MASTER CAMERA SETTINGS: Aperture; Shutter Speed & ISO Video Lecture | Capture like a Pro: Digital Photography Tutorial - Professional Skills

I'm gonna tell you all my camera
settings for every scenario so brace
yourself this is a lot of information if
you feel like you don't know what your
camera settings should be in any
situation switch your camera into the
green auto mode or the P mode but
something photographers don't talk about
much which is information overload we
can only handle so much in any one scene
if you feel like you can't handle your
composition and checking the edges of
the frame and choosing the right
background and posing the fingers of a
model and making sure that there aren't
weird flyaways or smudge makeup if you
can't handle all of that and deal with
your shutter speed aperture and ISO then
go full auto you're better off narrowing
down the number of things you need to
concentrate on practice getting your
settings right when it doesn't count
just go out and casually shoot and make
sure you can nail the settings when it
does count again if you're not confident
go into auto modes I know too many
photographers who are overthinking this
is the right aperture ISO and all that
and they end up ruining the exposure on
an important shot wait until you're
comfortable okay so first on my day to
day shooting I'm in aperture priority
mode with the lenses lowest f-stop
whatever that lens is typically that
lets in the most light and it will blur
the background as much as possible and
when I'm just carrying the camera around
I don't know what the situation is going
to be that's what I want more times than
not I'm also using auto ISO so the
camera can completely adjust the
exposure and I'm just trusting the auto
exposure system but in my mind I'm
thinking do I have enough depth of field
whenever I pick the camera up I'm
thinking are there other things in the
frame that I want to make sure are in
focus and over the years of shooting
with different cameras and lenses I have
developed a sense for how much
acceptable depth of field I'm going to
get there's no one right answer that I
can give you because it's gonna depend
on the lens and the body that you're
using it's also going to depend on the
megapixels of the camera because it's a
high megapixel camera and anything
that's out of focus it's going to be
that much more obvious that it will also
be more obvious if you're using a really
sharp lens or if you plan on making
really big prints if I'm shooting
something just for Instagram it's a
really small format so if somebody's a
little bit out of focus I know it
doesn't
matter there's no f-stop that I can tell
you that's going to work for you over
the years of shooting and experimenting
you will develop a sense for what works
for your specific situation for your
specific zooms for your specific
distances to the subject and how far
apart different subjects are I hope you
can understand that copying settings
from somebody else won't work for you
because there are so many variables and
it's not something you can study and
memorize and learn it's something you
have to just experience and get a feel
for but that feeling will come with
enough time here's an example I often
shoot portraits at 200 millimeters and
f28 on a full frame body and I know for
a headshot that's great I can just focus
on the nearest eye and it should be fine
but if a second person comes in the
scene I know that I need to be at
probably f56 or f/8 with something like
a 5d Mark 3 but if I step up to a higher
resolution body like this D 850 and I'm
planning on a bigger print then I know I
need to be more like f11 or f-16 because
that depth of field is gonna fall off
really really quickly I also know that
it depends on the subjects too if
they're too little kids and they're
always going to be moving around and I
have to grab the snapshot quickly and go
for a higher f-stop just to improve my
chances if it's two models and I can
carefully pose them then I might be able
to get their faces more perfectly
aligned and use a lower f-stop hope you
can see it's a process a feeling that
I've developed for my particular gear in
the situations that I tend to shoot and
vary so much with subject and distance
that there's no copying it it's
something that I just had to learn with
experience and if you're not sure you
take a picture you review it you zoom in
really closely and then you make
adjustments from there there's not
enough depth of field use a higher
f-stop number but generally you can
always start out at the lowest f-stop
number now even though I'm shooting an
aperture priority with auto ISO I'm
keeping an eye on the shutter speed that
the camera is choosing because if that
shutter speed gets too low either I
might get motion blur from the subject
moving or I might get camera shake from
the way I'm holding the camera and
that's a whole other thing entirely I
know if I'm shooting it at 200
millimetres an f28 on say a 5d mark 3
portraits I'm usually good if I'm at one
sixtieth or one one-hundredth the way I
handhold with my particular biology I
tend to be okay at those shutter speeds
shooting people unless they're kids kids
move around more they're just a little
twitchy so I'd have to use the higher
shutter speed if I'm shooting with like
a 15 megapixel 5d SR that's D 850 that
resolution is going to show both camera
shake and natural human motion blur more
so I'm gonna have to choose a higher
shutter speed and with those cameras I'd
probably jump all the way up to like one
250th one 320th to be sure that it got
sharp pictures it also depends on the
subject if it's a professional model
they will pose and freeze and pose and
freeze the reason they do that is
they're freezing to give you sharper
pictures by eliminating motion blur but
most people aren't professional models
most people are just a portrait client
and they just kind of pose by like
moving smooth and fluidly and that means
I actually need to use a higher shutter
speed to freeze their motion it also
depends on whether or not I have any
image stabilized lens like sometimes
we'll shoot with an unstable eyes 85
millimeter f-18 I know that I have to
keep the shutter speed higher the
reciprocal rule doesn't apply anymore
but for that I might be at one
