Aperture Priority? But I’m a Manual Mode Guy

Friday, February 11, 2011 Posted in Misc. Articles, Misc. Photos

As it’s now Friday and the weekend is fast approaching I thought I’d finish off giving you a ‘heads up’ as to what will be on the blog next week…

The shot above is from a photo shoot this week; a whole day shoot both out on location and in the studio for a model portfolio. I’m going to put together a ‘walk through’ showing some of the ‘location’ shots which incidentally found us in Windsor & Eton, UK for a few hours plus a look at what we did in the studio. Lighting was kept really simple whilst out on location using Nikon Speedlights and a couple of modifiers but the main thing I have to mention is that this was the first ever complete client shoot I shot in Aperture Priorty and TTL using the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 and Flex TT5′s we’ve talked about over the past couple of posts.

I’ll explain more next week but in a word they were Awesome! Shooting in Aperture Priority with flash for me was a first as I’m normally a 100% ‘Manual Mode Guy’ but hey I had not one single misfire, no weird behaviour…just 100% reliable and what’s more, shooting this way with the Nikon SU800 in the mix too meant I was able to work alot faster. Now don’t think I’m looking at changing my way of shooting but this was certainly a pleasant surprise so I’ll let you know more about what went on plus I’ll be passing on a tip that stopped my kit taking a dive into the River Thames

Also I’ll be posting another book review plus a post I’m giving the title ‘Are you Poor?‘ ; sounds a little odd maybe but in true ‘Friday’ fashion, I’ll explain all next week.

Have a great weekend and I’ll catch you Monday,
Enjoy

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18 comments

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February 11, 2011 - 10:12 pm

Russell Pritchard - Glyn,
saw some of the guys at the Amir Khan press conference using the Flex TT5 i’m just hoping my wife has got me one of these things for Valentines Day !!

I’ll not hold my breath

February 11, 2011 - 10:45 pm

Tim Skipper - I’m always nervous in AP mode, but I think I will try it next time I’m using the Pocket Wizard Mini & Flex.

February 12, 2011 - 8:17 am

DT - Glyn,

How interesting. I’m almost the complete opposite for flash. I used to use AV (aperture priority) almost exclusively. Now I use manual mode a lot in order to control the ambient light without resorting to exposure compensation. But, I always shoot with flash on TTL as opposed to manual flash settings. I haven’t got to grips with manual on flash yet - though I can see the advantage of absolute consistency. I suppose it all comes down to what methods we were taught/learnt to start with.

I have been using the Flex and mini for around nine months and find that they work quite well.

Looking forward to reading your posts next week.

Dave

February 12, 2011 - 8:37 am

Glyn - @Russell…Good luck with that mate; here’s hoping you’re right

February 12, 2011 - 9:31 am

Paul Hodgson - Looking forward to those articles next week Glyn. Out of curiosity, for the image above, did you use 4 flash guns? One overhead, one each for rim and one for the back wall?

February 12, 2011 - 9:44 am

Glyn - @Tim…Go on, be a devil and give it a try

February 12, 2011 - 9:47 am

Glyn - @Dave…Its always fascinating to hear how other people shoot. Like I said, as a rule I shoot in manual when using flash but changing things up was quite a nice change and actually surprisingly user friendly.

Don’t intend to change my shooting style; just yet anyway

Cheers,
Glyn

February 12, 2011 - 9:50 am

Glyn - @Paul…You’ve no idea how happy your comment has made me The photo in this post is actually a composite where I added in the background during post production so the fact you ask if it was lit etc makes me happy…real happy

I’ll cover all that was done during the posts next week.

Have a great weekend mate,
Thanks again,
Glyn

February 12, 2011 - 11:30 am

Scot Baston - Hey Glyn, Aperture mode?? whatever next?

I must admit I have been an Aperture mode guy up until recently, more because Canon Flash is not quite as easy to control off camera as your lovely Nikon. Having said that, I’m getting plenty of ideas from Syl Arena’s new book ‘ Speedliter’s Handbook so soon I’ll be squeezing every last drop out of my speedlites.

Really looking forward to hooking up again soon

Seeya

Scot

February 12, 2011 - 2:25 pm

Keith Hammond - looking forward to it, will be good to see how you got on once out of your comfort zone
I mainly shoot Aperture because when situations change quickly i find i can change to suit it, although i do shoot some manual when i have more time as in set up shots like ring detail / cake etc

February 12, 2011 - 6:54 pm

Dave Clayton - Glyn let me into a a secret, he shoots it all on Auto and only uses the on camera pop up flash. Then edits in Apple Aperture and Paint Shop Pro. True fact ;o)

February 13, 2011 - 12:38 am

Sam - Glyn,

I am a faithful reader to your blog. You have some great stuff. I had your post open today and I just had to laugh. You post was open in a tab in firefox and I was ready something else when I looked back at my tabs and noticed the top bar abbreviated your title to “Aperture Priorty? But I’m a Man…” I thought that was hysterical and thought you might enjoy. I took a screen capture I am not sure if it will load or not. If not you get the idea.

Sam

P.S. you misspelled priority.

February 13, 2011 - 8:08 am

Glyn - @Scot…Yeah I know mate..starting to come over all dizzy
Syl’s book sounds interesting, so I’ll be looking to see what you come up with soon then.

Cheers and see you soon,
Glyn

February 13, 2011 - 8:09 am

Glyn - @Keith…Yeah shooting Aperture Priority with flash was a completely new experience but one I’ll definitely look into a little more when using speedlights. The Mini and Flex performed brilliantly which meant working real quick.

Cheers, Glyn

February 13, 2011 - 8:11 am

Glyn - @Dave…Now that’s blown it; secrets out lol

February 13, 2011 - 8:13 am

Glyn - @Sam…Superb lol I can see exactly what you mean there
Thanks for being a ‘faithful reader’; it’s good to know you’re looking in and that some of it is useful.

Best wishes,
Glyn

ps> Cheers for the ‘heads up’ re the spelling mistake

February 16, 2011 - 8:04 pm

Matthew Roach - I have been a die-hard full manual (camera & flash) shooter for a long time now. But a few months back I had the opportunity to shoot a portrait shot for a Chemist (the blow things up & make stuff smoke kind).

He wanted a good portrait shot which told the story of being a Chemist without resorting to the old-hat coloured test tubes. Luckily he is a photographer as well & we set about making the shot happen. The concept we settled on was such that it would have been impossible to actually shoot the camera in Manual (although the flashes had to be) & Aperture Priority was necessary.

That shoot opened my eyes to the fact that each shoot needs specific things & I had been closing my mind to other possibilities (by only shooting Manual) which could have made my work easier & possibly better.

Here’s the resulting shot with some more explanation & you can see why AP over M was chosen;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/demosthien/5075062768/in/set-72157624135834476/

February 16, 2011 - 10:09 pm

Glyn - @Matthew…Absolutely mate. Just from this shoot I experienced a massive plus to shooting in a different style. As you say, each shoot is different but keeping closed to one way of shooting can possibly limit the creative side of what we produce.

Lots more to be looked into with this but it’s looking good so far. Like I said in the post, I’m not looking to change completely but having this style at my disposal is certainly handy.

Cheers for the link; I’ll head on over there now and take a look at the result you got from the chemist shoot which sounds like a blast…pardon the pun

Cheers,
Glyn

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Aperture Priority? But I’m a Manual Mode Guy