Chapter 3. Shooting Modes

Picking the Right Shooting Mode for the Job

The shooting mode dial is kind of where the rubber meets the road. It’s where you choose how to use the exposure information from the camera’s meter, selecting a mode that will let you make quick decisions about some of the more aesthetic parts of your image. The different shooting modes allow you to influence two of the most important factors in taking great photographs: aperture and shutter speed. To access these modes, you simply turn the dial to the mode of your choice and begin shooting. But wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly what those modes control and how to make them do our bidding? Well, if you really want to take that next step in controlling your photography, it is essential that you understand not only how to control these modes, but why you are controlling them. So let’s take a look at the different modes and what they have to offer.

Poring Over the Picture

Sometimes you can plan everything right and still not have very much control over your shooting situation. That is usually the case when you are doing an outdoor landscape shoot—like I encountered on this trip to the San Francisco coast. We had a knowledgeable guide to show us the great spots, but the skies just weren’t cooperating. But sometimes, if you have a little patience, you’ll get rewarded for it.

Poring Over the Picture

I’m not a master when it comes to working in a studio, but I do have a pretty good foundation and really enjoy experimenting. Having a good knowledge of lights and how to use them is one of the essentials to getting good quality portraits. One of the things I like to do is shoot high-key portraits on white backgrounds. It doesn’t require a lot of extra equipment, just a white paper background, three studio strobes, and a great subject.

Program Mode

There is a reason that the Program mode is usually only one click away from the automatic modes; with respect to apertures and shutter speeds, the camera is doing most of the thinking for you. So, if that is the case, why even bother with the Program mode? First, let me say that it is very rare that I will use Program mode because it just doesn’t give as much control over the image-making process as the other professional modes. There are occasions, however, where it really comes in handy, like when shooting in widely changing lighting conditions and there isn’t time to think through all of the exposure options, or if there isn’t a big concern with having ultimate control of the scene. Think of a picnic outdoors in a partial shade/sun environment. I want great-looking pictures, but I’m not looking for anything to hang in a museum. If that’s the scenario, why choose Program over one of the automatic modes? Because it gives me choices and control that the automatic modes just can’t deliver.

When to use Program mode instead of the automatic scene modes

• When shooting in a casual environment where quick adjustments are needed (Figure 3.1)

Figure 3.1. Casual travel/vacation pictures are the perfect time to forget about creativity and just capture the moment.

• When you want more control over the ISO

• If you want to make corrections to the white balance

• When you want to change the shutter speed or aperture to achieve a specific result

Let’s go back to our picnic scenario. As I said, the light is moving from deep shadow to bright sunlight, which means that the camera is trying to balance our three photo factors (ISO, aperture, and shutter speed) to make a good exposure. Well, in Program mode, you can actually choose which ISO you would like the camera to base its exposure on. The lower the ISO number, the better the quality of our photographs, but the less light-sensitive the camera becomes. It’s a balancing act with the main goal always being to keep the ISO as low as possible—too low an ISO, and we will get camera shake in our images from a long shutter speed, and too high an ISO means we will have an unacceptable amount of digital noise. For our purposes, let’s go ahead and select ISO 400 so that we provide enough sensitivity for those shadows while allowing the camera to use shutter speeds that are fast enough to stop motion.

With the ISO selected, we can now make use of the other controls built into Program mode. By rotating one of the camera dials we now have the ability to shift the program settings. Remember, your camera is using the internal meter to pick what it believes are suitable exposure values, but sometimes it doesn’t know what it’s looking at and how you want those values applied. With the program shift, you can influence what the shot will look like. Do you need faster shutter speeds in order to stop the action? Do you want a smaller aperture so that you get a narrow depth of field? Then rotate the dial until you get the desired camera settings. The camera shifts the shutter speed and aperture accordingly in order to get a proper exposure, and you will get the benefit of your choice as a result. That’s something that most automatic modes just can’t do.

Shutter Priority Mode

Shutter Priority mode—most likely labeled as S or Tv (which stands for “time value”) on your camera—prioritizes or places major emphasis on the shutter speed above all other camera settings.

