Shooting action in manual

LRussoPhoto · May 22, 2011

New to this site (which im hooked on, love the fact that there are so many sports/motocross photog's here) and only been into photography for a little over a year or so.
I read everywhere that you should learn how to shoot in manual...... Which I have been trying to do for everything expect action. My question is what is the benefit to shooting in manual when shooting action? Although I pick a perticular spot (in my case on the motocross track) set up in either apurter or shutter priority and take a bunch of shots, then move onto another spot. I find im always moving around around as im shooting. Always shooting in the same general direction but zooming in zooming out, little left, little right, panning. If I were shooting in manual doing all this stuff wouldnt my exposer be totally off? I would think if i set up in manual, wouldn't i have to stay locked in at a certain focal length and in the exact same direction?

LRussoPhoto · May 22, 2011

Yes I mean full manual exposer not focus. Ok, but if you expose for your surfer and not the whole scene wont the rest be overexposed and look blown out? Also as the surfer moves along the wave and the light changes as well as the angle of the sun in relation to the surfer wont that change the correct exposer setting?
Please dont take my response as saying your are wrong, I am just trying to understand. And it seems like your are saying for shooting motocross av would be the way to go, right?

LRussoPhoto · May 23, 2011

So when you shooting in manual what metering mode would you use? Spot or center weighted or maybe even matrix???? I usually use center weighted for my metering when shooting mx. And what would you meter off of? I guess for surfing you'd meter off the surfer, for motocross people have said to meter off something nuetral like the dirt, whats your opinion?

ivar · May 23, 2011

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

New to this site (which im hooked on, love the fact that there are so many sports/motocross photog's here) and only been into photography for a little over a year or so.

Welcome

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

I read everywhere that you should learn how to shoot in manual......

I try to not comment on these type of things, I really do, but every now and then I need to vent. I apologize beforehand for not having an answer to you question.

I really, really, really, REALLY disagree with you having to shoot manual. I do believe it is very important to understand exposure (manual shooting, if you will) though!

You should use whatever works best for you. If that is manual, great. If that is Shutter Priority (or anything else), just as great.

If you understand exposure (and cameras) you understand what you are doing and you know what to do to get the job done. A lot of times I shoot Aperture Priority in combination with some exposure compensation. I could have used manual as well and I would have ended up on the exact same values for shutter and aperture. Shooting Aperture P is just easier for me. One silly little example: to me it is easier to select EV+1 instead of having to think about what the next full stop ShutterSpeed value would be. It is not that I can't. It is easier and quicker FOR ME to do it like this. (it is also visible in an analog way (a 'needle on a scale' instead of numbers) in the viewfinder, which helps me since that tends to work better for me) I do shoot manual as well, depending on my subject.

From personal experience, this does not aply to everyone: It are usually the 'look at me' people who think it is cool to shoot manual for some reason, while I think it is 'more cool' to know what you are doing and get the job done in the best and easiest way to you.

Moral of the story: Learn to understand exposure and metering. If you understand those, shooting manual will probably be (almost) as easy for you as shooting Shutterspeed Priority. And then YOU can choose how YOU want to shoot.

LRussoPhoto · May 23, 2011

Thanks guys

jhefti · May 25, 2011

ivar wrote: »

Welcome

You should use whatever works best for you. If that is manual, great. If that is Shutter Priority (or anything else), just as great.

If you understand exposure (and cameras) you understand what you are doing and you know what to do to get the job done.

Moral of the story: Learn to understand exposure and metering. If you understand those, shooting manual will probably be (almost) as easy for you as shooting Shutterspeed Priority. And then YOU can choose how YOU want to shoot.

Couldn't agree more, Ivar! A pro photog friend told me after I bought my first dSLR to shoot manual and RAW for the first year, just to learn how to expose. Then I can choose the program that works best. I did so, and now use manual >95% of the time, because it is easier. Sometimes, like at a recent soccer game in hazy-bright light but with clouds periodically blocking the sun, I switch to Av mode with the proper offset. Not sure if I got more keepers, but my focus was on the action and not the meter.