two-hundredths pretty much all the time
just to make sure that I eliminate
camera shake maybe I use a monopod or
something depending on the situation if
I really want to get down lower and use
a lower ISO okay back up if I notice
that my shutter speed is getting too
slow to give me sharp pictures I'll
switch from aperture priority to manual
mode manual mode lets me specify both
the aperture and the shutter speed oh
I'm in manual mode I will continue to
use auto ISO all modern camera support
auto ISO the old ones didn't so that's
like a huge benefit so I'm still getting
to use auto exposure which means the
whole process is much faster and I can
have the camera automatically adapt to
changing conditions this is key some
people will meter the situation and then
lock in the aperture shutter speed and
ISO and just leave it there that can
work but in my experience that's going
to leave you with some pictures that can
be under overexposed because well the
Sun is constantly moving if you're
outside even the difference of 15
minutes can mean a third of a stop of
exposure a cloud could move in front of
the Sun and drop the exposure by a stop
or two and if you're in all manual with
manual ISO then you have to be thinking
about all that and for me for the way I
work I'd rather just let the camera
think about that stuff so it's one less
thing for me to think about I'm also
keeping an eye on the histogram to make
sure the camera is auto exposure system
isn't under or over exposing things like
I said in my experience it does a better
job of adapting to changing situations
and I do but I've developed a sense for
specific scenarios where it's going to
fail me like the Canon cameras in
heavily backlit situations they tend to
under expose it so if I'm shooting a
portrait with backlighting which I love
to do I will add a stop of exposure
compensation the 5d sr for some reason
in particular seems to really really
under expose so I might have to add a
stop and a half or even two stops of
exposure compensation with my mirrorless
cameras like this Fuji here I can use
the viewfinder and get a real-time
histogram so I can just adjust it before
I shoot with SLRs like this I have to
shoot and then review the picture make
adjustments and then reshoot so getting
those exposures right is one of the
reasons I like to have an electronic
viewfinder on my camera I just want to
make the point like you can't say always
dial in one stop of exposure such a
compensation in this situation because
the Nikon bodies have a little bit more
complex metering system that can see
faces and stuff and just in my
experience something like a da 10 or
indeed 50 will often nail the exposure
on a face whereas my Canon equivalent
bodies would require me to put that
exposure compensation in manually they
both get the job done just fine but you
can see I can't just give everybody a
single rule for these different
situations because it does vary so much
from camera to camera are you freaked
out yet like this is a lot to handle
right but the good news is this happens
automatically after enough experience I
don't think through this entire process
my thumb just goes to the exposure
compensation dial and adjusts it and I
just automatically review pictures and
make adjustments is not even a conscious
process anymore
and again if you aren't at that
unconscious level yet then just keep
shooting and practicing in situations
where it's not critical where it's okay
if you blow this
if for sports and stuff I'm in shutter
priority mode now when my kid was
smaller like five six seven I was
usually at shutter priority one 250th of
a second and auto ISO and that would
work out okay she's gotten older and now
she moves a little faster and I have to
shoot a little faster shutter speed so I
might be at one 320th or one 500th it
kind of depends on how many megapixels
the camera body has because higher
megapixel bodies will show motion blur
more and how far away they are because
of course if they're closer you're gonna
see more motion too now if you want to
pick out the right shutter speed for
whatever situation you're shooting it's
a matter of shoot review adjust so you
started at one 250th take a take a
picture and check zoom in 1 to 1 and
check the amount of motion blur look at
a few different pictures I like to have
a little bit of motion blur some people
like to freeze it but a little bit of
motion blur will help your camera use a
lower ISO which will give you cleaner
images and it also to me adds something
to a sports image it shows more the
movement and emotion and that I really
like now if you have too much motion
blur use a faster shutter speed maybe
jump up to 1 3 xx or 1 500 if if
everything is completely frozen and you
want to see a little more motion blur
slow it down go down to one one sixtieth
if I'm shooting say high school sports
or college sports pro sports I'm gonna
be faster it might be at one one
thousandth of a second or maybe even one
two thousandth of a second if I'm close
in the action is really really fast I
can't say I ever really find a situation
where I need to go faster than 1 to
thousands of a second but it's very
personal just depending on how much
movement that you actually want to show
in the image and again I err on the side
of showings and movement again just like
before I'm in auto ISO here but I'm
thinking about my exposure compensation
if I'm shooting players and they're kind
of lit from the side by the Sun I don't
want to blow those highlights out so I'm
looking closely at those highlights when
I'm reviewing my pictures and I might
have to dial in some negative exposure
compensation if it's an overcast day the
picture could be washed out and the
histogram might be all in the middle in
that case I'll add a stop of
Bossier compensation and and part of
that has become automatic for me but I
still like to review the pictures look
for bling keys and make sure that my
exposure is okay wildlife for big flying
birds like Ospreys and eagles I'm
usually at 1 mm of a second that's
pretty fast again it kind of depends on
the body with high resolution bodies I
tend to have to go higher so I might be
at one thirty two one hundredths of a
second or 1/4 thousandths of a second
especially as they get closer I want to