Just as with Program mode, Shutter Priority gives you more freedom to control certain aspects of your photography. In this case, I’m talking about shutter speed. The selected shutter speed determines just how long you expose your camera’s sensor to light. The longer it remains open, the more time your sensor has to gather light. The shutter speed also, to a large degree, determines how sharp your photographs are. This is different from the image being sharply in focus. One of the major influences on the sharpness of an image is just how sharp it is based on camera shake and the subject’s movement. Because a slower shutter speed means that light from your subject is hitting the sensor for a longer period of time, any movement by you or your subject will show up in your photos as blur.

When to use Shutter Priority mode

• When working with fast-moving subjects where you want to freeze the action (Figure 3.2)

Figure 3.2. When shutter speed is critical for stopping the action—like in this shot of a motocross jumper—using Shutter Priority mode is the only way to go.

• When you want to emphasize movement in your subject with motion blur

• When you want to use a long exposure to gather light over a long period of time

• When you want to create that silky-looking water in a waterfall (Figure 3.3)

Figure 3.3. To get that silky smooth look for running water, you need to use a tripod and a long shutter speed.

As you can see, the subject of your photo usually determines whether or not you will use Shutter Priority mode. It is important that you can pre-visualize the result of using a particular shutter speed. The great thing about shooting with digital cameras is that you get instant feedback by viewing your shot on the LCD screen. But what if your subject won’t give you a do-over? Such is often the case when shooting sporting events. It’s not like you can go ask the quarterback to throw that touchdown pass again because your last shot was blurry from a slow shutter speed. This is why it’s important to know what those speeds represent in terms of their capabilities to stop the action and deliver a blur-free shot.

First, let’s examine just how much control you actually have over the shutter speeds. Most digital SLRs have a shutter speed range from at least 1/4000 of a second all the way down to 30 seconds. With that much latitude, you should have enough control to capture almost any subject. The other thing to think about is that Shutter Priority is a “semi-automatic” mode. This means that you are taking control over one aspect of the total exposure while the camera handles the other. In this instance, you are controlling the shutter speed and the camera is controlling the aperture. This is important, because there will be times when you want to use a particular shutter speed but your lens aperture won’t be able to accommodate your request.

For example, you might encounter this problem when shooting in low-light situations. If you are shooting a fast-moving subject that will blur at a shutter speed slower than 1/125 of a second and your lens’s largest aperture is f/3.5, you might find your aperture display in your viewfinder or rear LCD panel displaying the word “Lo.” This is your warning that there won’t be enough light available for the shot—due to the limitations of the lens—so your picture will be underexposed.

Another case where you might run into this situation is when you are shooting moving water. To get that look of silky flowing water, it’s usually necessary to use a shutter speed of at least 1/15 of a second. If your waterfall is in full sunlight, you may get a message that reads “Hi” because the lens you are using only stops down to f/22 at its smallest opening. In this instance, your camera is warning you that you will be overexposing your image. There are workarounds for these problems, which we will discuss later in the book, but it is important to know that there can be limitations when using the Shutter Priority mode.

Aperture Priority Mode

You wouldn’t know it from its name, but Aperture Priority mode is one of the most useful and popular shooting modes. Aperture Priority mode is often labeled on your camera as A or Av (which stands for “aperture value” and, like “time value,” is another term that you’ll never hear a photographer toss around). The mode, however, is one of my personal favorites, and I believe that it will quickly become one of yours as well. Aperture Priority is also deemed a semi-automatic mode because it allows you to once again control one factor of exposure while the camera adjusts for the other.

Why, you may ask, is this one of my favorite modes? It’s because the aperture of your lens dictates depth of field. Depth of field, along with composition, is a major factor in how you direct attention to what is important in your image. It is the controlling factor of how much area in your image is sharp. If you want to isolate a subject from the background, such as when shooting a portrait, you can use a large aperture. This will keep the focus on your subject and make both the foreground and background blurry. If your emphasis is keeping the entire scene sharply focused, such as with a landscape scene, try using a small aperture to render the greatest amount of depth of field possible.

When to use Aperture Priority mode

• When shooting portraits or wildlife (Figure 3.4)

Figure 3.4. To get the narrow depth of field for this shot, I set the camera to Aperture Priority and shot at f/5.

• When shooting most landscape photography

• When shooting macro, or close-up, photography (Figure 3.5)

Figure 3.5. Shooting close-up shots means that you need a smaller aperture setting to get more sharpness.

