D90 general photography questions ( samples) Motocross

nfpotter said:

Why would I ever need to do that? I just look at the stops (lines) on the meter.

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That's right. I wasn't saying it was useful...only that it does affect the meter. It can be useful, though. If you're shooting a snowy landscape, then you know you have to increase your exposure by +2. So...you set your EC to +2 and then use the meter for fine adjustments.

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nfpotter said:

Seems like just about the same amount of "work" to me.

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Initially, yes, I'd agree on the P mode. I think using A mode might be easier, but that doesn't really matter. For me, what does matter is what happens after you've finished setting your exposure. With AE Lock you can easily make adjustments directly to one setting, and the other settings will adjust automatically. An example use would be a portrait with a background and foreground that needs just the right amount of blur. With AE Lock I would put the camera in A mode and I can fire three or four shots, changing the aperture in between. I still have a fixed exposure, but I don't have to do the aperture/shutter juggling act. And if I have Auto ISO set, I may have two settings change automatically to maintain my fixed exposure, while I'm free to concentrate on what matters at the moment (in this case, the blur ahead and behind the subject.)

nfpotter said:

I DO use exposure lock and easy exposure compensation when in P mode, regularly, often along with spot metering. I also shoot in M mode but with Auto-ISO on quite a bit. But on that day at the races, I had to get the ISO down to Lo1 to get down to the shutter speed I wanted, whilst maintaining a sharp aperture.

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Okay. I'm just a little confused then. Having had experience manipulating the AE Lock/EC/Flexible-Program combo, I would think that you'd already know that you can achieve any aperture/shutter/ISO that you want with P mode.

nfpotter said:

To each their own, I suppose. All that really matters is if we capture what we intend to, and have fun doing it!

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We can certainly agree on that!

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Graystar I thought M stood for manual, not mature lol

I'm reading all that you posted and trying to take it all in, thank you for all the tips.

Catallaxy I knew nothing of the exposure needle in the viewfinder ( rtfm on me) dude, this is going to be such a big help. Reading the manual now that I know a little about the camera, makes more sense lol than when I first bought it. I'll read up on the spot metering. Great, great tips. I tried to do a cheat by setting the camera in sports mode to see what the settings where, but it failed to be of any help. I can't thank you enough, huge help. Oh forgot. I was using iso 200, and have auto iso turned off. I'll rememder that I can lower it even more.

You are welcome. I somewhat suspected there was a conceptual error here somewhere....

Bryan Peterson's book, "Understanding Exposure" and Thom Hogan's ebook on your camera are two invaluable resources that are well worth the money you pay for them.

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Catallaxy

Brev00

All the photo's where taken with the same setting, You're right about the first three being better exposed because of the backgounds. I want to shoot at 2.8 on certain parts of the track where theres alot of stuff in the background. The track is hilliy, so I can get a good dof at smaller aperture.

When the sun is so strong, I try to keep the sky completely out of the soccer shots I take--just grass, trees, and players

Great tip, I have to think about things that could negatively affect the shot.

I might recommend trying shutter priority. Set the shutter speed to whatever gives you the effect you want and let the camera adjust the aperture. You can try this, note what the camera selects, and then go back to manual to fine tune if you want.

Awesome tip, man this is going to be a big help. Taking some more shots the weekend. Thank you very much.

Catallaxy said:

You are welcome. I somewhat suspected there was a conceptual error here somewhere....

Bryan Peterson's book, "Understanding Exposure" and Thom Hogan's ebook on your camera are two invaluable resources that are well worth the money you pay for them.

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I have to say that, personally, I don’t like “Understanding Exposure”. That book gets both accolades and panned by reviewers. Many here think it’s great...several think it’s not that good. I would recommend reading the reviews at Amazon.com.

My biggest problem with the book is that Peterson spouts the same “manual mode means total control” garbage that you get from people who don’t understand how to utilize auto modes. In fact, he starts the book off with an example of how manual mode is better than Program mode. He has a portrait shot of an old man with backlighting. In the P mode shot the subject is underexposed...supposedly caused by automatic metering messing things up. Of course, the shot taken in M mode is correctly exposed. He then explains that to get the correct exposure, he moved in close to the subject and metered his face.

However...a very important piece of information that Peterson fails to provide is the reason why the same exact process wouldn’t work with P mode. In fact, it DOES work with P mode! I can move it, point the camera at the subject’s face, and press AE-L to lock exposure...it’s the same exact thing. When I step back and take my shot in P mode, I’ll have correct exposure, just like Peterson did in M mode. So the guy is unfairly trashing auto modes just because he doesn’t understand how to use his camera.

There are other issues that people point out in the Amazon reviews.

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Nescollector said:

Graystar I thought M stood for manual, not mature lol

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Maybe I'll start a petition to have it officially changed

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Catallaxy

Just bought the book, and got the guide just now. Reviews for the book look solid
Thank you very much
Dave W

Hi, Neutral Density Filters! NDF filters reduce the light without effecting the picture. Think of them as sunglasses for your camera, crude explanation and of course not polaroid sunny's. This allows you to open up your aperture on a sunny day, normally used to reduce depth of field for the same shutter speeds. Hope this helps.

R Dunlop
Thanks for letting me know what that means, going to check one out.
Thank you