ducks out - they wouldn't be out if a fox was around - and not on the fact that we don't get foxes here.

The fun began and I continually kept referring to my histogram trying to shoot so that I was "exposing to the right" and something to do with the 18%.

The pictures weren't great (hey ducks are pretty boring - especially if they are plain brown) but I found out a few things about my camera with these settings. I still haven't worked them out but it seems that the ISO was stuck on 1600, the shutter speed was moving around and went below 1/400 at times.

I also discovered that when i was trying to adjust the shutter speed I was adjusting the exposure compensation. A lot of the shots were exposed too far to the right as a result.

I still haven't got my head around all of this and why it happened. The +/- button which should have been the shutter speed change was the one that was changing the Exposure adjustment. My conclusion is that once you hit the parameters of your minimum and maximum settings the only thing you can change with +/- is exposure compensation.

Having reached that conclusion I adjusted maximum ISO down to 800 and from there things seemed to work more or less as I am used to them working.

I never use aperture but want to try it tomorrow at a polo event.

Its ongoing and ever learning - I just hope it comes naturally to me at some point. Like a flash going off.

Thanks for listening.

PS I may post some of the boring duck photos once I have looked at them.


O

Ok the reason why your shutter was not changing is because you were shooting in Aperture priority and leaving the camera to decide what to do, the reason why it was dropping below 1/400 was because it could not get a higher ISO as the max set was 1600.

At a polo event I would suggest switching to Shutter priority as you want to have control over your shutter speed.

 

[Scott Murray]

Had a quick look and exposure wise this is probably the best one.
I am going to have to be quicker tomorrow with horses galloping around.

View attachment 140112

Looks good, read my other reply about the things you found.

 

[Vixen]

I agree with Scott. For polo you are going to want faster shutter speed so will want shutter priority with auto ISO. I'd suggest working out what shutter speed works given how close you are to the horses and the local conditions (sunny, cloudy etc) to give good exposure, freeze movement and NOT take your ISO up too high

 

[Lawrence]

Hey [MENTION=9753]Scott Murray[/MENTION] yes I will be in shutter mode tomorrow although I will probably revert to manual. I seem to be more comfortable in manual.
What this is all teaching me is to continually check where I am at. All good.

PS I love horses but am not a horsey person. Tomorrow's polo offers a chance to get out and practice. The alternative is to sit here and look at everyone else's great photos.

 

[Vixen]

Hey @Scott Murray yes I will be in shutter mode tomorrow although I will probably revert to manual. I seem to be more comfortable in manual.
What this is all teaching me is to continually check where I am at. All good.

PS I love horses but am not a horsey person. Tomorrow's polo offers a chance to get out and practice. The alternative is to sit here and look at everyone else's great photos.

Give shutter priority a try. It will save you having to change settings for different shots as you Zoom in and out, twist and turn

 

[Scott Murray]

Hey @Scott Murray yes I will be in shutter mode tomorrow although I will probably revert to manual. I seem to be more comfortable in manual.
What this is all teaching me is to continually check where I am at. All good.

PS I love horses but am not a horsey person. Tomorrow's polo offers a chance to get out and practice. The alternative is to sit here and look at everyone else's great photos.

Give shutter priority a try. It will save you having to change settings for different shots as you Zoom in and out, twist and turn

Yeah I would stick to Shutter priority as it will make your day alot easier. After awhile you can start experimenting with manual just compare what the camera is picking and then adjust your shutter speed etc to get what you want eg, horse movement in the legs when they are taking the shot. Will be trial and error, also remember to have your camera in CH as you will want multiple clicks all at once.

GOOD LUCK.

 

[Lawrence]

It sure didn't get any easier today. I took over 90 photos and binned every single one.

Shutter priority
Minimum shutter speed 1/400 (using the 70-300mm with 1.4XTC) as i was shooting horses at a polo game. Eventually pushed the shutter speed up to 1/500 which was a bit better.
ISO was set to Auto.
In most shots the aperture was at 5.6 and never exceeded 8 so light should not have been a problem.

I have no idea why the ISO got up as high as 1600 on a very bright day or why my shots were pure crap.
My photos were grainy and out of focus.

I feel I have gone backwards BIG TIME so it is back to the drawing board for me.

What a bummer.

