Photographing People: I am taking a photography course with the emphasis on photographing people. We took photos of people with natural light (outside) the first and second week and...

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

I am taking a photography course with the emphasis on photographing people. We took photos of people with natural light (outside) the first and second week and will be moving to flash the third week. My instructor was firm about using shutter priority rather than aperture priority during these first two weeks and we will continue to use shutter priority when we start using flash.

My question is this-When photographing people, is shutter priority an established rule used by professional photographers, or is this a debatable subject with some preferring shutter priority and some preferring aperture priority? I realize that SP allows me to freeze movement, probably more necessary when taking photos of children, but I also think that having direct control over depth of field with AP would be important when taking photos of people. I would appreciate your comments and positions on this subject.

Old Redeye Loc: San Mateo, CA

I agree with your assessment. Sometimes I use aperture priority to create the desired dof when photographing. I suspect his insistence is in preparation for the use of flash. If you use aperture priority when using flash, you can often find very blurry photos as a result of the camera holding the shutter open for the dark background.

Jambulee Loc: San Antonio del Mar,Tijuana,Mex

lorvey wrote:

I am taking a photography course with the emphasis... (show quote)

Aperture priority always unless I'm trying to stop something.

sbesaw Loc: Boston

lorvey wrote:

I am taking a photography course with the emphasis... (show quote)

You raise valid point's. DOF allows for creativity in "people" photographer. I assume you are paying for the course so it seems reasonable for the instructor to explain why SS vs Aperture. Why don't you ask and report back. I would be interested in his/her reasoning on why she/he is adamant about SS.

MagicMark

lorvey wrote:

I am taking a photography course with the emphasis... (show quote)

In flash photography the aperture effects the exposure of the flash more whereas the shutter effects the ambient light levels more. So, in shutter priority we need the highest shutter speed that will sync with the flash to keep the ambient light from destroying the pictures with motion blurs (yes, keeps subjects still). Whereas the aperture controls the exposure of the flash. If we use a high f number then the picture will be dark and if we use a low f number then the picture might be to bright. We can use a light meter to measure the necessary f number to record the correct exposure, experiment with the aperture until we find the correct exposure or use an automatic flash (TTL) to set the correct exposure at the time we take the shot.

To be able to shoot with a low f number one must turn the flash power down (manual flash mode).

Hope this helps. :)

sbesaw Loc: Boston

MagicMark wrote:

In flash photography the aperture effects the expo... (show quote)

Per the OP "We took photos of people with natural light (outside) the first and second week and will be moving to flash the third week. My instructor was firm about using shutter priority rather than aperture priority during these first two weeks and we will continue to use shutter priority when we start using flash."

So the instructor was insisting on Shutter Priority the first two weeks WITHOUT FLASH. Curious as to why

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

Old Redeye wrote:

I agree with your assessment. Sometimes I use aperture priority to create the desired dof when photographing. I suspect his insistence is in preparation for the use of flash. If you use aperture priority when using flash, you can often find very blurry photos as a result of the camera holding the shutter open for the dark background.

I also suspect that this is in preparation of flash. Thank you for your response.

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

Jambulee wrote:

Aperture priority always unless I'm trying to stop something.

That is how I feel also, so this position by my instructor was a surprise. But as mentioned earlier, it may be to prepare us to use flash.

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

sbesaw wrote:

You raise valid point's. DOF allows for creativity in "people" photographer. I assume you are paying for the course so it seems reasonable for the instructor to explain why SS vs Aperture. Why don't you ask and report back. I would be interested in his/her reasoning on why she/he is adamant about SS.

I may pursue this with my instructor. My class is this Wednesday night. Since she took a strong position on this, I was wondering if everyone felt the same way, or others are OK shooting in AP.

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

MagicMark wrote:

In flash photography the aperture effects the expo... (show quote)

Thank you for your response. I understand the importance of shooting in SP when using a flash. I've used a flash in AP and gotten variable results. I think my curiosity is with respect to using SP in ambient light when taking photos of people.

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

sbesaw wrote:

Per the OP "We took photos of people with natural light (outside) the first and second week and will be moving to flash the third week. My instructor was firm about using shutter priority rather than aperture priority during these first two weeks and we will continue to use shutter priority when we start using flash."

So the instructor was insisting on Shutter Priority the first two weeks WITHOUT FLASH. Curious as to why

Well, I'm sure there is a method to her madness. Maybe I should have waited a few weeks before I posed this question to everyone. Then I would know more about her position. But I guess I am still wondering, regardless of her position, what do others do? Do they follow a general rule like that when taking photos of people without flash, or do they also use aperture priority?

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

The two people that I would be listening to on this issue would be Pale Pictures and CaptainC.
Hopefully they will comment.

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

lorvey wrote:

I am taking a photography course with the emphasis... (show quote)

I'm very much a "street photographer" and would never consider anything but AP. Control of DOF is absolutely essential for isolating your subject from often busy backgrounds. Of course it is not always desirable to completely blur the background, you may want to retain some to show some context. AP allows this. Personally I never use flash.

Graham

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

lighthouse wrote:

The two people that I would be listening to on this issue would be Pale Pictures and CaptainC.
Hopefully they will comment.

You may not want to listen to me but "Street photography" is my thing ;-)

AP all the way as I've explained to the OP.

Graham

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

lighthouse wrote:

The two people that I would be listening to on this issue would be Pale Pictures and CaptainC.
Hopefully they will comment.

Wish I had heros.