Can a lifetime of experience actually go against you in photography?
Recently my son Matthew and I spent 2 weeks traveling outback NSW. While we covered a lot of distance, we were on the constant lookout for photo opportunities.
We shot some amazing scenery and came to the understanding that we only scratched the surface of this wonderful country.
I think we both learned a few things from each other also.
For example, shutter priority is used when we want to control motion in our images and aperture priority for controlling depth of field.
BUT, what if you want a certain shutter speed AND a particular aperture to control both at the same time? For instance, I know I needed a fast shutter speed to freeze any camera movement when shooting this eagle.
I was using a 400mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter so even with image stabilizer, I needed good technique to hand hold for a sharp shot. I also wanted to choose my aperture to control my depth of field to make sure I had the whole bird sharp.
But what if the available light didn't let me select those settings?
The only other adjustment is i.s.o. by the time I could adjust the i.s.o on a shot like this the bird would have flown, literally. We only got half a dozen shots off before he took off.
Matt and I had discussed this earlier and he suggested a change of thinking that my 'old school' mind would never have thought of.
He asked if I had ever shot using auto i.s.o. as then I could choose my shutter speed AND aperture and let the camera give the correct exposure by changing the i.s.o.
HUGE light bulb moment!!!
With today's cameras (DSLR's at least) we shouldn't be afraid of using higher i.s.o. as noise reduction technology is superb.
Previously I have always suggested to first choose your i.s.o. using the lowest setting to give the best image detail and colour as the higher the number, the more noise is introduced, particularly in the shadows.
While this is still true, it is so much less of an issue with modern cameras and a huge degree better than any high i.s.o. film.
Most mid to high end DSLR's will even let you limit how high auto i.s.o. will push. For example, I know my camera is brilliant as high as 1600 i.s.o. so I can tell the camera to use auto i.s.o. but never set it to higher than 1600.
Because of my old school photographic thinking, I didn't ever give any consideration to auto i.s.o. settings. With film, you had to make the choice and so too with earlier digital cameras where you saw huge image degradation at higher settings.
So I put it to the test. And what a sense of freedom and control it gave me. I COULD set both my shutter and aperture, I COULD have my cake and eat it!
The lesson learnt?
No matter how long you've been into photography, ALWAYS be open to new techniques, especially as the new technology opens up ways of doing things that would have been unimaginable in the past.
Thanks to Matthew, a young mind still open to other possibilities!
(I believe the above lesson will apply to many things in life, we're never too old to learn, only too old to be stubborn!).
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