I have used manual exposure for more years than I care to remember. I lost interest in photography a few months ago and then one day last week 18:35 I took my camera out with me and put it on full auto. It was really enjoyable and relaxing just concentrating on taking photos and letting the camera do the exposure settings.
Hi Nigel - I’m not sure how you managed to pull off all the different videoing view and talking and taking photos, before loosing that window of opportunity for the light, but you did! Honestly mate you’re clearly a very experienced photographer. Thank you so much for this content. Liked and followed.
Hey Nigel, just wanted to thank you for taking as much care with the video part of your presentations as you do with the stills. So many of your peers ignore white balance and contrast on the video portions and leave the still photos they show as examples to sit like gorgeous islands in a sea of flat, grey, lifeless light. I truly don't understand. I stick with the ones whose personality I like regardless of the quality of the vids but otherwise, I'm gone. So thank you for taking that extra step and making your videos an event I look forward to!
I want to thank you for your helpful tutoring, I watch you, Adam Gibbs, Fototripper, and Thomas Heaton religiously. All are excellent photographers, Gavin Hardcastle makes me laugh, plus I am in love with Amanda, she is his perfect counterpart, and he also adds informative information. Adam Gibbs is also a wonderful teacher, especially in his forest tutorials as Thomas Heaton is with his globe-trotting videos. But for me by far you have a knack for explaining everything you do in such a manner that I readily understand what you are telling the viewer, I love photography it is one of the few things that literally saved my life along with my family and dog (I am a man's man, gotta have a dog) you make it all the more special as I weekly become a better-informed photographer, albeit amateur, you give me the tools I need to be proud of what I capture. Many Thanks.
What you said about why you love shooting with an iPhone is why I love shooting with Fujifilm. The film simulations and community recipes bring photography back to what I loved about shooting film; point, shoot and you get a photo with a specific look built in that doesn’t require any editing. 99% of the time I shoot Ap priority with variable iso, a minimum shutter value and let the camera handle the rest (if needed I can quickly cycle metering mode if its not exposing the scene right). Shooting like this removes all the fluff and makes it all about the composition/act of shooting which is what makes photography fun for me 😊
This is why I like Nikon's User settings options Nigel. I use the Z 5 and it even has 3 "U" settings. One in AUTO mode would come in handy. It would help me not panic with settings when I'm out shooting. Thanks !
This is another good video. I have a shoulder injury and cannot get out and do photography. But it is good to watch Mr. Nigel Danson set up the camera and tripod on a mountaintop. I hear a lot of photographers talk about referencing the histogram. I have never referenced the histogram for anything. But if I were a professional photographer it might be wise to learn more about it.
Hi Nigel another great video & tutorial. However, I would differentiate between Auto and Program mode. In P mode you can control the speed and aperture by using the control wheel to program shift. So, for example, at 7m30s, when you said P mode gave you an F4 exposure which you didn't want, you then changed to Aperture mode. However, you could also have stayed in P Mode and used the program shift feature by turning the control wheel to give you the required aperture and the P Mode will select the correct speed. Exposure compensation can also be used to lighten or darken to your taste as well. Cameras with an Auto mode give you no or little control over the settings. Keep up the good work.
I was about to post something similar. No doubt Nigel knows but an explanation of this technique would have helped. That said I tend to use the A-Mode and compensation method.
Such helpful advice for someone starting out. Concentrating on composition when out and about and then practicing settings at home is an efficient way to learn - and much more enjoyable.
It all depends on what I am shooting, for simply preserving a scene can go full auto. For landscape photography full manual has become my preferred choice. Not entirely positive on the settings, yes the auto mode is always there to use. Thanks for sharing again Nigel. Stay safe 🇦🇺
I will often use auto a the start of a shoot to help get in the groove. Look at the result and adjust on A and M setting from there. But will occassionally pop back on auto and let technology do the work. Thanks for the advice.
I've never quite understood the merits of using modes and exposure compensation when Manual gives you exactly the same without button pressing , having said that I am generally in manual and mentally prioritise the aperture first as I use that to build the image I want, controlling the light with the shutter (ISO is normally at base or 100-400) so it's all marmite really and whatever fits for you. Nigel, you like many others deserve great merit for being 'out there' at ungodly hours and sharing natures beauty for is all to see, so I salute you mate, really do - smashing video
I used to always shoot in manual mode but I can get whatever settings I need with aperture priority by using my ISO to control my shutter speed and exposure compensation to control my exposure. Just because the camera is setting your shutter speed doesn’t mean you don’t still have full control. This makes it easy to shoot handheld and be reactive when needed.
I love your approach to all types of settings for our shooting. I love my iphone 14 max. It has limitations but I'm aware of that. I can always use m Canon or Sony, if needed our tips remind us when to use our available tools. There were many beautiful images on Auto, Manual, and Aperature Priority.
I have a fully manual medium format camera, so I don't have the auto button, even so, I really found this video so useful for settings. This is such a helpful, informative video, and you show how to use the settings in a very easy to understand way. Many thanks. Again you have come up trumps, Nigel. Great video! Superb images. Bless you.
