Street photography settings

[sustento]

I've been reading about street photography on the 'net and, as usual, everyone says something different. Some say to use aperture priority at F8 and let the camera judge the shutter speed. Others gasp in horror and say you should always use shutter priority so you always 'get the shot'. Still others say manual all the way.

What do you use?

[ETatBKK]

I use aperture priority with wide aperture setting. a good picture not always mean a good technical photo with sharpness on every pixel. I want to catch the ambient ( my subject ) rather than the people or the physical objects.

my own opinion.

[rhythmworx]

I personally would use aperture and set it to the desired depth of field I want, that can vary with situation and surroundings. There's a lot of variables such as available light and what shutter speed you'll get. I'd still use aperture though too dark open up a bit and bump up ISO. Depth of field for a given fstop will vary with sensor size and subject distance.

I don't believe there is 1 set answer TBH.

Edited October 10, 2014 by rhythmworx

[sunshine51]

RW....too right...no one set answer. I use manual mostly...especially in tricky lighting

conditions and on streets tricky lighting conditions abound. Also a good WB (white

balance) should be done at nearly every light change...and take the camera off AWB!

Once one has different WB settings stored in memory one can easily change to whatever

suits the condition for the shot/time of day/location. If one is comfortable with AF & it works

for them...fine. Aperture & shuter priorities have both advantages & disadvantages...here's

just one example...you're tight on a subject, focus is razor sharp, just about to release

that shutter and a white truck passes behind the subject on a "cloudy-bright" day. If you're

in shutter priority the results may not be what you wanted at all....same-same for aperture

priority depending on whether your in spot (chose the size) or average or 3D or whatever

your metering may be set at. If you have a higher end DSLR locate that DOF preview

button and USE IT! Use it often! Street shooting has as many variables as there are street

shooters...many settings may overlap but almost no two will be the same between shooters.

Best advice...try a few settings while out on the streets, remember said settings (jot em down

on paper even), view the results & go with what worked the best. Next time out try the same

settings again & see what happens, if it worls again great, if it doesn't change settings to

correct what went wrong and try again. Hit the streets at different times of the day under

all kinds of lighting conditions...stay out after dark too. You will finally find a set of good

general settings for you & your camera in due time. Hope this helps everybody...

[fimgirl]

I'm asuming you're referring to "grab shot" street shooting. If so, and not being aware of what camera you use, then auto ISO is the key (if you have this facility)

I use manual control because I want to be in control. I want a sharp image in focus. AV or TV alone doesn't guarantee this.

I set 1/250th @ f8 and AUTO ISO and AWB. The shutter speed "guarantees" sharpness and the aperture should get most in focus with AF. (Remember though, 1/3rd in front, 2/3rds behind). If I'm shooting manual focus then I set per zone focusing.

As the light and conditions change the auto ISO will adjust to ensure an accurate exposure. AWB does NOT correct for light conditions, it is for varitions in colour.

This leaves YOU in control. The only variation is selective focusing and this is adjusted via aperture. As such, I only have one adjustment to make and if you're seeking "the decisive moment" speed is the criteria ?

Leave the camera on AWB and ignore hitting the DOF button. White balance can be corrected in post and constantly hitting the DOF button....... Well, you tell me! We're talking street here, reaction is the essence.

Hope this helps.

Edited October 23, 2014 by fimgirl

[sunshine51]

For the OP...

Vive La Difference!

I use basically 3 WB settings...one for early AM, one for local apparent noon and one for

sunset. If AWB works well on your camera and there's no reason it should not be "good

enough", go with it as FG says. I use my DOF button in a general sense to check that

whatever aperture I'm at I'm getting the DOF I want but do not use it before every shot;

it's just a fast guide...takes a couple seconds...works good for me. My shutter speeds

& aperture can change depending on what I want to achieve. Auto ISO is fine too and

can help heaps in tricky lighting condidions. So can experimenting with different ISO

settings under different lighting conditions and finding a few that suit what you want to

portray and how that portrayal is achieved...then saving those settings. Post processing

is nice but I really don't like spending hours in post on an exposure...that bores me.

NB...edit to add a bit on my thoughts concerning auto ISO.

Edited October 24, 2014 by sunshine51

[rhythmworx]

SS...I find the DOF button to be a waste of space TBH, am I missing something?

What I see just looking through the viewfinder is the lenses widest aperture, if I stop down large amounts and use the DOF button it gets too dark to notice properly and even without it I have a good idea of the DOF I will get at any given aperture with my current lenses.

My fastest lens is the 50 1.8 on crop sensor....I just cant picture myself ever using that button, possibly with the exception of a macro lens and macro shot or maybe 1/3 stop down from widest if the wide is too shallow.

[sunshine51]

^^^ RW....nah you're not missing anything! As long as your head & aperture settings are in sync things will

be fine. For me it's just a hold-over from ages ago (film daze) that I use at times these days. Yeah...it do

get a bit dark in the VF and that's a good thing too so's one can see what a possible outcome will look

like before the shutter release is pressed. Then again, with todays SW that DOF button can be disposed

of or...assigned another function...and whatever outcome after releasing the shutter can be altered to suit

ones desire(s). We all have our personal pref's don't we?

Edited October 28, 2014 by sunshine51

[rhythmworx]

^^^ SS for sure I'm not knocking you or anything...

[sunshine51]

^^^^RW....never reckoned you were!