If there is one thing that I have learned about photography is that "You are never there!". There is always more that you can learn. And the best way to learn is to get "Inspired".
In this post, I want to name 3 photographers that I follow and learn from, especially for portraits. You probably know these photographers already and are following them already.
1. Neil Van Neikerk:
He is on TOP of my list. He is a photography genius. His techniques are simple and results are stunning. He has his blog called "Tangents" where he teaches and discusses his techniques with BTS pictures. He has probably the most famous books on Flash Photography. If you are not following him, you certainly are missing a lot.
Here's Neil's website - http://neilvn.com/
2. Joe McNally:
Widely & rightly known as the lighting guru of photography, Joe McNally is perhaps the finest portrait photographer out there. His use of natural and artificial light is just amazing. He has a lot of books under his belt and teaches photography world wide.
Here's Joe's website - http://portfolio.joemcnally.com/
3. Jerry Ghionis:
Another master photographer, specializing in Wedding photography. He is also a wonderful photographers with very creative use of light and posing. He is perhaps one photographers who will click amazing pictures even with an iPhone! and you wouldn't know that they were clicked with an iPhone.
Here's Jerry's website - http://www.jerryghionis.com/
With that, I would like to conclude my post. hope you enjoy their pictures and learn from them when needed !!!
One question that people often ask me is "What was the setting that you used for that picture?". I am sure many photographers around the world are being asked this question and most of them do not have any answers, because 'really' speaking - the settings/numbers don't matter. It is the process of reaching that number that really matters.
For a landscape shot, there is no magic settings that will give you great pictures every single time. You need to know the In's and Out's of the process of reaching the right setting that will give you the results that you need. This process is usually time consuming, where you are trying different settings and checking the results, until you come to that one setting that you like. But that settings is only good for that place, at that time, under that lighting conditions. You go to a different place or a different lighting situation, and those settings won't work and you will have to repeat the above process and come up with a new camera setting.
But for a family trip, all the equations and all the processes change because
A) You do not have a lot of time. You are constantly moving and you do not have time to mess with the settings for every single shots (or not even every 10 photographs).
B) You have your wife & kids on that trip and they have Expectations. I am sure most of us photographers would agree that, our wives do not like us messing around with settings a lot. They just want to photograph that moment. However we as a photographers think about - direction of light, subject distance, perspective etc. But wife & kids -
they don't care ! And frankly speaking - they should not. After all, it is a 'family' trip and not a photography trip.
So you are basically in a situation where you cannot spend time figuring out camera settings, you cannot be fussy about the light, direction, perspective etc but you still have to get good pictures. Pictures that you would like as a photographer and more importantly pictures that your family will like. Therefore - I have come up with a simple process when it comes to photographing a family trip. These settings can be used on any camera that support manual/semi-manual modes. The settings are not system specific, so it doesn't matter which brand of camera that you are using. These settings will give you a properly exposed image in most of the situations, but not all. So occasionally, you will have to wear your photographer hat and tweak as needed to get the best results.
So without wasting more time, here are the settings:
- Camera Mode: Shutter Priority
- Shutter Speed: at least 1/125. Higher if required
- Aperture: Camera will take care of it
- ISO: Auto
- Exposure Compensation: Usually +1
- Metering Mode: Evaluative/Matrix
That's it. That's the settings that I use. Let me explain why !
Why Shutter Priority?
I know most of the photographers would question my decision to use the Shutter Priority Mode instead of using the Aperture Priority or Full Manual Mode. Here's the reason: The Aperture Priority mode would work great if I have sufficient light. That way, camera would pick a fast enough shutter speed to prevent any camera shake or blur. Manual mode is the best, but it is 'manual', which means that if the lighting conditions change, you have to re-adjust. And as I mentioned earlier, time is of the essence so I would rather not re-dial my settings for every situation. With shutter priority, I am selecting the shutter speed high enough so I am sure that my photos won't have camera shake or blur.
The only down-side of selecting shutter priority is that you will not have control over the aperture which in turn means you will not have control over the depth of field (which 'usually' is not of a major concern in family trips).
Why Shutter Speed of 1/125 or higher?
This one should be obvious. This would prevent camera shake/blur. 1/125 is just a ball park number. Use a higher shutter speed that suits your need. If you subject is moving fast, use higher shutter-speeds like 1/250 or 1/500, depending on how much light you have available and how high ISO can your camera support.
Why Auto ISO?
This one should be easy to understand (& easy to explain as well). I am sure all of you would agree that our wife & kids do not care about camera noise ! They don't care if the photos have slightly visible noise. All they care about is recording that moment. So it is OK if the pictures have noise. As long as you are able to get good sharp, well exposed pictures, ISO should not really matter.
Why Exposure Compensation?
This article isn't really about 'what' exposure compensation is and why do we need it. So therefore, I will keep my explanation short, more like a cookbook. If you are shooting outdoors on a sunny day, keep your exposure compensation positive, usually +1. If you are shooting indoors, you would probably not need exposure compensation, but if feel the pictures are coming darker than you would like, dial a +1/3 or +2/3. If you are capturing a lovely sunset scene and want a good silhouette, dial -1 or -2 depending on your taste.
Hope this articles helps you capture great family pictures on your next trip. I hope following these tricks will free you from worrying about the camera settings and focus more on enjoying those precious moments with your family.
If this article helped you, post your pictures in the comments and on my facebook link.