Hi Nigel, I have to admit I haven't been watching for a while but your video popped up so I have watched this with interest. Because of circumstances my options of different available compositions are trees, trees, trees.....and more trees so all a bit samey. However I am going to try and get out again, set my camera on auto and enjoy myself. I have also taken up art so took a screen shot of one of your pink daybreak scenes to paint, hope you don't mind. Thanks for your enthusiasm and advice.
Brilliant video for someone getting to know their camera. But all I say is be careful about aperture settings as a newbie, as with crop sensor cameras diffraction comes in much sooner than 35mm cameras. With micro 4 thirds it's starting to show at F8 and beyond.
Good point. With my M43 camera, on my kit 18-150 zoom, I have got into the habit of just keeping it as it's widest aperture of f5.6. Works for pretty much anything.
Great video as always! Whenever I first started out, I started in manual and haven't looked back. It was so frustrating at first because I didn't know what I was doing. However, I'm glad that I did because it has helped me tremendously.
I appredciate the different music, but I don't know why the songs kinda off put me. Either way love the content and keep making them! I'll see you in the next one.
Super video thanks Nigel. You keep talking about full auto but then when setting up you talk about P mode, which I believe stands for Programable. I have a Nikon camera, but only a D5600, which has both full auto and P mode options. When you talk about full auto are you meaning P mode which gives you some control over the settings? Many thanks
Great video reminder . Been using manual for years with some of the headaches that can bring when it's cold and wet . So auto can be very helpful . Cheers ! oh by the way Canon R has a A+ fully auoto mode which can be adjusted 🤣😂
Hello Nigel, Thanks for sharing your tips on camera settings and emphasizing on the composition and taking the shot versus fiddling around with settings. One piece of advise that was missing: Use shutter delay when shooting with tripod, or alternatively a remote control. One of your shots in the video shows severe motion blur (it happens to the best). Your Nikon gear list doesn't show the Nikon Z 24-120 f/4 lens, nor the Nikon Z 100-400 f/4.5 lens, both of which you used in the video. I can't talk about the 100-400 lens, but the 24-120 f/4 makes a wonderful all round travel lens that's ridiculously sharp at nearly all focal lengths. I wonder how you think about it? Thanks again for the video.
Unless I'm shooting something like a seascape where I want a specific shutter speed (water texture) and aperture, I use aperture priority a ton. It's great for walking around. Don't have to dial in settings for a shot that you could miss if you fumble around with the camera too long.
P is program mode, which lets you balance aperture and shutter speed with one of the dials while "true auto" doesn't let you do anything and might be a bit too simplistic for anyone trying to learn. On my 6D Mk I, for example, you can change the ratio of shutter/aperture, ISO and select focus point in P mode but can change nothing in full auto (green square with "A+" on it). Should be the same on any modern Canon as well.
Still working with my D850, not sure I could deal with full auto. I've been on manual for so long I think I would feel lost anyway. I have used Program mode once or twice but... nah. Great info though and thanks for your wonderful video's!
Thanks Nigel for the valuable advice! Keeping an eye on my histogram is something I recenltly picked up since I switched to a mirrorless camera where you can put the histogram in your viewfinder and think it really works very well for me. For my settings to be honest I often use aperture priority, without my iso on auto, so that I keep iso under control as well. In a way the only thing the camera suggests then is the exposure time :-).
Great video Nigel. Where were you focusing when you were using Aperture Priority? I'm assuming you were using Focus Area of M flexible Spot, but where in the image did you focus to get the entire image sharp?
Very few lenses, particularly zooms, are at their best wide open. The 24-120 is no exception. It's sharpest at f8-11, depending on the focal length you select.
Great video. I finally got manual in my fingers that I really dont see a reason to use Aperture or Shutter priority now. What do you use the most? And whats that tripod?
Hey, Nigel I appreciate your videos very much. I am wondering and having a really big question mark over my head... How the hell did you do the droneshot at 11:25 without holding the controller???? 🧐🤔 Would you perhaps tell me? Thanks a lot!!! 🙏🏻
Au contraire. Escaping from full auto helped me get a lot better as a photographer. Not going back. Full manual, just like the old days when I was shooting with the Nikon FM.
Nigel, I hope your back is better! Please tell me why my Lumix G9 has a “P” and an “iAuto” setting. I have heard different pro photographers say “P” is not auto and vice versa. Sean
On many cameras, with the AUTO or iAuto option set, the camera controls everything, even ISO. P is a program mode, but allows you to set ISO & WB. On some cameras, the P option also allows changing either aperture or shutter speed but adjusts the other to keep the same exposure, e.g. wider aperture, faster shutter and vice versa. Nikon calls this the P* mode and changes are made with the rear dial. Try it on your camera!
At 4:10, it almost sounds as if you said, "When you're an 'a,' I've got it set on auto." So, self -deprecating, Nigel! All kidding aside, very informative and useful video, as always. Thank you.
