[Pic Thread]India 2014

[steve_c]

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...

 

[steve_c]

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]

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.

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]

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: