winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

I know that there are many photographers on this forum who state that they only shoot in manual mode but, forgive me if I have missed something, I have not seen a detailed description by any of those people regarding how they go about deciding on their exposure settings for a given scene or subject.

If you are a manual shooter, please describe your technique.
(Please don't say that you use aperture or shutter priority so you can control the depth of field or stop motion, or that ISO effects noise etc.

What I suggest is; how do you decide on the settings which control the quantity of light falling onto the sensor?

Rob.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

I use the camera metering system as a guide.
I will normally shoot at the lowest ISO possible to give me the aperture and shutter speed I want.
Shutter speed is set so there in no unwanted subject or camera movement. Sometimes you may want subject movement
Aperture is set to give me the desired depth of field.
I may adjust the exposure, from the camara indication, depending on the scene.
I will use the histogram as a guide (keep in mind some cameras have live histograms.
I may use ND grad filters to help control the contrast the camera is seeing.
I nomally only use manual exposure mode when I feel the metering system may be badly fooled and/or exposure compensation may not be enough, or practical, when shooting in aperture or shutter priority mode.

In the example below the camera was on a tripod (and I was using a remote release) and I wanted to show some water movement so an exposure time of 1 second was used. F8 @ 28mm gives me a reasonable DOF, especially for web publication or smaller prints.
ISO was 50
A 3 stop soft ND grad filter was used to darken the sky.

(Download)

saycheese Loc: By the Big Lake in West Michigan

Gorgeous photo!!
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Annie

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Thanks Annie, It was a great morning as it just went "off" for a few minutes.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Winterrose, I have a Rokinon shift-tilt 24mm that I have to focus manually. I manual focus my 105G when I am shooting macro or closeup. Other than that, I shoot mostly auto focus. I shoot mostly manual mode. I don't try to shoot fast or spray my shots. I try very hard to think about what it is that I am trying to compose. When I am making architectural images I will often manually bracket 3 to 5 shots. I think if I was in a huge rush that I would shoot auto but I feel that method is a shoot and pray technique. The scene or composition should, in most all circumstances, dictate the mode and methods you use.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Rob, I have begun shooting in Aperture mode for most of my photography, but I occasionally shoot in Manual mode, especially when I have time to experiment with exposure. I believe you know that I often use a handheld meter, and my favorite feature is the one degree spot meter. I also, of course have the cameras meter to determine exposure. But, given enough time, I like to experiment with a technique frequently used and taught by Jared Polin. After 60 years of shooting, I can generally get fairly close to a reasonable exposure by experience. The beauty of digital, of course, is the ability to check the picture and adjust ISO/aperture/shutter from my first shot, although I must admit that it has, on occasion, taken me several shots to achieve proper exposure. No, it's not as fast as using the meter(s), but it's a lot more fun - and if I can't have fun taking pictures, I'll get out of photography.

Of course, when I have a roll of film in the FM3n, all guesses are purely a mental exercise until I have confirmed exposure with every kind of device I can get my hands on. The same is true, possibly more so with the Yashica TLR.

Bill

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Rob, I have begun shooting in Aperture mode for most of my photography, but I occasionally shoot in Manual mode, especially when I have time to experiment with exposure. I believe you know that I often use a handheld meter, and my favorite feature is the one degree spot meter. I also, of course have the cameras meter to determine exposure. But, given enough time, I like to experiment with a technique frequently used and taught by Jared Polin. After 60 years of shooting, I can generally get fairly close to a reasonable exposure by experience. The beauty of digital, of course, is the ability to check the picture and adjust ISO/aperture/shutter from my first shot, although I must admit that it has, on occasion, taken me several shots to achieve proper exposure. No, it's not as fast as using the meter(s), but it's a lot more fun - and if I can't have fun taking pictures, I'll get out of photography.

Of course, when I have a roll of film in the FM3n, all guesses are purely a mental exercise until I have confirmed exposure with every kind of device I can get my hands on. The same is true, possibly more so with the Yashica TLR.

Bill

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

It's no big secret or magic, and I'm not special for shooting in manual mode...I just like it, and I'm used to it, and I like the benefits of doing it.

I meter a few different ways depending on how important the shots are.

MOST of the time, I use the sunny 16 rule when I'm outside. There aren't that many exposures and so I've gotten used to presetting my camera.

OR another way I frequently use is that I meter off of a known tone; the palm of my hand, green grass, or grey concrete or I keep a Whibal card in my wallet.

If it's more important, I use a Sekonic L358.

But...keep in mind, that's for a certain TYPE of exposure...a "normal" one so to speak.

There are other types..such as wanting a silhouette and in those cases I meter off of the strong light source so that the rest falls into shadow, or for "blown out" look meter off of a darker source.

So the main answer is just for one type of exposure...if that makes sense.

One thing to note: using a Fuji camera that shows real-time exposure in the EVF has made me very lazy sometimes and so sometimes I just wing it with that method though it's the worst of the other methods. :)

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

Thank you Bill, when you get time would you mind giving us a brief description of the Jared Polin metering method please? Rob.

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

You wouldn't consider setting "P" and trimming your exposure according to the histogram or screen playback?

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

Thanks David, but when you do shoot full manual how do you determine your exposure settings?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

There is rat... I run after its own tail and I don't care.

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

Profound words of wisdom here, folks!

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

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WHAT???

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

During my years as a Press & PR Photographer, I would estimate what the exposure should be before shooting, A check with the hand held meter would show me how near / far from the setting I would have been. Experience gained from years working in all sorts of situations, both indoors, and out. The combinations of shutter speed and aperture were determined by whatever the subject was IE ...Action / sports
Architecture / Portraits / Groups of people etc. It became a natural instinct after a while. Pre-motor-drives, I enjoyed the challenge of one-shot timing to get the height of the action in a single frame.