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ctfchallenge | all galleries >> C183 - Ellipses >> C183 - Exhibition > Natural Shapes
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15-APR-2009 Penny Street

Natural Shapes


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ctfchallenge19-Apr-2009 00:52
Stop using "TV" Rod. I refuse to be used. Besides, TV and AV are only marginally less automated and to my mind more risky. I use P until I start thinking, in which case I use M.. or quit. -tv
Rod 18-Apr-2009 03:16
I'm teasing you a bit Penny don't worry:-) P mode produces as good a picy as any other mode, it's only when you want to blur a moving subject or get a certain DOF or maybe a fast shutter speed for sports etc that you have to use the TV, Av, manual modes. For general purpose picys it will be just fine unless you want to control as much as possible yourself. I always use Av & manual modes but when I'm having a drink & have to use the flash I put it in auto or P mode so I can't stuff anything up.
ctfchallenge18-Apr-2009 03:05
I didn't laugh at your serious comment. I laughed at Tommy's silly comment.
And what I meant was that tv seems to take good picys so he must know if he can get away with P or not. I realize that I need to get back to my thinking modes, however.
Penny Street
Rod 18-Apr-2009 01:52
That's strange Penny you don't laugh when I'm trying to be funny & you laugh now when I've just made a serious comment. Anyhow that's part of your charm a. As far as you saying that Tommy knows what he's doing then you would have to question why he hasn't used his viewfinder info or the light button on his 20D & I would imagine the Nikon should have one as well.
Tommy is very wise Penny but as Aristotle said about 2500 years ago " A wise man knows what he doesn't know"
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 23:57
"I have to through in my two sense and confuse that I am in Pretend mode all the time" ?? this must be a joke.
Anyway, you made me laugh. Rod, I'm pretty sure tv knows what he's doing...
And I took ALL my today picys in AV. (we'll see how THAT went).
Penny Street
Rod 17-Apr-2009 23:34
On my 350D & 40D you can turn on a light to see the settings on the top LCD Tommy, also if you half click all the important settings come up in the viewfinder & can easily be seen. The important thing when taking picys is that our minds are not flustered so we can bring to the picy whatever creativity we can muster so if using P mode does this & we're happy with the results then P mode is fine to use a.
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 20:26
I have to through in my two sense and confuse that I am in Pretend mode all the time but my joints tell me to face facts of fading facilities. I'll try lingering but I'm not optimistic.
Seriously, I myself have to leave the main control on P or risk losing too many shots forgetting to check the settings before shooting. At night, on my 20D and Nikons I can't see the settings on the top panel so how can I control them? The old cameras were much better with readable aperture rings and shutter speed dials. These digital things are awful, except for the later Rebels like the XTI with bright displays in the LCD. -tv
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 19:28
Penny, A-Dep activates all of the focus points and sets the correct aperture and shutter depending on your chosen ISO. (I sometimes wish I had more focus points!) I use it sometimes, say for a landscape, when I want to make sure everything is in focus front to back. I usually then switch to M mode and adjust the settings the camera chose to get the exposure I want. CJ
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 17:48
That's a funny story about your cousin's wife Penny :-) I have a similar one. I have my business in a large building along with a handful of rival businesses. On any given day one or the other of us can be seen strolling down a hallway with fancy macro shooting setup in hand on our way to a customer to shoot some patient tooth images. There is one rival in particular who likes to spread the word that he is "Mr. Macro" around the building. I recently learned he accidentally moved his macro settings from the way the camera store guy had set them for him. He had to go back to the store to have them reset properly ;-)
~Brent
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 17:01
It's not that I "never" use the other modes - in fact AV is my favorite, but I do use P a lot. I'll stop - I'm over it now. Am I talking to Brent?

You're not going to believe this one - my cousin and his wife (she's Dutch and they live in Amsterdam) were here for a visit in January and she took out her 5D with the 24-105 lens. I asked her if I could look at it and she got all fidgety. Then I noticed that she had it set to automatic. As I turned the buttons I said - don't worry I'll put them back where they were - then she relaxed. Penny Street
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 16:53
Thanks Doug, Rod, and Shu-

I wrote the first comment before I had my morning wake up pill, Rod - I just find that most of the time I'm using the P setting instead of thinking - that's because the camera adjusts so well. I'm still wondering what Brent will say...

Carole, basically with the P setting all you need to do is choose the ISO and the camera picks the fstop and shutter speed. Of course, I do adjust the +/- thingy as well (mostly to underexpose) depending on how bright and contrasty the light is. With my XSi, I used the different programs more often.
Now I have one for you - What is A-Dep?

I think I need to go read my manual again. Maybe this time I'll start at the end and read backwards.

So far as the composition, I'll take the credit as this is not cropped (oh maybe a teeny bit when I realized the picy was still too big for PBase). But with the full frame it is so easy (and tempting) to reduce and still have good quality.
Penny Street
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 16:50
Okay Penny dear I am going to quietly pull you aside and talk about the "P" mode on your camera :-) For all intensive purposes it is best to think of it as the "pretend it isn't there button". Program Auto Exposure is just one step down from fully automatic exposure on a point and shoot camera. It gives you no artistic control over the aperture or the shutter speed at all. You are much better off using the Av setting most of the time to set your aperture for a DOF you determine is suitable for your composition. I use Av (aperture priority) mostly, M (fully manual) some of the time, and Tv (shutter priority) once in a while. That's it.
I was at a 5D2 presentation by one of the head reps for Canon last weekend. He brought up the "P" setting on the camera with embarrassment about about the fact it was even on such an advanced camera and there were quite a few laughs from the audience. I suppose it is good to have it and the full auto setting on the dial in case you are at an event and some novice wants to do some snaps with your camera, but for you- "P"retend it isn't there :-)
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 15:01
Beautiful Penny - wonderful colors and composition! I've never used the P setting - usually use M, Tv, Av, or A-Dep, depending on the shot. I can't even remember what the features of the P setting are. Am I missing something? CJ
Rod 17-Apr-2009 14:42
I can't see how the lens would affect whether you P mode or not, what do you mean Penny?
Shu17-Apr-2009 13:14
Great shot and comment, Penny! shu
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 11:42
Thanks for the comments and yes, this was at Macys - WB on auto.
I like this lens a lot because it does pretty much everything, all round.
Brent I'm curious how much of the time, using this lens, you wind up using the P setting?
FYI, Rod, thanks for including me and I'll be your friend forever but, belonging to a clique is not something I aspire to - in fact I try to avoid them..
Penny Street
Rod 17-Apr-2009 05:26
A lens is a lens Dougy its Penny that is sweet:-)
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 04:38
So delicate and even the bokeh is soft. Yes, I'm guessing that lens is sweet especially on a full frame. -Doug
ctfchallenge17-Apr-2009 04:15
Very pretty Penny, this must be from that Macy's event you mentioned? The color looks great. Don't you love the versatility of that lens?
~Brent
Rod 17-Apr-2009 03:46
Ah luverly grubbily this looks really nicely composed wiv the flowers running through the frame on that angle. & the interest in the flowers towards the back are helped by the light on them. The background is suitably dark & muted to give a nice mood. Nicely done Clique member # 5:-)