go faster and faster if it's say an
Egret in the water trying to catch a
fish when they're still I might want to
shoot it at one 250th of a second but
that moment when they go and grab a fish
I want to freeze the water I want to
freeze the fish and I found that they're
moving very very fast so I need to be at
like one four thousand or 1/8
thousandths of a second for smaller
flying birds like songbirds I need to be
at at least 1/4 thousandths of a second
because they just flap much faster than
bigger birds do and for things like
hummingbirds really really fast I'm
gonna be at one eight thousandths of a
second for flying birds the sky is
always going to be your background so on
overcast days the sky is just gonna be
white and that's gonna throw off the
cameras X auto exposure system so on
overcast days flying birds I usually
have to add a stop of exposure
compensation again with the five es or
it might be a stop and a half but I need
to watch that really carefully if it's a
white bird then I might have to review
the pictures and make sure I'm not over
exposing the bird if it's a say an Egret
that's against water water tends to be
very dark depends on how the light is
reflecting but sometimes an Egret next
to the water the Egret will be eight or
ten stops brighter than the water and I
don't want to expose the Egret but the
camera's metering system will seal that
dark water and give me a really slow
shutter speed so I'll have to dial in
sometimes 2 negative 2 or negative 3
stops of exposure compensation but I'm
checking out the highlights on those
white birds to make sure that they're
not overexposed because you can pull up
shadows but you can only recover blown
out highlights so much now the rules are
different for perch birds because
they're holding still mostly but birds
are always like moving their head around
and they're on a branch usually and the
branch is moving up and down with the
wind and such too but also you have some
camera shake so I'm trying to use the
slowest shutter speed
I can in order to get my ISO as low as
possible usually perch birds are in the
shade of the woods or the forest or
whatever so your ISO can get high and
your pictures can be noisy so I want to
use a slower shutter speed I can my
process is I start in shutter priority
automatic ISO one 250th of a second and
I will take ten shots and if the birds
still there then I will double the
shutter speed I go to one 125th of a
second and I'll take 20 shots and if the
birds still hanging around I'll drop
down to one sixtieth of a second and
I'll take 40 shots and sometimes if I'm
feeling really ambitious and the bird is
still hanging around I'll drop to one
thirtieth of a second and just take as
many shots as I can now that can end up
being a lot of pictures of one bird but
you know if it's a portfolio where with
a picture that is totally worth it and
digital pictures don't cost you anything
you don't have to nail it on one try
that's silly I will import my pictures
and then review them backwards so I'll
start at the slowest shutter speeds and
look for that one picture that just
happened to end up sharp maybe the
branch was moving in the wind but it was
just at its apex and the bird just
happened to pause and in a camera shank
I might have had was just momentarily
frozen by the lenses image stabilization
and that will be my shot sometimes that
best shot ends up being at one thirtieth
of a second and sometimes it ends up
being at one sixtieth or one 125th but
with that process you're pretty much
guaranteed of getting one sharp shot
even if the bird takes off right away or
even if conditions are bad but when you
do have the time to be leisurely you're
gonna get the cleanest possible picture
now for astrophotography gets a little
more complex again I'm in manual mode I
will start out always the lenses wide
open because you're just gathering as
much light as you can on the ISO usually
starting out at 132 hundredths and then
the shutter speed at one thirtieth of a
second taking pictures of stars right
I'll take a picture and look at the
histogram I want the stars to be almost
peaking almost highlighted and if
they're not then I will raise my ISO up
to 164 one hundredth of a second one
12800 it it depends on the atmospheric
conditions where you are how high you
are in the atmosphere
how humid it is all this stuff you just
pretty much have to shoot and test
the shutter speed also really matters -
30 seconds will often give me star
trails sometimes 30 seconds is fine it
depends on my focal length the direction
I'm facing and how many megapixels the
camera has lower maker pixel cameras
will hide that some of that the motion
blur caused by the stars if there's
significant motion blur I'll drop the
shutter speed down to like 120th or one
fifteenth of a second there were
formulas you can use but for me it's
always easier to sit I'm just to take a
couple of test shots and zoom in one to
one and see how much motion blur there
is an adjust from there you know I have
to take a couple of test shots to nail
the exposure anyway so getting the
exposure right and cutting out the
motion blur are something I do in
typically two to three minutes taking
three or four shots and then I'm satin
and then I can just keep shooting at
those settings for the rest of the night
that's pretty much it again I know
that's a lot information overload is a
real thing for photographers how can you
possibly memorize that you're not going
to do it overnight some of you are going
to be really technically inclined and
you're gonna be able to master that
pretty quickly for other people it just
might make it not fun in which case you
should just keep having fun with it and
use auto mode I explained all this in
great detail in my book stunning digital
photography so check that out chapter
four is dedicated to camera settings and
then I go deeper into camera settings
and the different chapter is dedicated
to portraits and landscapes and wildlife
night photography all that is covered
they all require their own independent
processes I hope this helps that's
everything I know if you have follow-up
tips down below or other questions add a
comment and I'll do my best to answer it
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you bye