I usually use only manual, since I learned on a SLR, but yesterday I was taking pictures at an outdoor event for a friend, and I thought, there's tons of light so I can just put it on auto and quickly take pictures. About 3/4 of the way I started checking the photos, and the recent ones were using 1/80 sec and didn't look sharp. So I switched to manual and set it at 1/125 - f8 and I think 400 (probably should have gone higher on the shutter speed). The earlier photos turned out to be mostly 1/125 or higher, so they were ok, but I should've been more careful, as it wasn't just for myself but for someone else. In retrospect, I would use shutter priority. (I think that's right? I'm open to suggestions. :) ) For landscape, if I didn't use manual, I think aperture would be better if I were using a tripod.
Hi Nigel, many thanks for this great video. I have a question not directly related to this video, but as I can see you use 2 different tripods in this video. the Benro TMA38CL I guess and according I can see also a Benro TTOR tripod. My question is, I am looking to buy a good stable tripod for my landscape photography and thinking on several models including the TMA38CL and the TTOR35C, do you think the Tortoise tripod is stable enough for landscape photography, and sometime longer exposure shots.
One useful tip is when finished fir the day change to auto. Why? Because if you see something interesting but only have seconds by the time you have set up in aperture, manual etc the moment could have gone
You know, specs are fine and all, but if your videos are shot with the Nikon Z6, that is some really great video especially the low light stuff. And I’m assuming that’s 8 bit 420. Though, I guess you could be using a ninja or black magic and shooting 10 bit pro res or b log. Now that I think about it that’s probably what’s going on. But if that is 8 bit in camera, than the Z6 is beyond just normal phenomenal.
When I was teaching people I used to say ‘Put it on P and learn how to see’. Having an eye for an image is the main thing, you can always learn the mechanics of photography later. I hate to think how many perfectly exposed pictures of rubbish that you see compared to the few images that actually excite you
I was thinking that may be an idea for a helpful beginners class ....would be.... About the hight at which you take your photos at and, explain how it adds value to the composition . Some photos are self explanatory being you video your self as your using a tripod. I have been using the Tamron G2 150-600 mm . It's values is the depth field and bokker . Explaining how a wide angle sperates objectsto making them appear there is more distance between back ground objects., How the telephoto appears to brings objects closer together .Compossion requires a basic understand how a photo can be composed .This is something we can forget once it becomes natural to us over time. Using the Tamron bought it home to me . I had fits of laughter when I saw a youtuber saying all he needed was his 100 mega pic camera and a wide angle lens then crop in light room. But it got me thinking ,I wonder how many new starters think like that blogger .
He comments use of a tripod is best. I believe he has the same Z bodies i do, but i hear mixed things on if IBIS needs to be turned off on tripod. The reasons given for this make sense, BUT I've forgotten to turn it off multiple times and didn't notice an issue. Advice appreciated (Z6II and Z9z, if that makes a difference)
@Nigel Danson Thanks for reply, the reasoning given it should be turned off made sense- but I've never seen the artifacts they mention. I think the videos i reference are older, so maybe an update mitigated the issue? On the other hand, i don't remember seeing examples- which i would make sure to include if i were making a video that claims a setting causes problems under certain conditions.
Yes, your foxy Z camera has some great AI (simplified "computer vision") that it uses to figure out what you are shooting. So it can adapt exposure for example to a face that it detects in a photo. And to landscapes. You could add a few things still that did not fit in the video's time budget: * if you shoot raw only then set white balance (WB) to Cloudy at Nigel's geo-latitude. WB is just a number in the metadata with each image and if the camera has to figure it out, this takes time, costs energy and changes nothing to the raw image. * if you understand exposure correction while the camera is on P-mode (programmed full Auto), then you could set your Nikon Z's lightmeter to measure in "highlight-weighted" mode rather than matrix mode. Highlight-weighted mode simply finds the brightest dot in the view and treats that as "pure white". This means you never have washed out highlights in the skies. It will ignore the sun if directly blasting into the camera because that's outside what the camera can deal with. The downside is that you may loose some detail in the darkest areas of the image and you may need to shoot some additional images that are a bit over-exposed relative to highlight-weighted. In post these can be blended but this may give you the - hated by some (me too) - "HDR effect" (HDR _ High Dynamic Range - basically a way to compress contrast so our monitor/displays or prints can depict more dynamic range). The HDR effect can look exaggerated or artificial. Just test it. And you may need basic Photoshop skills to make it work. Replace the sky from the lighter image by the sky in the (slightly) darker image that still has detail in the highlights. This does not compress in the HDR way. * shooting from tripod gives a lot more contour sharpness than handheld with excellent IBIS. The problem is the huge dynamic range of the camera. It registers motion blur at an exposure level in the bottom of the dynamic range in a way that may not immediately look like motion blur, but it is. * I never shoot Auto ISO (except when I really, really need it) * if you have a hard time with exposure compensation, then just copy all settings your camera used at P into Manual mode and do not forget to set ISO manually too. P may work with manual-ISO BTW. In full Manual, just adapt exposure time. * if you have an insufficiently wide angle lens for what you want in the frame, then consider a panorama that is "stitched" into one image in post. This absolutely needs Manual everything exposure as per previous point or else you have to match exposure between images in post. To do this, use a ball head that has panorama rotation in the top plate [1] - that would enable single row "panos". More shots with a narrower angle in portrait orientation give you a larger end result with more detail. [1] in the video, our dear doctor Danson uses a Benro tripod - that's fine. He has what looks like a Benro B2 ball head on it (or the much heavier B3). While a great product, I'm critical of the in this (my) context here. That ball head cannot rotate pano in the top plate, but only in its bottom plate. Setting the tripod and that ball head in a way that the ball head's bottom plate becomes level and the top plate is parallel to that - good luck with that. In the Benro brand, the pano alternative would be in the GX25, GX30 and GX35 range where the middle one is probably the best choice (US$190 excluding sales tax). Note, if you include foreground in your pano, that you ought to (that it is very advisable to) find your lens's "nodal point". When you can rotate your lens between the pano images by rotating in the nodal point you get perfetct foreground alignment and no stitching issues.
