Previous Intels have explored two of the most important camera controls, shutter priority and aperture priority. The third fundamental is focus, which has been touched on in several Intels and which we will come to as a creative control later. Previously I have pressed readers who have been content to let the camera make decisions about exposure for them to move the switch away from the green box (fully automatic) setting and use either Av (aperture priority) or Tv (time, or shutter priority). In this Intel, I am inviting people back to an automatic setting, but one that invites experimentation.
Using the experience gained in Av and Tv modes, ‘P’ or Program Mode offers the speed and convenience of fully automatic shooting with the control of manual. It does this by implementing auto control of exposure while allowing the photography to change any setting independently or in conjunction with the camera’s on board computer!
How this is implemented on your camera may be different from mine (mainly Canon, Nikon and Panasonic), and some of these techniques may not be available – but most are; they are just hidden away in a menu setting or behind a button that needs 3 presses instead of 1 to get there.
The most important creative controls are the Shutter Speed and Aperture settings. Understanding these two aspects of photography marks the difference between a snap-shooter and a photographer. Moving from Auto to Program mode allows you to exploit your knowledge of creative exposure control while retaining the advantages of automatic control. To make this possible requires an attitude and access to a few supplementary controls.
The attitude? This is My Picture and this camera is My Tool. I trust my vision and I know how to realize it in the image. I am the photographer!
Now for the first of those supplementary controls. It is called Program Shift and it is very straightforward.
Case 1: Looking through the viewfinder you recognise that the subject is moving quite quickly. You see that the shutter speed is too low to capture the movement as you want it. Program Shift to the rescue: move the shift control (usually a thumb wheel) to the right – the shutter speed increases and the aperture adjusts to compensate. Take the shot.
Case 2: You have a well composed picture, but you see in your viewfinder or on your screen that the camera has set f3.5; your experience with Av mode has taught you that depth of field will be too shallow. Program Shift: move the control to the left until the aperture is down around f/22 and watch the shutter speed slow down to compensate.
How is this different from setting Av or Tv at the outset? First, you were able to make the decision on the fly, and second, once the shot is made, the control returns to the “neutral” setting: your over-ride is just for one photo.
The next useful control is one you will want to use shot after shot. Exposure Compensation is also usually controlled by a wheel which you can reach without taking your eye from the viewfinder. Unlike program Shift, its settings remain in force until you change them.
What does it do? It increases or decreases your exposure in steps or 1/3 or ½ stops. On your screen or in your viewfinder you will see a display that looks a bit like this:
-3..-2..-1..0..+1..+2..+3
Minus values to the left reduce your exposure. One stop halves it. 2 stops halves it again. Values on the right increase your exposure.
Case 3: Your pictures are a bit washed out when you preview them. Dial in -1 and shoot again. I don’t know why the camera overexposed (too white=too much light) but this fixed it, and since the prevailing light conditions are still the same, it should go on fixing them for the duration of the shoot.
Case 4: The hat has shaded out your model’s face, but the rest of the photos not bad. You cloud hit her with some fill flash, but don’t want harsh light. Dial in +1.. and the shadows dissolve, while the rest of the scene is still within an acceptable exposure range.
case 5: the sun is setting behind your subject: You dial in +2 and get the face despite the fact that the camera wanted to expose for the sky; then you dial in -3 and turn your sbject into a sharply defined silhouette.
Snow on Snow tricking your meter? Exposure Compensation. Black cat on the beach? Exposure Compensation. Don’t like way your photos look, even though the exposure is absolutely correct? Set your own custom “correct” exposure with the Exposure Compensation dial. You would be amazed at how many top photographers always set an extra stop via exposure compensation as their standard setup and have an different EC setting for that one particular lens that seems to pass just a bit less light than it should!
If you are really lucky, you will also have a separate EC switch for your flash output. It works in conjunction with your regular EC so you can add the effects or use them to cancel each other out.
There is no situation that you could get with auto or scene modes that you don’t now have the Intel to handle; now it is a matter of practice and confidence and maybe just a matter of time before you put Practicaps Images out of business!
