Not a bird

[...]

It certainly can. But it can never know what the photographer intended,
and it can never set the exposure and focus in advance of the
photographer framing the shot and squeezing the button. Manual metering
_in_advance_ and having known focus settings _in_advance_ can do that,
resulting in no time at all between squeezing the button and the photo
actually being taken - because the human involved has already set the
exposure and got the focus close to what's needed before even framing
the shot. If zone focussing is used, exploiting depth of field or
hyperfocal distance, the first shot is in the bag before precise
focussing is even tried.

Don't just react to things you want to photograph, predict them. When
you react without planning, you get snapshots. Fine if that's what you
want, and better than nothing if an unexpected opportunity arises (such
as moonrise over Hernandez) but if you've planned to be there and
planned to take photos of [whatever it is] then why haven't you planned
_how_ those photos will be taken?

 

This might help clarify what a digital camera does:
<http://photo.net/learn/raw/> "Learn about RAW, JPEG, and TIFF with the
digital photography experts at Photo.net."

 

That article, by Bob Atkins, is pretty good. It has nothing at all to
do with this thread though...

 

There are several automatic exposure modes possible, eg:

- camera sets everything
- camera sets everything except shutter speed
- camera sets everything except aperture
- camera sets everything except ISO 'speed'
- camera sets only ISO 'speed'
- camera sets only aperture
- camera sets only shutter speed

and so on. If the camera sets /anything/ for itself, then you are using
'automatic exposure'. There is only one setting that isn't automatic
exposure, namely:

- camera sets nothing, photographer makes all decisions.

 

On Sun, 05 Jan 2014 19:07:32 +0000, Whiskers

--- snip ----

While we are quibbling - ISO is not a measure of speed. It's a measure
of sensitivity to light.

 

And when the "camera sets only ISO". The photographer sets the exposure.

 

I do plan how the photos will be taken.

That's why my camera is left on 'Scene' mode.

 

Which generations of photographers have referred to as "film speed".
Notice my use of scare quotes. If we're /really/ quibbling, in a
digital camera the "ISO setting" doesn't change the sensitivity of
anything, instead it changes the amount of electronic &/or digital
"amplification" applied to the signal from the sensor.

 

.... and then the camera automatically decides what 'film speed' to use
to get as near as it can to whatever its programming dictates the
correct image characteristics are. This is *not* a manual exposure
setting, it's just one particular mode of automation.

If you want to dictate the properties of the image recorded by the
camera, do not allow the camera to do anything automatically.

 

Apart from describing what the "ISO setting" on a digital camera
actually does, which seems to me to be something very much to do with
this thread.

 

In that case, whoever wrote the program used by your camera "in 'Scene'
mode" planned how the photos will be taken. You choose what and when,
but not how.

 

Didn't you see the smiley?

My most common mode is aperture priority. I do make adjustments to the
exposure according to my evaluation of what is needed. If I'm at all
in doubt I check the histogram in the display. I find I can't tell
much about what the final image is going to look like from the display
in the back of the camera.

 

Actually the opposite. Days are long in the summer as well as nights in the
winter. In between it is minimal transition during the Equinox. OTOH, near
the Equator, the transition period is rapid. Think about it and it will make
sense.

One thing that makes sense to me right now is that I wish I was where you
are. Quickly. Low tonight in the high teens and not getting out of the mid
thirties until Tuesday afternoon. Crazy!

 

It says as little as possible about it, in a very clear attempt to
totally avoid the subject.

 

My wife and I are leaving town Tuesday because it's too cold here!
It's 72 (F) as I write this, but supposed to drop down to the 40s in
the coming week. We're heading south to Vero Beach or Stuart or
somewhere down there.

We'd leave Monday, but Rick Sammon is speaking at my camera club
Monday evening, and then the Florida State/Auburn game is on. Gotta
be here to watch that.

http://kelbytraining.com/author/rick-sammon/

I just hope Rick isn't coming in from somewhere where the flights
aren't flighting.

 

Not all the way over there.

Only one's mind's eye can envisage the final result, and only experience
can help one achieve it.

 

Have fun! We're going to Key West next month before Southwest cancels the
route. Go for 14, FSU!!!

 

I have met him several times. He is a gentlemen in every sense of the
word. while I will not go into details, the first time I met him he
offered to give someone I know personal advice and become a personal
career mentor for this person, without charge.
I was astounded at the generosity of his offer. When I mentioned it to
someone else, he said Rick often does things like that.

 

On 1/5/2014 7:05 PM, George Kerby wrote:

Just to rub it in, I am now south of tony Cooper, and plan a short drive
to the Keys today. I don't expect much wildlife, but will be looking for
landscape potential. Most likely, it will just be a pleasant drive.