Mental Checklist

[Leaf Fan]

Do you use a mental checklist before taking a picture? (or even a written checklist?)

ie.

check ISO
check aperture
check shutter speed
etc.

What order?
Do you just hit the green button then tweak from there?

I'm finding that I'm constantly getting myself mixed up with settings, changing too much between photos, thinking about settings more than looking and visualizing the image and this seems to be hindering my photographic learning.

Any info would be great.

[egordon99]

WIFE
W- white balance
I - ISO
F - f-stop
E - exposure compensation

[bymy141]

Originally Posted by Leaf Fan

Do you use a mental checklist before taking a picture? (or even a written checklist?)

ie.

check ISO
check aperture
check shutter speed
etc.

What order?
Do you just hit the green button then tweak from there?

I'm finding that I'm constantly getting myself mixed up with settings, changing too much between photos, thinking about settings more than looking and visualizing the image and this seems to be hindering my photographic learning.

Any info would be great.

There is not not one simple answer for me.
It depends on many aspects of the picture, like: light conditions, wanted effects, subject, distance, focal length etc.

Nevertheless, I'll give it a try:

Macro, still images:
- Aperture (= DOF)
- ISO (as low as possible with focal length in mind)
- Shutter speed

Nature (long lenses handheld):
- Shutter speed (avoiding blur)
- ISO (quality)
- Aperture

Sports stills:
- Speed: fast
- Aperture
- ISO

Sport movement:
- Speed: slow
- Aperture (open)
- ISO

Landscapes:
- Aperture: middle of the lens (good IQ)
- ISO low
- Speed

Architecture outside:
- Aperture: middle of the lens (good IQ)
- ISO low
- Speed

Architecture inside (available light conditions):
- Aperture: almost open if not all open
- Speed (avoiding blur)
- ISO

Portrait:
- Aperture: middle of the lens (good IQ)
or
- Aperture: open (almost) to create depth
- ISO low
- Speed

I guess thats why some cameras have all those scene modes.....

- Bert

[Cosmo]

White balance at start of day/lighting conditions change. Well, that's only if I'm not shooting film or raw.

I shoot alot in manual, so I hit the green button and then ev (usually change shutter) and shoot.

[Marc Sabatella]

I shoot RAW and never see the need to change the camera from AWB, center weighted metering, center focus point, and M exposure mode.

So basically, the only three things I need to check are ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I usually check ISO immediately when taking the camera out of the bag, change it if necessary, and then leave it alone for the duration of the shoot in most cases.

That means the only things I need to think about while shooting are aperture and shutter speed. I sometimes use the Green button to set shutter speed for me after a change in aperture or lighting.

[Leaf Fan]

Thanks for all the input everybody.

[kthung]

Shoot raw then fix WB in PP, correct exposure in PP, recover highlights/shadows in PP, etc.....
Kidding

[MJB DIGITAL]

When I show up in a different room of a venue, or a new location, I dial in my 'estimated' settings and bust a single shot. I dial it closer to perfect, and then I start to 'ride'.

By 'ride', I mean that I just start to feel the light and chimp every fifth exposure or so. I dont have a checklist, but I do know that for each particular shot, I may want to have a particular DOF and set my dials accordingly.

[kunik]

The only thing I continuously have to remember to check is ISO. Everything else is an intentional setting based on the image. You want to shoot ISO 100 if possible... but the picture will require a certain DOF (aperture) and shutter speed (if there is action). If the shutter speed is more than enough dial down the ISO to 100... if the shutter speed is too slow dial up the aperture until you are there. And don't be afraid of ISO 6400. A grainy shot at ISO 6400 is better than a blurry or dark shot at ISO 1600. I deal with White Balance when I get home. The only thing that ever really trips me up is sometimes I see I'm shooting at 1/2000 and then I realize I'm at ISO 800... that always pisses me off!!!

[soccerjoe5]

From Scott Kelby:

WHIMS

W - White Balance
H - Hightlight clipping warning
I - ISO
M - Mode (JPEG/RAW)
S - Shooting (Resetting to the right shooting mode for the subject: Aperture Priorty, Shutter Priority, Manual, etc.)

It's a pretty good mnemonic, but I'm disappointed that I can't easily toggle the highlight clipping "blinkies" easily without going into the menu.

[Nowhere Matt]

My mental list when using a macro lens should have been:
set switch to macro.

Now I admit that I have not used this lens often but after a few shots I wondered why I was not able to get closer shots. Then I noticed I had not set it to macro. Now the darn thing is set to macro whether or not it is on the camera; just takes up a little more room in the bag.

Maybe I should start making lists. I use to always forget to see what settings I was on. I would often just set the quality to 6 mp for simple around the house "snapshots" and then forget to change it to 10 mp when I was doing something fun.
Now I ignore my compulsions and leave it on 10 mp but have some special settings saved in my "user mode" so all I have to do is turn the dial and not worry about settings the next time I start up.

"Oh, the hazzards of love."

[Canada_Rockies]

Originally Posted by soccerjoe5

From Scott Kelby:

WHIMS

W - White Balance
H - Hightlight clipping warning
I - ISO
M - Mode (JPEG/RAW)
S - Shooting (Resetting to the right shooting mode for the subject: Aperture Priorty, Shutter Priority, Manual, etc.)

It's a pretty good mnemonic, but I'm disappointed that I can't easily toggle the highlight clipping "blinkies" easily without going into the menu.

I leave the blinkies on permanently. If they are blasting away at 20% of the area of the image - I blew the exposure.

I do also like Pentax' inclusion of the dark area warnings. When I look at the tests, it's nice to know how much of the shadow just isn't registering. When I have either blinky without the other, it's time to adjust things a bit.

The blinkies are based on jpeg renderings and I nearly always shoot RAW, so that gives me a tiny bit of cushion on both ends of the exposure in PP.

[philbaum]

My menomic is

MISS

Metering (spot messes me up if i'm not aware its on)
ISO (I use M and TAV on a regular basis)
Shake Reduction (i turn it off for tripod and monopod work),
Shutter, (the 18-250 is a real trap here, its so easy to zoom for some great image, and forget the shutter speed necessary to support a longer FL, even with SR)

I think a menomic is great but i think its more important for the things we don't pay as much attention to that can mess us up.

[thomascdk]

ISO only. Rest is manual 90% of the time. And jpg+raw with AWB. 90% of the jpg's are fine.