Shooting in Aperture-Priority Mode

First, you need to select the Aperture-Priority Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the Av icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)

So, what does Aperture-Priority Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^

Aperture = Selectable

Shutter Speed = Auto

Exposure = Selectable

ISO Speed = Selectable

Picture Style = Selectable

White Balance = Selectable

AF Mode = Selectable

AF Point Selection = Selectable

Drive Mode = Selectable

Metering Mode = Selectable

Built-in Flash = Selectable

Most of the settings are selectable in Aperture-Priority Mode, it is about the SAME as Exposure-Priority Mode.  I would say there is no more honeymoon for user who choose this Mode. There are many things to aware and you need to try different setting in different situation, Manually :)

The Shutter Speed is in Auto. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the Aperture, Exposure and ISO Speeds for a normal shooting, just ignore the white balance, drive mode and etc at the beginning. If you choose Aperture Mode, I believe you want the subject to stand out more and blur unwanted background in most case. I will show it step by step, in simple way.

1) Set your desire Exposure.

2) Set your desire f-number. Do you still remember the chapter "Controlling the Depth of Field" ? I think I should repeat it again, simple one.

- If you higher the f-number, the Depth of Field will be wider. Therefore, both in front and back of the subject will be focus. 

- If you lower the f-number, the Depth of Field will be narrower. Therefore, only the subject is sharp and clear, most photographers like to create a soft background for portraits.

- I believe it is rare to see the Shutter Speed blinking (In Green Circle ) to show an error because of overexposure or underexposure. If you maximize the f-number and Exposure, the Shutter Speed will be slower, and you probably will get a blur image instead of overexposure ( Unless you shoot to the Sun, It is not recommended to do so without a proper filter ).

- If you minimize the f-number and Exposure, trust me, the Shutter Speed is fast enough for you to play around. :)

3) Set your desire ISO Speeds.

-If you found you can't get a satisfy result because of the dark environment, set the ISO speeds higher in order to increase the Shutter Speed to freeze the motion.

- You are advised to skip directly to Step 10 because the AF Point, AF Mode, Metering Mode, Drive Mode, White Balance, Picture Style and Built-in Flash are about the Same as Exposure-Priority Mode.

4) Set your desire AF Point.
- You can select your desire AF Point in this Mode. Unlike Auto Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape Mode and etc, you can now choose the point you want to be focused. The Red Square shows the selected AF Point.

5) Try to focus with Manual Focus.
- I strongly recommend the user who choose Aperture-Priority Mode use Manual Focus. All you need to do is push the button from AF to MF.

Well, although Auto Focus is very convenient in most of the time, you need to try Manual Focus in order to improve your skill. Also, Manual Focus save more battery than Auto Focus. If you do not have a Battery Grip ( I only use it when I attach the External Flash ), you can use Manual Focus so your battery can last for the whole day.

6) Set the AF Mode.

- I'm sorry to tell you that you are not allowed to use AF Mode if you are using Manual Focus. It is because once you selected Manual Focus, all the AF Mode selection will not works. Switch back to Auto Focus to capture moving objects. :)

7) Try different Drive Mode for continuous action.

- There are 5 different Drive Mode for my camera, which are Single, Low-Speed continuous Shutter, High-Speed Continuous Shutter, 2 seconds Timer and 10 seconds Timer.

The first thing you need to aware is light source. If the environment is too dark, you can forget about the Continuous Shutter because you will not get a sharp and clear picture. Please refer back to chapter "How to Freeze Motion?".

8) Set your desire Metering Mode.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Metering Mode work?"

9) Set your desire Drive Mode

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Drive Mode work?"

10) Set your desire White Balance and Picture Style.
- As a photographer, remember one important thing.

"Arrive the Destination EARLIER and Try the Best White Balance and Picture Style Setting."

Well, I believe you will need to understand the environment before the wedding dinner or party get started. The light sources are not going to change (unless at outdoors) and probably you can try on different White Balance and Picture Style, look for the best setting so you will not screw your job. :)

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Shooting in Shutter-Priority Mode

First, you need to select the Shutter-Priority Mode at the camera Mode Dial. You might found your Dial looks different, but I'm sure you can find the Tv icon ( In red circle) at the Dial :)

So, what does Shutter-Priority Mode do? Let's begin. These are the setting for my camera, but it will be about the same as yours as well. Do not worry ^^

Aperture = Auto

Shutter Speed = Selectable

Exposure = Selectable

ISO Speed = Selectable

Picture Style = Selectable

White Balance = Selectable

AF Mode = Selectable

AF Point Selection = Selectable

Drive Mode = Selectable

Metering Mode = Selectable

Built-in Flash = Selectable

Most of the settings are selectable in Shutter-Priority Mode, it is about the SAME as Exposure-Priority Mode.  I would say there is no more honeymoon for user who choose this Mode. There are many things to aware and you need to try different setting in different situation, Manually :)

The Aperture is in Auto. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the Shutter Speed, Exposure and ISO Speeds for a normal shooting, just ignore the white balance, drive mode and etc at the beginning. I believe you want to freeze motion if you choose Shutter-Priority Mode. But all these settings will affect each other all the time. I will show it step by step, in simple way.