• When shooting architectural photography, which often benefits from a large depth of field

So we have established that Aperture Priority mode is highly useful in controlling the depth of field in your image. But it’s also pivotal in determining the limits of available light that you can shoot in. Different lenses have different maximum apertures. The larger the maximum aperture, or f-stop, the less light you need to achieve an acceptably sharp image. You will recall that, when in Shutter Priority mode, there is a limit at which you can handhold your camera without introducing movement or hand shake, which causes blurriness in the final picture. If your lens has a larger aperture, then you can let in more light all at once, which means that you can use faster shutter speeds. This is why lenses with large maximum apertures, such as f/1.4, are called “fast” lenses.

On the other hand, bright scenes require the use of a small aperture (such as f/16 or f/22), especially if you want to use a slower shutter speed. That small opening reduces the amount of incoming light, and this reduction of light requires that the shutter stay open longer.

Manual Mode

Once upon a time, long before digital cameras and program modes, there was manual mode. Only in those days it wasn’t called “manual mode” because there were no other modes. It was just photography. In fact, many photographers cut their teeth on completely manual cameras. Let’s face it: if you want to learn what the effects of aperture and shutter speed have on your photography, there is no better way to learn than by setting these adjustments yourself. However, today, with the advancement of camera technology, many new photographers never give this mode a second thought. That’s truly a shame, as it is not only an excellent way to learn your photography basics, it’s also an essential tool to have in your photographic bag of tricks.

When you have your camera set to Manual (M) mode, the camera meter will give you a reading of the scene you are photographing, but it’s your job to actually set both the f-stop (aperture) and the shutter speed to achieve a correct exposure. If you need a faster shutter speed, you will have to make the reciprocal change to your f-stop. Using any other mode—such as Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority—would mean that you just have to worry about one of these changes, but Manual mode requires you to do it all yourself. This can be a little challenging at first, but after a while you will have a complete understanding of how each change affects your exposure, which will, in turn, improve the way that you use the other modes.

When to use Manual Mode

• When learning how each exposure element interacts with the others

• When your environment is fooling your light meter and you need to maintain a certain exposure setting (Figure 3.6)

Figure 3.6. Manual mode can help you get control over tricky lighting situations like this foggy sunset view of the California coast.

• When shooting silhouetted subjects, which requires overriding the camera’s meter readings

• When working with lights in a studio setting (Figure 3.7)

Figure 3.7. When working with studio lights I always set my camera to Manual mode and then make changes to my lights, not the camera.

A Few Words About Automatic Modes

If you are using a non-professional or semi-professional digital camera, chances are that it has some special automatic modes to help make your shooting decision-free. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you want to just enjoy the moment and grab some casual photos. Most of the auto modes are scenario based, which means that you can just pick the type of shooting environment you are in and let the camera do all the work. Let’s take a quick look at some of the more common modes that are found on most cameras.

Full Auto Mode

Full Auto mode is all about thought-free photography. There is little to nothing for you to do in this mode except point and shoot. Your biggest concern when using Full Auto mode is focusing. The camera will utilize the automatic focusing modes to achieve the best possible focus for your picture. Naturally, the camera is going to assume that the object that is closest to the camera is the one that you want to have the sharpest focus. Simply press the shutter button down halfway while looking through the viewfinder and you should see one of the focus points light up over the subject. Of course, you know that putting your subject in the middle of the picture is not the best way to compose your shot (right?). So wait for the camera to confirm that the focus has been set, and then, while still holding down the button, recompose your shot. Now just press down the shutter button the rest of the way to take the photo. It’s just that easy (Figure 3.8). The camera will take care of all your exposure decisions, including when to use flash.

Figure 3.8. Using Full Auto can be convenient if you are willing to give up total control of the image-making process.

Let’s face it: This is the lazy man’s mode. But sometimes it’s just nice to be lazy and click away without giving thought to anything but preserving a memory. There are times, though, when you will want to start using your camera’s advanced features to improve your shots. Note: every camera is a little different, so be sure to read your owner’s manual for any special information that you might need to consider when using the Full Auto mode.