All in all though, I much prefer manual (and RAW as well, though that is a different conversation).

lifeinfocus · May 29, 2011

I have a taken different approach, being self taught. I used Aperture and Shutter priority for the first few years and I got some great pics. I shot a lot of college football from the side of field to front row in stands using shutter priority. On clear days I stayed with shutter priority, changing settings a little as game went on and light changed. For nature still images (mostly flowers) I used to use Aperture priority, now I am using manual for that because I want to learn to work with manual and because I think I will have more control of my shots. With flowers I do not necessarily always want to have dead on exposure - sometimes I like to have it underexposed - to give it that dark feeling.

Then there are the very rare instances I use program mode - when I am shooting small birds in wildlife areas where the light changes very quickly as they move to outside a bush to inside a bush. You can still have a little control using this mode.

I have tried aperture, shutter and recently program mode for children's plays where the light is not great and use of flash wouldn't do. So, I think the answer is "it depends" on your experience and the situation. Flexibility is key I think.

From what I have read it seems that full time "sports photographers" use manual most often, but in my opinion that is for people who shoot sports all the time. Plus they use some great lenses that I can't afford.

Anyway, just my experience and learning all the time.

Trying to keep LifeInFocus.

Phil

pathfinder · May 31, 2011

If you are in a venue where the lighting rarely changes, or changes slowly, then Manual Exposure gives very consistent exposures frame after frame. If the lighting changes rapidly, as clouds passing over the sun in and out, Av mode ( or even Tv mode sometimes ) may be easier to use, so that you can concentrate on composition and timing, and the camera can watch out for the sun light coming and going.

Like Ivar said, in good hands both will work very well. Some sport shooters prefer Tv mode, and some Manual mode or Av. The only right answer is the one that is right for you.

I shoot Manual mode and Av mode the vast majority of the time, but I shoot mostly landscapes and wildlife.

TrickTheLight · June 29, 2011

I am a sports shooter, and I have been shooting manual a lot recently. I only do so because I am shooting in a wierd environment. I shoot amateur mixed martial arts, and the lighting, and glare, confuse my camera's metering terribly. Some shots have a lot of glare on a fighters skin, or have a lot of unlit background in the frame. Worst of all, often I am shooting directly towards the event lighting. Maybe I just haven't figured out the right metering mode for this environment, but for me, the best approach has been manual, refining as I go.

The real trick is understanding how exposure works. I try to use the most automatic approach that will get the results I want. Most of the time, that's Av or Tv. But in the cage, that approach gets me too many wrecked shots.

ThatCanonGuy · July 2, 2011

I use manual because it gives me total control over the shot. There are times when I want to control how my photo looks instead of my camera controlling it. That said, I do use Av quite often. It saves me time, so I don't have to think about exposure. Usually when I'm shooting action I will use Av, unless the lighting is really wierd. For me, it depends on the type of shooting I'm doing. When I have plenty of time to make the exposure just right, I'll use manual; if I'm in a hurry, I'll use Av. I can always fine tune the exposure in post.

LRussoPhoto · July 2, 2011

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

I use manual because it gives me total control over the shot. There are times when I want to control how my photo looks instead of my camera controlling it. That said, I do use Av quite often. It saves me time, so I don't have to think about exposure. Usually when I'm shooting action I will use Av, unless the lighting is really wierd. For me, it depends on the type of shooting I'm doing. When I have plenty of time to make the exposure just right, I'll use manual; if I'm in a hurry, I'll use Av. I can always fine tune the exposure in post.

Thats what I tend to do. When im shooting at the track I use Av, just because its quicker. I am still always watching my meter to make sure i'm getting the apeture and shutter speed I want. I feel like if im in manual i am locked into just one specific shot (because even if I move slightly in one direction the exposure would change), were as with av i have more of a variety of shots in a general area.

Shooting action in manual

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