1) Set your desire Exposure.

2) Set your desire Shutter Speed. 

- If the environment is not very bright, maybe cloudy or at indoor, you will see the f-number blinking ( In  Green Circle) once you set the Shutter Speed too fast. It is because according to your desire Exposure, you are not allow to use certain Shutter Speed. Therefore, the Aperture reach lowest f-number limit and it blink to show as an error.

- If you select a slower Shutter Speed, notice the f-number gets higher in order to balance the Exposure. Once you Shutter Speed get too slow, the f-number might reach the highest limit and it will blink to show as an error as well. 

3) Set your desire ISO Speeds.

-If you found you can't get a satisfy result because of the dark environment, set the ISO speeds higher in order to increase the Shutter Speed to freeze the motion.

- You are advised to skip directly to Step 11 because the AF Point, AF Mode, Metering Mode, Drive Mode, White Balance, Picture Style and Built-in Flash are about the Same as Program AE Mode.

4) Set your desire AF Point.

- You can select your desire AF Point in this Mode. Unlike Auto Mode, Portrait Mode, Landscape Mode and etc, you can now choose the point you want to be focused. The Red Square shows the selected AF Point.

5) Try to focus with Manual Focus.

- I strongly recommend the user who choose Shutter-Priority Mode use Manual Focus. All you need to do is push the button from AF to MF.

Well, although Auto Focus is very convenient in most of the time, you need to try Manual Focus in order to improve your skill. Also, Manual Focus save more battery than Auto Focus. If you do not have a Battery Grip ( I only use it when I attach the External Flash ), you can use Manual Focus so your battery can last for the whole day.

6) Set the AF Mode.

- I'm sorry to tell you that you are not allowed to use AF Mode if you are using Manual Focus. It is because once you selected Manual Focus, all the AF Mode selection will not works. Switch back to Auto Focus to capture moving objects. :)

7) Try different Drive Mode for continuous action.

- There are 5 different Drive Mode for my camera, which are Single, Low-Speed continuous Shutter, High-Speed Continuous Shutter, 2 seconds Timer and 10 seconds Timer.

The first thing you need to aware is light source. If the environment is too dark, you can forget about the Continuous Shutter because you will not get a sharp and clear picture. Please refer back to chapter "How to Freeze Motion?".

8) Set your desire White Balance and Picture Style.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does White Balance work?" and "How does Picture Style work?"

9) Set your desire Metering Mode.

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Metering Mode work?"

10) Set your desire Drive Mode

- Please refer back to chapter "How does Drive Mode work?"

11) There are some different between Aperture-Priority Mode and Shutter-Priority Mode. The first thing, of course, it is to control the Shutter Speed in this Mode. And most of the time, user who choose Shutter-Priority Mode shoot with a faster Shutter Speed instead of a slower Shutter Speed.

Do you ever notice, the faster Shutter Speed will lose some details at the background? You don't, am I right? Your goal might only to freeze the motion of the focused object, you do not care about the background? Let's discuss in next chapter. :)

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Understanding the Mood of Pictures

Do you ever feel the atmosphere when you see the picture? Can you feel the Mood of the picture when it is captured? Well, I'm not a psychic, I can't really tell what was happening at that moment by looking at the photos :)

Mood, it is something you can't be taught, you need to feel by yourselves. But, there are theories, scientific prove, some colours have their Mood. I'm not going to show you all the theories in here, I will only show you photos.

This photo was shot in a dark room. The light was shooting from the top of the castle. I might not doing the lighting well, but I hope the castle looks "silence", "mystery", "cool" or "it looks like Tron". Also, you need to clear all the unwanted things at the background so it won't spoil the Mood.

While this photo was shooting with the Built-in Flash of my camera. As you can see, the shadow of the castle was captured, the flash fired from the front of the castle, and the castle just ... ...well, normal, nothing special, it just a 3D puzzle, it sucks ... :(

Background Shadow, it is something you do not want in the photo most of the time. But as long as you use a flash, you will capture shadow as well. So you need to find an angle to avoid the shadow being captured, at least you need to minimize it. 

Therefore, if you want to get a picture with Mood, you need to have imagination. Think and not just simply shoot with a flash because of underexposure.

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