It depends. If 24mm then I usually would suggest the background if you don’t have anything closer than say 3m. If you do then just focus foreground, mid and background. Safer bet!
I don't disagree with your overall premise. For beginners, Auto (& my personal favorite to start people on: Aperture Priority) is an acceptable place to start. That said, I like to think of Photography -- if your intention is to do it for more than snapshots of family/friends/memories -- as a "Creative Meditation". Therefore, the point is to be mindful & aware of what settings you use/choose & WHY (hopefully to bring your Vision to life). For that, you need Manual & to understand everything that's happening with your camera (& accessories used). I don't think it takes anything away, in fact, when you shift your mindset to it being "Mindful Creative Meditation", it enhances the experience. When one gets deeper into their Photography journey, it's quite common for the settings to become so intuitive, it's almost effortless. Just sharing my 2 cents 🤙🏾
I start them on Aperture Priority bc then it also teaches them about exposure triangle, but also DoF & image sharpness/focus. When in Auto, the camera doesn't "think" about that, it just goes "what's going to make this the best neutral exposure?" & will open or stop down the Aperture just to control light...without the Creative decisions of DoF/Sharpness, etc. Which you obviously can override. But when the person dials in their own Aperture, for whatever reason, it's a better learning process for why the camera makes the ISO or SS choices it does, etc.
The moral of the story it's more important to get the photo than the details of how you set up the camera. Obviously the more you know about how to set up your camera the easier it will be to use the various modes. "Real photographers take photos?
Honestly , if you are going to override the auto settings anyway, just shoot full manual. It's not that hard. Shooting 1/20th hand held at dawn surely that can't end well I don't care how much IS you have.
When you love something you like to take care of every detail, if your passion is the photography you will not complain for adjusting every parameter. Because you want to do something special, you don't want to let a machine decide for you!!! This video is for lazy people who don't want to think ... better choose the AI and tell it : " I want a picture of this, with this background, and this characters..."
Hi Nigel. I enjoy your videos, but can you stop putting these clickbait type titles.. I know you probably get a lot more views with these titles, but these titles really undermine the quality of your videos.. just my 2 cents
I want as many views as possible as that is what makes it possible to keep making the videos. Sorry you don’t like that but I have to make a living and surely the video itself is that what matters. Hope you understand 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
@@NigelDanson I totally understand. I just think that your videos are too good to have these type of titles!! You put a lot of work in your videos and the title does disservice to them. I would like to call myself a loyal subscriber of your channel, but sometimes I don’t watch the videos simply because I think the video will not be that exciting.. You seem to always prove me wrong haha.. but I just felt like I needed to say that. (I am writing this comment just as I am watching another video of yours)
I have used manual exposure for more years than I care to remember. I lost interest in photography a few months ago and then one day last week 18:35 I took my camera out with me and put it on full auto. It was really enjoyable and relaxing just concentrating on taking photos and letting the camera do the exposure settings.
Hi Nigel - I’m not sure how you managed to pull off all the different videoing view and talking and taking photos, before loosing that window of opportunity for the light, but you did! Honestly mate you’re clearly a very experienced photographer. Thank you so much for this content. Liked and followed.
Hey Nigel, just wanted to thank you for taking as much care with the video part of your presentations as you do with the stills. So many of your peers ignore white balance and contrast on the video portions and leave the still photos they show as examples to sit like gorgeous islands in a sea of flat, grey, lifeless light. I truly don't understand. I stick with the ones whose personality I like regardless of the quality of the vids but otherwise, I'm gone. So thank you for taking that extra step and making your videos an event I look forward to!
Thanks - I really appreciate you noticed the care I take
I want to thank you for your helpful tutoring, I watch you, Adam Gibbs, Fototripper, and Thomas Heaton religiously. All are excellent photographers, Gavin Hardcastle makes me laugh, plus I am in love with Amanda, she is his perfect counterpart, and he also adds informative information. Adam Gibbs is also a wonderful teacher, especially in his forest tutorials as Thomas Heaton is with his globe-trotting videos.
