Before diving right into manual settings, a beginner photographer might want to try out their camera’s priority modes. Aperture and Shutter priority modes allow the photographer to focus on changing only one setting while the others remain automatic. It’s a perfect blend of automatic and creative control allowing one to ease into better understanding the exposure triangle, as explained in an earlier post.
Below I will explain what each mode does and when best to use it:
Aperture Priority
Aperture Priority, seen as Av or A on most cameras, gives you control over the aperture while the camera decides which shutter speed and ISO settings are best fit for the conditions.
Aperture controls the depth of field (DOF) of an image, and will either make the background in-focus or blurry based on your settings. A large aperture, (smaller f/stop, like f/5 seen in the picture to the right), will make the background out-of-focus.
Aperture Priority is great for beginners as it’s difficult for an image to be shot too overexposed or underexposed. I used this mode a lot during my time in New Zealand, and encourage new photographers to shoot in this mode when starting out.
Note: Aperture Priority will automatically change the shutter speed to be faster or slower. When the shutter speed gets too slow, (1/60 or below) hand-holding the camera will make the image blurry and a tripod will be needed.
Shutter Priority
Shutter Priority, seen as Tv or S on most cameras, gives you control over the shutter speed to freeze or blur the action of your subject.
Shutter Speed controls how the camera will develop movement in your image. With a fast shutter speed, (like 1/2000) subjects will be frozen and not be blurred. A slower shutter speed will cause the subject’s motions to blur, which could illustrate movement within an image.
Shutter Priority is best used when there’s a lot of movement during the photoshoot. During a sports game, setting a fast shutter speed will allow you to freeze subjects while not having to worry about the other settings. This will make it easier during a fast-paced shoot to not waste time always adjusting all the settings.
Note: Shutter Priority has the camera choose the aperture, so when you have a fast shutter speed to capture a fast-moving subject, the depth of field will be a wide, open aperture.
Beginner and professional photographers alike can use these modes for their photography. As always, the best way to really understand how to use these modes is to go out and practice. Take your camera and switch to either priority mode to test the settings and see how it affects the image’s exposure. Manual settings will become a lot easier once you’ve mastered these modes.
Hannah Matt 