Portrait Mode

One problem with Full Auto mode is that it has no idea what type of subject you are photographing and, therefore, uses the same settings for each situation. Shooting portraits is a perfect example. Typically, when you are taking a photograph of someone, you want the emphasis of the picture to be on the person, not necessarily on the stuff going on in the background.

This is what Portrait mode is for. When you set your camera to this mode, you are telling the camera to select a larger aperture so that the depth of field is much narrower and will give more blur to objects in the background. This blurry background places the attention on your subject (Figure 3.9). Along with aperture selection, most Portrait modes will use a customized picture style. This style is optimized for skin tones and will also be a little softer to improve the look of skin.

Figure 3.9. Portrait mode will set your camera up to get better people pics by using a large aperture for better background separation.

Landscape Mode

As you might have guessed, Landscape mode has been optimized for shooting landscape images. In most cameras, emphasis is placed on using a Landscape style, with the camera trying to boost the greens and blues in the image (Figure 3.10). This makes sense, since the typical landscape would be outdoors where grass, trees, and skies should look more colorful. This style also boosts the sharpness that is applied during processing. The camera also utilizes the lowest ISO settings possible in order to keep digital noise to a minimum. The downfall to this setting is that, once again, your control is quite limited.

Figure 3.10. This is the kind of scene that would really benefit from the use of the Landscape mode. The small aperture increases the depth of field and the colors are enhanced as well.

Macro, or Close-Up, Mode

Although most zoom lenses don’t support true “macro” settings, that doesn’t mean you can’t shoot some great close-up photos. The key here is to use your camera-to-subject distance to fill the frame while still being able to achieve sharp focus. This means that you move yourself as close as possible to your subject while still being able to get a good sharp focus. Oftentimes, your lens will be marked with the minimum focusing distance. For example, on a Canon EF-S 18–55mm zoom it is 0.8 feet. To help get the best focus in the picture, the Macro or Close-Up mode will use the smallest aperture it can while keeping the shutter speed fast enough to get a sharp shot (Figure 3.11). It does this by raising the ISO or turning on the built-in flash—or a combination of the two. Unfortunately, there is usually no way to turn off or alter these adjustments, so the possibility exists of getting more digital noise (from a high ISO) or harsh shadows (from the flash) in your picture.

Figure 3.11. Close-up photos like this dew-covered spider can be enhanced by using the Macro shooting mode.

Sports Mode

The name of this mode is Sports, but you can use it for any moving subject that you are photographing. The mode is built on the principles of sports photography: continuous focusing, large apertures, and fast shutter speeds (Figure 3.12). To handle these requirements, the camera sets the drive mode to Continuous shooting, the aperture to a large opening, and the ISO to Auto. Overall, these can be sound settings that will capture most moving subjects well.

Figure 3.12. Large apertures and fast shutter speeds are requirements for great sport shots, which is one reason you might want to turn to the Sports mode.

You can, however, run the risk of too much digital noise in your picture if the camera decides that you need a very high ISO (such as 1600). Also, when using Sports mode, the focus system will usually lock on to a subject and continue to focus on it until you release the shutter button—so composing can be a little more difficult. Depending on the camera you are using, you might be able to change the focus mode to something a little easier but chances are that’s not the case.

Night Portrait Mode

You’re out on the town at night and you want to take a nice picture of someone, but you want to show some of the interesting scenery in the background as well. You could use Full Auto mode, which would probably turn on the flash and take the photo. The problem is that, while it would give you a decent exposure for your subject, the background would be completely dark. The solution is to use Night Portrait mode. When you set the dial to this mode, you are telling the camera that you want to use a slower-than-normal shutter speed so that the background is getting more time (and, thus, more light) to achieve a proper exposure.

The typical shutter speed for using flash is about 1/60 of a second or faster (but not faster than 1/250 of a second). By leaving the shutter open for a longer duration, the camera allows more of the background to be exposed so that you get a much more balanced scene (Figure 3.13). This is also a great mode for taking portraits during sunset. Once again, the camera will typically use an automatic ISO setting, so you will want to keep an eye on it to make sure that setting isn’t so high that the noise levels ruin your photo.

Figure 3.13. Night Portrait mode uses a slower shutter speed, higher ISO, and larger aperture to balance the background lights with the flash exposure.