But for me by far you have a knack for explaining everything you do in such a manner that I readily understand what you are telling the viewer, I love photography it is one of the few things that literally saved my life along with my family and dog (I am a man's man, gotta have a dog) you make it all the more special as I weekly become a better-informed photographer, albeit amateur, you give me the tools I need to be proud of what I capture.
Many Thanks.
What you said about why you love shooting with an iPhone is why I love shooting with Fujifilm. The film simulations and community recipes bring photography back to what I loved about shooting film; point, shoot and you get a photo with a specific look built in that doesn’t require any editing. 99% of the time I shoot Ap priority with variable iso, a minimum shutter value and let the camera handle the rest (if needed I can quickly cycle metering mode if its not exposing the scene right). Shooting like this removes all the fluff and makes it all about the composition/act of shooting which is what makes photography fun for me 😊
This is why I like Nikon's User settings options Nigel. I use the Z 5 and it even has 3 "U" settings. One in AUTO mode would come in handy. It would help me not panic with settings when I'm out shooting. Thanks !
I love the joy you have when you’re out in nature 😊
This is another good video. I have a shoulder injury and cannot get out and do photography. But it is good to watch Mr. Nigel Danson set up the camera and tripod on a mountaintop. I hear a lot of photographers talk about referencing the histogram. I have never referenced the histogram for anything. But if I were a professional photographer it might be wise to learn more about it.
Hi Nigel another great video & tutorial. However, I would differentiate between Auto and Program mode. In P mode you can control the speed and aperture by using the control wheel to program shift. So, for example, at 7m30s, when you said P mode gave you an F4 exposure which you didn't want, you then changed to Aperture mode. However, you could also have stayed in P Mode and used the program shift feature by turning the control wheel to give you the required aperture and the P Mode will select the correct speed. Exposure compensation can also be used to lighten or darken to your taste as well. Cameras with an Auto mode give you no or little control over the settings. Keep up the good work.
I was about to post something similar. No doubt Nigel knows but an explanation of this technique would have helped.
That said I tend to use the A-Mode and compensation method.
Such helpful advice for someone starting out. Concentrating on composition when out and about and then practicing settings at home is an efficient way to learn - and much more enjoyable.
It all depends on what I am shooting, for simply preserving a scene can go full auto.
For landscape photography full manual has become my preferred choice.
Not entirely positive on the settings, yes the auto mode is always there to use.
Thanks for sharing again Nigel.
Stay safe 🇦🇺
Great video as always. Using Full Auto at times is good so that you can see the settings its chooses and helps you understand your camera.
I will often use auto a the start of a shoot to help get in the groove. Look at the result and adjust on A and M setting from there. But will occassionally pop back on auto and let technology do the work. Thanks for the advice.
I've never quite understood the merits of using modes and exposure compensation when Manual gives you exactly the same without button pressing , having said that I am generally in manual and mentally prioritise the aperture first as I use that to build the image I want, controlling the light with the shutter (ISO is normally at base or 100-400) so it's all marmite really and whatever fits for you. Nigel, you like many others deserve great merit for being 'out there' at ungodly hours and sharing natures beauty for is all to see, so I salute you mate, really do - smashing video
Wish I had such beautiful landscapes in my area. Your area is just stunning.
I used to always shoot in manual mode but I can get whatever settings I need with aperture priority by using my ISO to control my shutter speed and exposure compensation to control my exposure. Just because the camera is setting your shutter speed doesn’t mean you don’t still have full control. This makes it easy to shoot handheld and be reactive when needed.
I love your approach to all types of settings for our shooting. I love my iphone 14 max. It has limitations but I'm aware of that. I can always use m Canon or Sony, if needed our tips remind us when to use our available tools. There were many beautiful images on Auto, Manual, and Aperature Priority.
I have a fully manual medium format camera, so I don't have the auto button, even so, I really found this video so useful for settings. This is such a helpful, informative video, and you show how to use the settings in a very easy to understand way. Many thanks. Again you have come up trumps, Nigel. Great video! Superb images. Bless you.
The final image. Absolute beauty!
Hi Nigel, I have to admit I haven't been watching for a while but your video popped up so I have watched this with interest. Because of circumstances my options of different available compositions are trees, trees, trees.....and more trees so all a bit samey. However I am going to try and get out again, set my camera on auto and enjoy myself. I have also taken up art so took a screen shot of one of your pink daybreak scenes to paint, hope you don't mind. Thanks for your enthusiasm and advice.
Brilliant video for someone getting to know their camera. But all I say is be careful about aperture settings as a newbie, as with crop sensor cameras diffraction comes in much sooner than 35mm cameras. With micro 4 thirds it's starting to show at F8 and beyond.
Good point. With my M43 camera, on my kit 18-150 zoom, I have got into the habit of just keeping it as it's widest aperture of f5.6. Works for pretty much anything.
@@Retset I've fell a few times into setting it to f11 and wondering why it's softer than usual.
@@karlrichards since moving from a different format, I have struggled to remember that the F numbers are not what I remember!
Great video as always! Whenever I first started out, I started in manual and haven't looked back. It was so frustrating at first because I didn't know what I was doing. However, I'm glad that I did because it has helped me tremendously.
