Please help with help for few more camera settings for my African Safari (Page 3): Thank you. Phil...

philklim Loc: Harrisonburg, Va.

Bill P wrote:

Bravo. You are so right about spending more time seeing and less time overthinking.

And no one can go wrong taking advice from Joel Sartore.

Thank you.
Phil

mdoing

Use as fast a shutter speed as you can with given light and reasonable ISO for moving animals or you being in a moving or wobbling vehicle. Even the other people in the vehicle jockeying for position can rock and roll the truck. Its hard to get a totally steady shot of a not moving animal or bird. Don't have your settings ready for a simple steady shot when a great bird flys by or lion walks up. Be ready for the moving animal and dial down from there if you can.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

Based on my “vast” experience with two trips (East Africa in 2002 and Southern Africa in 2010) I am going to second the advice KISS. A game drive resembles the old saw, “hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror”. Time spent driving around looking for game then you will want to shoot NOW! Not a good time to be fiddling with settings. I would use aperture priority wide open with auto ISO. Pick up the camera and go. Don’t forget to turn the camera on and if you use BBF don’t forget to focus. Occasionally look at the little numbers in your view finder to see if they are what you expect. Don’t waste time thinking. The rush of adrenaline will cause you to sleep well. I would love to do it again with a newer camera.

philo Loc: philo, ca

Speaking of Steve Perry he suggested the Mode that I'm now using.
Select the M mode. Set your A to what ever you want your dept of field to be i.e. f8 of f11. Set your S to whatever you and hand hold and the focal length of the lens. i.e. 1/500. and you are set to go. Also set your iso to Auto.
This way you can change your F or S by just turning one knob.
Thy it out a home and see if it works for you.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

philo wrote:

Speaking of Steve Perry he suggested the Mode that I'm now using.
Select the M mode. Set your A to what ever you want your dept of field to be i.e. f8 of f11. Set your S to whatever you and hand hold and the focal length of the lens. i.e. 1/500. and you are set to go. Also set your iso to Auto.
This way you can change your F or S by just turning one knob.
Thy it out a home and see if it works for you.

Close but I suggest minimum fstop for your lens (to keep ISO reasonable), 1/(2*lens mm) shutter speed (for moving vehicle and subjects), and spot metering. Took me a few days to figure that out. Got hundreds of great images after I got there.

JFCoupe Loc: Kent, Washington

Trying to keep it simple.

ISO = Auto
WB= Average or AWB on most cameras
Meter setting=Average or composite, different by brand...in certain unusual light conditions, you may want to go to center average or spot, but most of the time not needed.
Mode= if lots of action that you want to stop, use shutter priority...if most situations are relatively static, you can also use aperture priority.

Have fun

Girl with A Canon Loc: Myrtle Beach,SC

robertjerl wrote:

In my opinion you are getting too concerned with t... (show quote)

I went on a Safari with OAT. What I found was all of the drivers and your guide have been taught photography. The drivers know how to place the Jeep for the best lighting and they know the settings of each camera. I did some video shots don’t forget them and don’t get hung up on the right settings. Put your camera was the very best advice I got in Auto even though I never had used it before and enjoy your adventure. The camera will know the best setting for the way the driver has you set up for the shot. Also one of the other best things I was told is to also put down the camera and enjoy what I am seeing. I found that true you can get just so many photos of impalas. I am posting a shot I got thanks to our driver and I told in Auto. You can see they get the lighting just right on the animal.

philklim Loc: Harrisonburg, Va.

WOW! Thanks
Phil

philklim Loc: Harrisonburg, Va.

JFCoupe wrote:

Trying to keep it simple.

ISO = Auto
WB= Average or AWB on most cameras
Meter setting=Average or composite, different by brand...in certain unusual light conditions, you may want to go to center average or spot, but most of the time not needed.
Mode= if lots of action that you want to stop, use shutter priority...if most situations are relatively static, you can also use aperture priority.

Have fun

Thank you
Phil

Girl with A Canon Loc: Myrtle Beach,SC

philklim wrote:

WOW! Thanks
Phil

scsdesphotography Loc: Southeastern Michigan

philklim wrote:

Dear Forum, br I have one last request for my Afri... (show quote)

Good questions and lots of good advice from the members. The two main considerations for you on this trip are having fun and improving your composition. So to help you keep it simple here is Doug Smith's camera settings decision tree for you to follow:

1- Since you're not shooting M, set ISO to auto and metering to matrix.

2- Are you or the subject moving? Set autofocus to continuous and shoot in S priority. The faster the motion the higher S should be, typically 1/250 or above. Sports guys shoot around 1/1000.

3- Nothing moving? Shoot in A priority. For landscape stop down to between f11 and f18 for greater DOF. For blurry backgrounds and close up portraits try opening up to around f4.5.

4- Low light? If possible put your camera on a steady surface, shoot in S and keep lowering your speed until the exposure looks good on the LCD. Then, to minimize camera motion, set the self timer so your not touching the camera when the shutter releases.

These are just starting points, after a while it'll start to come more natural and you'll think more about the image creation process and less about your imaging tool.