 

[Vixen]

Could it have been due to the TC? I've never used one but surely it must impact on things
The other thing is maybe your lens? I know different lenses behave differently ie some can take higher shutter speed. I know that on a sunny day I can set my 150-600 on shutter priority at 1/1600 and ISO stays at 400 or less at f6.3

 

[Lawrence]

Could it have been due to the TC? I've never used one but surely it must impact on things
The other thing is maybe your lens? I know different lenses behave differently ie some can take higher shutter speed. I know that on a sunny day I can set my 150-600 on shutter priority at 1/1600 and ISO stays at 400 or less at f6.3

I have no idea what it is. Quite despondent and now thinking to sell all my lenses except the 35mm 1.8
See what I get for them and then maybe sell the D5100 and buy a D7100
Then save slowly and buy only good glass.
But at the end of the day it is probably ME

 

[Vixen]

I know that when I try new things I often completely stuff it up too, so maybe that is all it is. Does make you feel very despondent tho, doesnt it? I totally understand that

 

[Scott Murray]

It sure didn't get any easier today. I took over 90 photos and binned every single one.

Shutter priority
Minimum shutter speed 1/400 (using the 70-300mm with 1.4XTC) as i was shooting horses at a polo game. Eventually pushed the shutter speed up to 1/500 which was a bit better.
ISO was set to Auto.
In most shots the aperture was at 5.6 and never exceeded 8 so light should not have been a problem.

I have no idea why the ISO got up as high as 1600 on a very bright day or why my shots were pure crap.
My photos were grainy and out of focus.

I feel I have gone backwards BIG TIME so it is back to the drawing board for me.

What a bummer.

I would say it was that TC as they require alot more light and can be finicky, if you had said yesterday that you were going to use a TC I would have said dont. I would have had my Shutter at around 1/800 sec up to 1/1000 or more. At 1/400 and even 1/500 you are only just at the focal distance being used.

 

[Scott Murray]

I have no idea what it is. Quite despondent and now thinking to sell all my lenses except the 35mm 1.8
See what I get for them and then maybe sell the D5100 and buy a D7100
Then save slowly and buy only good glass.
But at the end of the day it is probably ME

I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to sell things, you disadvantaged yourself by using a TC. You should have kept a few photos to post here so that we can advise you if needed and then see your improvements.

 

[Lawrence]

I wouldn't be in too much of a rush to sell things, you disadvantaged yourself by using a TC. You should have kept a few photos to post here so that we can advise you if needed and then see your improvements.

Scott they were bad so never going to go up here.

On seeing them I had decided never to use my TC with the 70-300 again.

Thanks for offering to advise. They are still on card but I won't be showing them.

 

[Scott Murray]

Scott they were bad so never going to go up here.

On seeing them I had decided never to use my TC with the 70-300 again.

Thanks for offering to advise. They are still on card but I won't be showing them.

I found some jumping spiders and non of those came out either lol

 

[Lawrence]

I found some jumping spiders and non of those came out either lol

I saw them

 

[Eyelight]

ISO 1600 is only 2 stops from ISO 400, so not that big of a jump if the meter reads a shady area or maybe a dark colored large furry animal. Need to take control of the ISO monkey.

I'm wild guessing that the blurry was mostly movement and just needs a bit more shutter speed.

My idea would be next time point the camera at the average scene or subjects, make note of the settings, and set everything manual. Then take a shot and adjust one thing at a time. First bump the shutter speed and/or close the aperture until the blur improves and then raise ISO to improve the exposure. This may take 10 shots to get it right, but will improve the chances of the rest.

 

[Lawrence]

ISO 1600 is only 2 stops from ISO 400, so not that big of a jump if the meter reads a shady area or maybe a dark colored large furry animal. Need to take control of the ISO monkey.

I'm wild guessing that the blurry was mostly movement and just needs a bit more shutter speed.

My idea would be next time point the camera at the average scene or subjects, make note of the settings, and set everything manual. Then take a shot and adjust one thing at a time. First bump the shutter speed and/or close the aperture until the blur improves and then raise ISO to improve the exposure. This may take 10 shots to get it right, but will improve the chances of the rest.

First off I don't ever think like that and I hate the fact that I don't. Clearly I am not a photographer.

Secondly they didn't look that bad in camera in that bright light