I appredciate the different music, but I don't know why the songs kinda off put me. Either way love the content and keep making them! I'll see you in the next one.
Super video thanks Nigel. You keep talking about full auto but then when setting up you talk about P mode, which I believe stands for Programable. I have a Nikon camera, but only a D5600, which has both full auto and P mode options. When you talk about full auto are you meaning P mode which gives you some control over the settings? Many thanks
Lots of great advice and the shots were stunning.
Great video reminder . Been using manual for years with some of the headaches that can bring when it's cold and wet . So auto can be very helpful . Cheers ! oh by the way Canon R has a A+ fully auoto mode which can be adjusted 🤣😂
love it! read and seen lots of vid for beginners, but this one was the most actionable
Hello Nigel,
Thanks for sharing your tips on camera settings and emphasizing on the composition and taking the shot versus fiddling around with settings. One piece of advise that was missing: Use shutter delay when shooting with tripod, or alternatively a remote control. One of your shots in the video shows severe motion blur (it happens to the best).
Your Nikon gear list doesn't show the Nikon Z 24-120 f/4 lens, nor the Nikon Z 100-400 f/4.5 lens, both of which you used in the video. I can't talk about the 100-400 lens, but the 24-120 f/4 makes a wonderful all round travel lens that's ridiculously sharp at nearly all focal lengths. I wonder how you think about it? Thanks again for the video.
Still crazy to be able to get out so early. I hope when my little girls are older we can all go out together. Great video as always
What lovely conditions, Nigel. So envious 😉.
Hi Nigel, I love your videos and great information on using auto. Please can you tell me where you shot this as I would love to visit here.
For landscapes i like auto you can always turn the compensation dial
Unless I'm shooting something like a seascape where I want a specific shutter speed (water texture) and aperture, I use aperture priority a ton. It's great for walking around. Don't have to dial in settings for a shot that you could miss if you fumble around with the camera too long.
P is program mode, which lets you balance aperture and shutter speed with one of the dials while "true auto" doesn't let you do anything and might be a bit too simplistic for anyone trying to learn. On my 6D Mk I, for example, you can change the ratio of shutter/aperture, ISO and select focus point in P mode but can change nothing in full auto (green square with "A+" on it). Should be the same on any modern Canon as well.
Still working with my D850, not sure I could deal with full auto. I've been on manual for so long I think I would feel lost anyway. I have used Program mode once or twice but... nah. Great info though and thanks for your wonderful video's!
Thanks Nigel, really enjoyable vid. With awesome images, love the idea of keeping it simple and use what is on your camera
Great video Nigel. Very common sense use of the camera. Thanks for this.
Thanks Nigel for the valuable advice! Keeping an eye on my histogram is something I recenltly picked up since I switched to a mirrorless camera where you can put the histogram in your viewfinder and think it really works very well for me. For my settings to be honest I often use aperture priority, without my iso on auto, so that I keep iso under control as well. In a way the only thing the camera suggests then is the exposure time :-).
Great video Nigel. Where were you focusing when you were using Aperture Priority? I'm assuming you were using Focus Area of M flexible Spot, but where in the image did you focus to get the entire image sharp?
Very few lenses, particularly zooms, are at their best wide open. The 24-120 is no exception. It's sharpest at f8-11, depending on the focal length you select.
Excellent suggestions. Love the pictures, especially the tones and compositions.
Great info as always. Thanks Nigel!
Great video. I finally got manual in my fingers that I really dont see a reason to use Aperture or Shutter priority now. What do you use the most? And whats that tripod?
Saw your video from RUclips suggestions. Thanks for the tutorials!
Lovely looking photos today.
Hey, Nigel
I appreciate your videos very much. I am wondering and having a really big question mark over my head... How the hell did you do the droneshot at 11:25 without holding the controller???? 🧐🤔
Would you perhaps tell me?
Thanks a lot!!! 🙏🏻
Great to see Rick in one of the drone bits!
Good spot!
Love these photos. Quick question. Where did you focus in the shot at 12:20?
Au contraire. Escaping from full auto helped me get a lot better as a photographer. Not going back. Full manual, just like the old days when I was shooting with the Nikon FM.
Nigel, I hope your back is better! Please tell me why my Lumix G9 has a “P” and an “iAuto” setting. I have heard different pro photographers say “P” is not auto and vice versa.
Sean
On many cameras, with the AUTO or iAuto option set, the camera controls everything, even ISO. P is a program mode, but allows you to set ISO & WB. On some cameras, the P option also allows changing either aperture or shutter speed but adjusts the other to keep the same exposure, e.g. wider aperture, faster shutter and vice versa. Nikon calls this the P* mode and changes are made with the rear dial. Try it on your camera!
Yup, just get out there. 👍 🥂
At 4:10, it almost sounds as if you said, "When you're an 'a,' I've got it set on auto." So, self -deprecating, Nigel! All kidding aside, very informative and useful video, as always. Thank you.
