Today's episode is for Jan in Manhattan, who had a great question about camera settings. Specifically, should I move from shutter priority to manual mode if the lighting conditions change? And honestly, this question comes up all the time. Let's start with the elephant in the room, or shall I say the moose in the room? I'll get into that story in a second. So there's this belief out there that shooting in manual mode is not only the only way to get a great shot, but that it will also solve all of your photography problems.
Folks, I'm here to tell you the M doesn't stand for magic. If you've listened to my previous episodes, you already know how I feel about this. There's nothing wrong with shooting in auto or semi-auto modes. In fact, I argue that when you're shooting in manual, you might actually be getting less out of your camera because you're turning off all those thousands of engineering hours that went into making it smart.
Now, don't get me wrong, there's definitely a time and a place for manual mode. It's great when you're doing long exposure or working in a controlled studio environment, but out in the field for fast moving or unpredictable subjects, manual mode can actually make your life a lot harder, or worse, they can prevent you from using optimal settings. So back to Jan's question. He was heading to Maine to photograph moose.
Now I'm going to assume moose aren't politely standing around for portraits. And when you're photographing something that's moving, your top priority is getting it sharp. That means thinking about shutter speed. You need a shutter speed fast enough to freeze that motion. What that speed is will depend on how far you are from your subject and how fast it's moving. So there's no single number I can give you. It'll take a bit of trial and error to figure out. Once you've dialed that in, the easiest mode to use is shutter priority.
In shutter priority, you choose the shutter speed and the camera figures out the rest, aperture and ISO. That is, if you have your ISO set to auto. In this situation, the camera will automatically raise or lower the ISO depending on how much light is available. This is great, but it only works within the limits you set.
If you set a low ISO ceiling like 800 or even 1600 ISO, the camera might hit that ceiling and suddenly not have enough light to work with. That means you'll end up with an underexposed image when the subject moves into the shade and you have your camera set to a fast shutter speed. This is also true if you have set your ISO manually because the ISO is now stuck to wherever you set it. But...
On the other hand, if you have set your ISO manually and you have set it very, very high, when the moose comes into a bright area, like in direct sunlight, you're gonna get a noisy image unnecessarily. So the rule here is give your camera some room to breathe. I usually go close to the max, especially when I'm shooting in changing light. The fact is your camera is not gonna go higher unless it needs to.
The manufacturer wants you to come out with a nice clean shot, not a noisy one. Now let's talk about aperture. In shutter priority, your camera also adjusts the aperture for you, but it can only go so far. All lenses have a maximum opening, or for lack of a better word, a ceiling. So let's say you're shooting at one thousandth of a second. Not super fast, but fast enough for most wildlife.
To get a proper exposure at that speed, the camera needs a lot of light, but unfortunately, unless you're shooting a fast lens in the middle of the day with no clouds and no shade, it's likely to open the aperture as wide as possible to let light in. But eventually, it can't open any further due to the lack of available light. Again, if your ISO ceiling is low and your aperture is already maxed out, then you're out of luck. You're going to get dark images.
And underexposed shots are significantly more difficult to fix. This is why I tell people, let your ISO go high if you need to. A little noise is better than a grossly underexposed shot. And by grossly underexposed, I mean an image that is about two stops or more under. When I was shooting in South America last summer, I was using shutter speeds around one four thousandth of a second. That's two full stops faster than one one thousandth.
So I needed two more stops of light from somewhere, and I definitely wasn't getting it from my lens. That meant ISO had to pick up the slack. If I'd been in manual mode, I would have had to keep chasing that exposure, adjusting the ISO every time the light shifted or the subject moved from sun to shade, which those birds definitely did all in one go. And with wildlife, that happens a lot.
And I'm willing to assume that moose are no exception, which means they're moving from bright sun one minute to deep shade the next. If you're shooting manual, you have to chase every one of those lighting changes yourself. That's exhausting and it means you'll miss shots. In shutter priority, the camera makes those small adjustments for you. This allows you to just focus on composition, timing, and getting the shot, which is way more important and it's already hard to do.
Now, there are some folks out there who try to split the difference. They shoot manual mode with auto ISO. That can work, but I see a lot of people mess it up by setting a really high shutter speed and a small aperture, like f8 or f11, for quote unquote more depth of field. But with that combination, you've cut out a ton of light, which means you'll get an underexposed shot if you set a low static ISO.
Or if you set a low ceiling on auto ISO. On the other hand, if you set a high ceiling on auto ISO, you will have a much better chance at getting a properly exposed shot, but it will likely be noisy as a result of your aperture and shutter speed choices. Remember, the camera has to get light from somewhere. And if it doesn't get enough light from the sun, aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, your image will be underexposed. So back to Jan's question.
Should he use a different mode if the light changes? The answer is no. No matter the situation, one way or another, you have to compensate for the light. You either let the camera do it by shooting in shutter priority, or you do it on your own in manual mode. Nothing will allow you to outsmart the light. It is what it is.
All right, that's it for today's episode. Jan, thanks for a great question. And for everyone else listening, it's not about which mode makes you look cool, it's about which mode helps you get the shot. If you'd like to learn more hands-on, check out NewYorkCityPhotosafari.com and join us for one of our safaris. Or if you'd like to join me for a longer adventure, check out BoundlessPhotosafari.com.
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