[Pic Thread]India 2014

steve_c

steve_c

steve_c

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Hi all

Just posting my results from my current trip to India.

A bit about me:

A year or two ago, I began to use a 650D primarily for work (product photography in a studio). I became a little more interested in photography this year and decided to go on a couple of lessons in January, before I embarked on the journey.

This is the first time I have ever used a camera in manual so the results are obviously nothing like some of the fantastic shots I keep seeing in this section of the forum.

I am currently using a Canon 5D Mark III and enjoying it immensely...
 
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India is a fantastic place to take photo's and you've caught some really good atmospheric shots, if there was on thing for me that would improve you compositions though it is getting away from the central compositions that are evident in quite a few of these think more about where your placing the key points of interest in the frame and the space you leave around them.
 
Some really nice shots there :)

I've hardly ever found the need to shoot in Manual. I just don't really see the point when you have Av & Tv. I've been a professional photographer for 6 years now, and when I am out and about I just don't see the need to be dealing with manually exposing a shot.

Granted I use M all the time in the studio, interior property jobs and certain other environments. But for holidays, outside shots or when you just want to capture the moment I've very very very rarely used anything other then AV along with +/-.

I usually get through every Wedding without using anything other than AV/TV modes (there is the odd occasion in funny lighting situations or if using flash off camera etc), until the evenings with flash. If there's bright sky I instinctively know to set the camera to underexpose a stop or two.

I'm sure some purists are going to disagree here but with kit like a 5D mkIII, it just doesn't get it that wrong in the day (three stops out) that you need to be in manual, while also giving you the option to under or over expose as much as you like.
 
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I certainly dont use manual for street shots. light conditions can change dramatically in the street.

These are great shots and a fantastic place to visit it seems
 
Thank you for the kind words, all.

I definitely need to work on composition as it was never really an issue in the studio (centered product shots with white bg).

I will probably start to work more with Av / Tv when I am confident that I am very well versed on fully manual operation...
 
steve_c said:
I will probably start to work more with Av / Tv when I am confident that I am very well versed on fully manual operation...
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Not wanting to derail your thread but I am very interested in what you think you will gain from using manual in these situations? For me I'd be in AV freeing me up to concentrate on composition rather than worrying about light meters and shutter speeds!

I guess my motivation for asking is because I never really use M unless I've got a flash on the camera or when I was shooting the northern lights.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Not wanting to derail your thread but I am very interested in what you think you will gain from using manual in these situations? For me I'd be in AV freeing me up to concentrate on composition rather than worrying about light meters and shutter speeds!

I guess my motivation for asking is because I never really use M unless I've got a flash on the camera or when I was shooting the northern lights.
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Well I was a complete beginner with regards to shooting outside of a studio.

I had very limited knowledge which basically centered around a photographer showing me which settings to use to shoot products with a flash.

I wanted to get a complete grip on manual shooting so that if I had any difficulty in metering etc when shooting in TV or Av then I would have the knowledge to go to manual and retake the shot.
 
steve_c said:
Well I was a complete beginner with regards to shooting outside of a studio.

I had very limited knowledge which basically centered around a photographer showing me which settings to use to shoot products with a flash.

I wanted to get a complete grip on manual shooting so that if I had any difficulty in metering etc when shooting in TV or Av then I would have the knowledge to go to manual and retake the shot.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, it's an unusual way of doing things but it looks to be working for you so I wouldn't change it.
 
So after a little bit of experimenting, I finally switched to AV for the remainder of my travels.

It started off a little strange but after a few days, I found it to come quite natural.

Rear button focusing is definitely the way to go.

I find that I'm now just using manual for cases where I want to have *complete* control (challenging scenarios).

A few more from India and a couple from Thailand:
 
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