Comments on: Why I shoot in Av or Aperture Priority mode

By: Corpas

Corpas — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:37:42 +0000

Hi Juan, thnks for your quick answer.

I asked about decoupling beause I thaught it would be a problem to have the finger over the shutter to lock light metering. Doesn’t it represent a problem when the subject is moving?

Congrats for your fabulous work!

By: Juan Pons

Juan Pons — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:00:14 +0000

Daniel,

Thanks for the kind words.

-J

By: Juan Pons

Juan Pons — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:59:19 +0000

Corpas,

I have shot with the AF decoupled from the shutter since Canon offered this feature, I feel it is an absolute necessity when shooting wildlife. However I do leave the metering coupled to the shutter.

It usually takes a bit to get used to this arrangement but I have found that it works very well for me, additionally most folks that I have shown this and have stuck with it have also found it to be optimal for wildlife shooting.

-J

By: Corpas

Corpas — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:05:23 +0000

I’ve another question Juan, related to this post and the fact of quickness… Do you separate light metering and focus from the main button? (Canon DLRs can make this with personal functions). It can be a little bit strange on Av mode…

Thanks in advance.

By: Rhonda Holcomb

Rhonda Holcomb — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:27:54 +0000

I’m glad you got the shot of the fox, it’s beautiful.
I hope to capture a picture of a fox one day and whenever I get the opportunity, I’ll make sure I’m in the Aperture Priority mode.

Thanks for sharing your tips.

By: Daniel Arenas (Dage)

Daniel Arenas (Dage) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:34:20 +0000

Dear Juan A. Pons,

I agree with you in all and I strongly recommend your work method because as you’ve said us is very useful especially when you have one single oportunity to do the shot.

I use the Av (aperture value) mode in the most of cases (others, Tv or M) because you can control de depth of field and also the shutter speed. Is easy to remember. More shutter speed means less depth of field (small Av numbers) and vice-versa.

And the metering system I’m used to shot is in evaluative mode unless there are a strong contrast in the scene (for example landscapes) I want to shot.

And what about the exposition? Well, it’s not a critical parameter. I mean, that if you are shotting in Raw quality you can adjust a fine exposure later in some programs like Camera raw, Lightroom, Aperture… but if you’re shotting in jpg then you should be more accurate with the exposition.

I’m very happy to have discovered your website. Good job!

Greetins from Spain.

By: Tom Guilmette

Tom Guilmette — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:35:57 +0000

Great Website Juan. Your pictures are excellent!

By: Some photo link-love goodness.. | Chuqui 3.0

Some photo link-love goodness.. | Chuqui 3.0 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:03:22 +0000

[...] A. Pons: Why I shoot in Av or Ap mode. Yeah, me too, a lot. Nature work is a lot different than studio or landscape work where you can [...]

By: Dave Griffin

Dave Griffin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:31:22 +0000

To borrow a phrase from a mutual friend of ours, I “shoot the light”. When the lighting is known and constant (sunny 16, on the water w/no shadows, birds in flight, etc.) then I’m in manual mode to obtain consistent and controlled exposures. As soon as clouds move in, or if I’m in a forest situation where shadows and lighting vary greatly I’m immediately in Av mode as well — for all of the excellent reasons you state — and that’s my “zero mode” for the camera: where I set it when I power down so it’ll be ready to shoot (auto ISO in the newer cameras even makes this more murphy-proof). For constantly fast moving subjects I’ve even started using Tv mode, particularly coupled with auto ISO.

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:06:10 +0000

Great article Juan. I shoot in Av 90% of the time for pretty much the same reasons you state here!