I usually use only manual, since I learned on a SLR, but yesterday I was taking pictures at an outdoor event for a friend, and I thought, there's tons of light so I can just put it on auto and quickly take pictures. About 3/4 of the way I started checking the photos, and the recent ones were using 1/80 sec and didn't look sharp. So I switched to manual and set it at 1/125 - f8 and I think 400 (probably should have gone higher on the shutter speed). The earlier photos turned out to be mostly 1/125 or higher, so they were ok, but I should've been more careful, as it wasn't just for myself but for someone else. In retrospect, I would use shutter priority. (I think that's right? I'm open to suggestions. :) ) For landscape, if I didn't use manual, I think aperture would be better if I were using a tripod.
How much hiking do you end up doing in a day, week, month etc. It seems like that makes up almost half of the job 😀
A lot
Nigel, did you edit the auto mode photos at all?
Hi Nigel, many thanks for this great video.
I have a question not directly related to this video, but as I can see you use 2 different tripods in this video. the Benro TMA38CL I guess and according I can see also a Benro TTOR tripod.
My question is, I am looking to buy a good stable tripod for my landscape photography and thinking on several models including the TMA38CL and the TTOR35C, do you think the Tortoise tripod is stable enough for landscape photography, and sometime longer exposure shots.
One useful tip is when finished fir the day change to auto. Why? Because if you see something interesting but only have seconds by the time you have set up in aperture, manual etc the moment could have gone
good advice from a great location!
that picture at 15:07 is incredible.
Thanks
Whats the name of the benro tripod you use in the start of the video?
Hi Nigel, you seem to go for exposure compensation vs Bracketing, is there a reason or just a preference ?
Just more control
You know, specs are fine and all, but if your videos are shot with the Nikon Z6, that is some really great video especially the low light stuff. And I’m assuming that’s 8 bit 420. Though, I guess you could be using a ninja or black magic and shooting 10 bit pro res or b log. Now that I think about it that’s probably what’s going on. But if that is 8 bit in camera, than the Z6 is beyond just normal phenomenal.
When I was teaching people I used to say ‘Put it on P and learn how to see’. Having an eye for an image is the main thing, you can always learn the mechanics of photography later. I hate to think how many perfectly exposed pictures of rubbish that you see compared to the few images that actually excite you
I use nikon Z6ii and been surprised how low shutter speed you can get away with. Do you always use 1/120 as a rule when shooting hand held ?
I was thinking that may be an idea for a helpful beginners class ....would be.... About the hight at which you take your photos at and, explain how it adds value to the composition . Some photos are self explanatory being you video your self as your using a tripod. I have been using the Tamron G2 150-600 mm . It's values is the depth field and bokker . Explaining how a wide angle sperates objectsto making them appear there is more distance between back ground objects., How the telephoto appears to brings objects closer together .Compossion requires a basic understand how a photo can be composed .This is something we can forget once it becomes natural to us over time. Using the Tamron bought it home to me . I had fits of laughter when I saw a youtuber saying all he needed was his 100 mega pic camera and a wide angle lens then crop in light room. But it got me thinking ,I wonder how many new starters think like that blogger .
Wonderful videos
You're the best!
Very well expressed 👍
He comments use of a tripod is best. I believe he has the same Z bodies i do, but i hear mixed things on if IBIS needs to be turned off on tripod.
The reasons given for this make sense, BUT I've forgotten to turn it off multiple times and didn't notice an issue.
Advice appreciated (Z6II and Z9z, if that makes a difference)
You don’t need to turn off
@Nigel Danson Thanks for reply, the reasoning given it should be turned off made sense- but I've never seen the artifacts they mention. I think the videos i reference are older, so maybe an update mitigated the issue? On the other hand, i don't remember seeing examples- which i would make sure to include if i were making a video that claims a setting causes problems under certain conditions.
Yes, your foxy Z camera has some great AI (simplified "computer vision") that it uses to figure out what you are shooting. So it can adapt exposure for example to a face that it detects in a photo. And to landscapes.
You could add a few things still that did not fit in the video's time budget:
* if you shoot raw only then set white balance (WB) to Cloudy at Nigel's geo-latitude. WB is just a number in the metadata with each image and if the camera has to figure it out, this takes time, costs energy and changes nothing to the raw image.
* if you understand exposure correction while the camera is on P-mode (programmed full Auto), then you could set your Nikon Z's lightmeter to measure in "highlight-weighted" mode rather than matrix mode. Highlight-weighted mode simply finds the brightest dot in the view and treats that as "pure white". This means you never have washed out highlights in the skies. It will ignore the sun if directly blasting into the camera because that's outside what the camera can deal with. The downside is that you may loose some detail in the darkest areas of the image and you may need to shoot some additional images that are a bit over-exposed relative to highlight-weighted. In post these can be blended but this may give you the - hated by some (me too) - "HDR effect" (HDR _ High Dynamic Range - basically a way to compress contrast so our monitor/displays or prints can depict more dynamic range). The HDR effect can look exaggerated or artificial. Just test it. And you may need basic Photoshop skills to make it work. Replace the sky from the lighter image by the sky in the (slightly) darker image that still has detail in the highlights. This does not compress in the HDR way.