Why You May Never Want to Use the Automatic Modes Again

With so many easy-to-use camera modes, why would anyone ever want to use anything else? Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is control. It is the number one reason for using a digital SLR camera. The ability to control every aspect of your photography will open up creative avenues that just aren’t available with the fully automatic modes. Here are a few of the things you might be giving up when using fully automatic modes:

• ISO. Most cameras offer no options in the automatic modes to change the ISO setting from the default Auto ISO setting. This will undoubtedly lead to unwanted digital noise in your images when the ISO begins to reach up into the higher settings.

• Color space. The default color space for automatic modes in most all cameras is sRGB, and there is usually no way to change it. This is the default color space for posting images on the Internet. If you plan on printing any of your pictures, the preferred yet unavailable setting would be Adobe RGB.

• White balance. There is no choice available for white balance. You are simply stuck with the Auto settings. This isn’t always a bad thing, but your camera doesn’t always get it right.

• Auto focus. Depending on the mode you have selected, there will probably be a specific focus mode selected as well. Typically the selected modes are appropriate for the type of subject—but not always. There are situations where one focus mode might be better than another, and fully automatic modes usually won’t let you change.

• Exposure compensation. As you will see in later chapters, compensating for your camera’s metered exposure is essential for creating better photographs. Unfortunately, most auto modes don’t allow any changes to exposure so you are stuck with whatever the camera selects.

Chapter 3 Assignments

These assignments will have you shooting in the various modes—both automatic and semi-auto—so that you can experience the advantages and disadvantages of using them in your daily photography. This will be more of a mental challenge than anything else, but you should put a lot of work into these lesson assignments because the information covered in this chapter will define how you work with your camera from this point on. Granted, there may be times when you just want to grab some quick pictures and you’ll resort to the automatic scene modes, but to get serious with your photography, you will want to learn the professional modes inside and out.

Checking out Portrait mode

Grab your favorite photogenic person and start shooting in Portrait mode. Try switching between Auto and Portrait mode while photographing the same person in the same setting. You should see a difference in the sharpness of the background as well as the skin tones. If you are using a zoom lens, set it to about 55mm if available.

Capturing the scenery with Landscape and Close-up modes

Take your camera outside for some landscape and macro work. First, find a nice scene and then, with your widest available lens, take some pictures using Landscape mode, then switch back to Auto so that you can compare the settings used for each image, as well as the changes to colors and sharpness. Now, while you are still outside, find something in the foreground—a leaf or a flower—and switch the camera to Close-up mode. See how close you can get and take note of the f-stop that the mode uses. Then switch to Auto and shoot the same subject.

Stopping the action with Sports mode

This assignment requires that you find a subject in motion. That could be the traffic in front of your home or your child at play. This is your opportunity to test out Sports mode. There isn’t a lot to worry about here. Just point and shoot. Try shooting a few frames one at a time, then go ahead and hold down the shutter button and shoot a burst of about five or six frames. It will help if your subject is in good available light to start with so that the camera won’t be forced to use high ISOs.

Learning to control time with the Shutter Priority mode

Find some moving subjects and then set your camera to S (or Tv) mode. Have someone ride their bike back and forth, or just photograph cars as they go by. Start with a slow shutter speed of around 1/30 of a second and then start shooting with faster and faster shutter speeds. Keep shooting until you can freeze the action. Now find something that isn’t moving, like a flower, and start with shutter speed from something fast like 1/500 of a second, and then work your way down to slower shutter speeds. Don’t brace the camera on a steady surface. Just try and shoot as slowly as possible, down to about 1/4 of a second. The point is to see how well you can handhold your camera before you start introducing hand shake into the image, making it appear soft and somewhat unfocused.

Controlling depth of field with the Aperture Priority mode

The name of the game with Aperture Priority mode is depth of field. Set up three items at different distances from you. I would use chess pieces or something similar. Now focus on the middle item and set your camera to the largest aperture that your lens allows (remember, large aperture means a small number like f/3.5). Now, while still focusing on the middle subject, start shooting with ever-smaller apertures until you are at the smallest f-stop for your lens. If you have a zoom lens, try doing this exercise with the lens at the widest and then the most telephoto settings. Now move up to subjects that are farther away, like telephone poles, and shoot them in the same way. The idea is to get a feel for how each aperture setting affects your depth of field.

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