Jason D. Little writes about the common photography myths in his article over at Light Stalking.
I’ve come across some pretty serious online discussions on some of these topics so it’s obvious there are different views and opinions. However, none of these things determine a great image or a great photographer, even though some of us seem to think so.
Manual Mode is the Best Mode
Championing the idea that manual mode is the ultimate measure of one’s expertise or that pros only use manual mode is painfully shortsighted. Possessing the know-how to manually control your camera is valuable, no question. But with that skill in your pocket, the shooting mode becomes a matter of choice.
Plenty of pros use aperture priority and shutter priority; there are even those who unabashedly use program mode. Why? Because as a photographer you adapt to your environment and do whatever it takes to get the shot.
Having a preference for one mode over another isn’t a problem; suggesting that one mode is invariably better than another is. Your best bet is to learn what each mode is generally most useful for and choose accordingly.
Technical Perfection Creates Better Photos
Quite simply, this is so often not the case.
Exposure, composition and sharpness are undeniably important qualities but they are not the ultimate measure of what makes a good photo. The belief that technical perfection is inextricably tied to crafting a worthwhile photograph is something I’ve addressed previously:
“The ability to create compelling photos relies most heavily on vision and instinct; it’s about capturing a moment. Moments — if we were to somehow think of them as being sentient things — don’t care about your f-stop or ISO setting.”
It seems too many modern photographers obsess about buying the perfect camera(when it’s arguable that there are no bad cameras on the market today) as a means of creating the perfect image.
Photographers of yesteryear, with their comparably crude cameras, made photos that have lasted the test of time. One of the many lessons that we, with all our technological dependence, should glean from the masters is that memorable photos aren’t necessarily perfect photos.
You ShouldAlways Use the Lowest ISO Setting
If “always” comes off as being a bit hyperbolic, that’s because it is. Shooting at ISO 100 all the time in an effort to get the cleanest images possible just isn’t necessary in an era when more than a few digital cameras are capable of spitting out high quality images at ISO 3200 and higher.
You’re handcuffing yourself trying to stick to the lowest ISO setting in every situation. There absolutely are times when using the lowest ISO is preferable: landscape photography, long exposure photography and studio portraiture to name a few.
Otherwise, you should do whatever you need to do to get the shot; if that means boosting ISO, do it. A little noise won’t do any harm.
Read the full article over at Light Stalking.
Source: Light Stalking
I agree with you on all of these points.
I am an old school photographer when you had to learn all manual mode and focusing. As a photojournalism photographer I learned some some trick or two with manual cameras. One example: used your depth of field on your lens scale to stop with a small aperture for a quick focus and shoot your subject as long your shutter speed was in tolerance. Critical focus was attain but you didn’t have background bokeh. 35mm lenses and very good grain black and white were the favorite to used. Black and white film was the RAW format.
I used to take pictures in Manual mode and keep the ISO as much as low I can, but recently I passed an online course which was saying different. In a birthday a few days ago I got many pictures in Auto, A Mode and S mode on my Nikon camera and the result was amazing to depend on the situations. Of course, some post processing improved the photos at the best level.