* shooting from tripod gives a lot more contour sharpness than handheld with excellent IBIS. The problem is the huge dynamic range of the camera. It registers motion blur at an exposure level in the bottom of the dynamic range in a way that may not immediately look like motion blur, but it is.
* I never shoot Auto ISO (except when I really, really need it)
* if you have a hard time with exposure compensation, then just copy all settings your camera used at P into Manual mode and do not forget to set ISO manually too. P may work with manual-ISO BTW. In full Manual, just adapt exposure time.
* if you have an insufficiently wide angle lens for what you want in the frame, then consider a panorama that is "stitched" into one image in post. This absolutely needs Manual everything exposure as per previous point or else you have to match exposure between images in post. To do this, use a ball head that has panorama rotation in the top plate [1] - that would enable single row "panos". More shots with a narrower angle in portrait orientation give you a larger end result with more detail.
[1] in the video, our dear doctor Danson uses a Benro tripod - that's fine. He has what looks like a Benro B2 ball head on it (or the much heavier B3). While a great product, I'm critical of the in this (my) context here. That ball head cannot rotate pano in the top plate, but only in its bottom plate. Setting the tripod and that ball head in a way that the ball head's bottom plate becomes level and the top plate is parallel to that - good luck with that. In the Benro brand, the pano alternative would be in the GX25, GX30 and GX35 range where the middle one is probably the best choice (US$190 excluding sales tax). Note, if you include foreground in your pano, that you ought to (that it is very advisable to) find your lens's "nodal point". When you can rotate your lens between the pano images by rotating in the nodal point you get perfetct foreground alignment and no stitching issues.
Do you take any kind of protection with you?
So when you want it all in focus you have it on F10, where would you focus, mid frame?
It depends. If 24mm then I usually would suggest the background if you don’t have anything closer than say 3m. If you do then just focus foreground, mid and background. Safer bet!
@@NigelDanson thank you 🙏 much, love!
where is this location?
I don't disagree with your overall premise. For beginners, Auto (& my personal favorite to start people on: Aperture Priority) is an acceptable place to start.
That said, I like to think of Photography -- if your intention is to do it for more than snapshots of family/friends/memories -- as a "Creative Meditation".
Therefore, the point is to be mindful & aware of what settings you use/choose & WHY (hopefully to bring your Vision to life). For that, you need Manual & to understand everything that's happening with your camera (& accessories used).
I don't think it takes anything away, in fact, when you shift your mindset to it being "Mindful Creative Meditation", it enhances the experience. When one gets deeper into their Photography journey, it's quite common for the settings to become so intuitive, it's almost effortless.
Just sharing my 2 cents 🤙🏾
I start them on Aperture Priority bc then it also teaches them about exposure triangle, but also DoF & image sharpness/focus.
When in Auto, the camera doesn't "think" about that, it just goes "what's going to make this the best neutral exposure?" & will open or stop down the Aperture just to control light...without the Creative decisions of DoF/Sharpness, etc.
Which you obviously can override. But when the person dials in their own Aperture, for whatever reason, it's a better learning process for why the camera makes the ISO or SS choices it does, etc.
New drinking game: take a shot every time Nigel says "it doesn't get better than this!"
Do you have a good weather forecast app tip? Do you check it days before to know when to go? What do you look for? X
3:46: Missing 'i' in "priority" - "prority". :-) And 16:30: missing 'r' "prioity".
The moral of the story it's more important to get the photo than the details of how you set up the camera. Obviously the more you know about how to set up your camera the easier it will be to use the various modes. "Real photographers take photos?
So if you are shooting in auto then your camera will only shoot a jpeg? Or am I confused?
All depends on you camera - but the Panasonic and other makes you can shoot in auto with raw files. It’s a setting you turn on.
Honestly , if you are going to override the auto settings anyway, just shoot full manual. It's not that hard. Shooting 1/20th hand held at dawn surely that can't end well I don't care how much IS you have.
I dunno why, but something about 2:56 looks like you're standing in front of a green screen.
When you love something you like to take care of every detail, if your passion is the photography you will not complain for adjusting every parameter. Because you want to do something special, you don't want to let a machine decide for you!!! This video is for lazy people who don't want to think ... better choose the AI and tell it : " I want a picture of this, with this background, and this characters..."
Hi Nigel. I enjoy your videos, but can you stop putting these clickbait type titles.. I know you probably get a lot more views with these titles, but these titles really undermine the quality of your videos.. just my 2 cents
And ditch the cloying music. Please.
I want as many views as possible as that is what makes it possible to keep making the videos. Sorry you don’t like that but I have to make a living and surely the video itself is that what matters. Hope you understand 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
@@NigelDanson I totally understand. I just think that your videos are too good to have these type of titles!! You put a lot of work in your videos and the title does disservice to them. I would like to call myself a loyal subscriber of your channel, but sometimes I don’t watch the videos simply because I think the video will not be that exciting.. You seem to always prove me wrong haha.. but I just felt like I needed to say that. (I am writing this comment just as I am watching another video of yours)
Love your videos. But, please, get rid of that song!
NIgel are you concerned by the National trust charging photographers on their property