Freezing action - Use Shuttle Priority or Aperture Priority (with ISO adj)?


darkone

Member
Mar 1, 2008
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Hi,

Recently I went for my first photographic course and had to take a pic of water dripping from a tap, outdoor in the shade.

Contrary to what I read in books (Bryan Peterson etc), the instructor recommended using aperture priority instead of shuttle priority for freezing action, adjusting ISO to achieve the desired shuttle speed. He also mentioned that this is due to certain "limitations", which got me very confused.

Would appreciate any comments on using AP for freezing action and what these limitations are.

Thanks!
 

Hi,

Recently I went for my first photographic course and had to take a pic of water dripping from a tap, outdoor in the shade.

Contrary to what I read in books (Bryan Peterson etc), the instructor recommended using aperture priority instead of shuttle priority for freezing action, adjusting ISO to achieve the desired shuttle speed. He also mentioned that this is due to certain "limitations", which got me very confused.

Would appreciate any comments on using AP for freezing action and what these limitations are.

Thanks!
didnt ask the instructor to elaborate?
 

Hi,

Recently I went for my first photographic course and had to take a pic of water dripping from a tap, outdoor in the shade.

Contrary to what I read in books (Bryan Peterson etc), the instructor recommended using aperture priority instead of shuttle priority for freezing action, adjusting ISO to achieve the desired shuttle speed. He also mentioned that this is due to certain "limitations", which got me very confused.

Would appreciate any comments on using AP for freezing action and what these limitations are.

Thanks!


why not you try it yourself?

actually u learn faster by practising, instead of relying on theory knowledge.
 

I did ask and got the impression that this is due to the limited number of aperture settings as compared to the wider range of shuttle speed settings. And hence opening up and adjusting ISO seems to be a better choice than directly setting the shuttle speed, without hitting the LO and HI warnings in Nikons.

Tried at home with my sink few days back and did not get a perceptable difference between the two.

Just wanna get a confirmation that this is indeed the reason. Thanks a lot!
 

Sorry, but where are you shuttling to and fro?

I don't know what camera you're using, but on my D700, the ISO is the last thing I consider as a variable even though the image will be "relatively noise-free" at high ISOs.

Fixing your aperture first does sound reasonable (although most people would probably start with the shutter speed in this case...).
But changing your ISO to set your shutter speed sounds somewhat strange.
If I had to choose the aperture first, I'd choose the shutter speed next. I wouldn't be in aperture priority mode at all...

Anyways, the important thing is to get the shot you want.
For me, I'd like to have as much resolution (not megapixels) as I can so I would try to use as low a ISO when possible.
 

The best person to confirm this is your instructor.

Perhaps he's trying to teach you the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings, and the water drop shot is just an exercise to teach that.

Asking CSers what your instructor's reasons are... you're probably gonna get dozens of theories which will leave you more confused than ever.

BTW, this course got no printed hand-outs ah? It's 'SHUTTER', not 'shuttle'
 

I did ask and got the impression that this is due to the limited number of aperture settings as compared to the wider range of shuttle speed settings. And hence opening up and adjusting ISO seems to be a better choice than directly setting the shuttle speed, without hitting the LO and HI warnings in Nikons.

Tried at home with my sink few days back and did not get a perceptable difference between the two.

Just wanna get a confirmation that this is indeed the reason. Thanks a lot!

ok i might be wrong, but u need to have a brightly lit environment or using flash.... so u need not bump up your ISO ...

then using very fast shutter, probably 1/2000 n above and using wide apertures like f2-f2.8 ?

the reason for u to increase your ISO cos your photos will turn out black if u using fast shutter and wide aperture setting. So you need a brightly lit environment or flash to help u over come this.
 

I did ask and got the impression that this is due to the limited number of aperture settings as compared to the wider range of shuttle speed settings. And hence opening up and adjusting ISO seems to be a better choice than directly setting the shuttle speed, without hitting the LO and HI warnings in Nikons.

Tried at home with my sink few days back and did not get a perceptable difference between the two.

Just wanna get a confirmation that this is indeed the reason. Thanks a lot!
did the instructor leave an email? what you can do is send the picture with data file intact and then see how the response.
 

The space shuttle is being retired. Maybe you mean "Shutter"?
 

Hi,

Recently I went for my first photographic course and had to take a pic of water dripping from a tap, outdoor in the shade.

Contrary to what I read in books (Bryan Peterson etc), the instructor recommended using aperture priority instead of shuttle priority for freezing action, adjusting ISO to achieve the desired shuttle speed. He also mentioned that this is due to certain "limitations", which got me very confused.

Would appreciate any comments on using AP for freezing action and what these limitations are.

Thanks!

I'm not sure if my reply is correct and I'm just guessing what your instructor meant by "limitations".

I did ask and got the impression that this is due to the limited number of aperture settings as compared to the wider range of shuttle speed settings. And hence opening up and adjusting ISO seems to be a better choice than directly setting the shuttle speed, without hitting the LO and HI warnings in Nikons.

Tried at home with my sink few days back and did not get a perceptable difference between the two.

Just wanna get a confirmation that this is indeed the reason. Thanks a lot!

I don't think this is the reason and I don't know what is LO/HI warnings as I'm canon user.

I think the reason is because your aperture might not be wide enough depending on the lighting condition. Suppose you choose a faster shutter speed when the aperture is already at its widest, the aperture cannot open wider to give correct exposure. So by using aperture priority, you fix your desired aperture and up the iso to get the desired shutter speed. I think it's kinda more "fail proof" way. Of course, you are not limited to using aperture priority if you can achieve same result with shutter priority.
 

to freeze action you will need a faster shutter speed or a burst of the flash or both

my guess is that if you use shutter priority you might get an under exposed image
so to get a correctly exposed image, you use aperture priority

set to the biggest aperture your lens has to get the fastest shutter speed possible with that aperture/ISO speed combination

reading will teach you a little, but actually trying after reading will the concept sink in
 

If this is a basic photography course you are attending, ask your instructor to explain in basic terms rather than explaining what he thinks is basic in his mind but not in yours that got you confused.
After all you paid for the course & you are entitled to ask as many questions as you like till you get the whole idea about what you don't understand.
You'll get even more confused when you start asking questions here & getting the answers that'll really complicate & contradict what your instructor is teaching.
 

Basic is the faster the shutter with combination of flash the better to freeze action. So setting the shutter first than aperture. However that will cause the background or surrounding to be under exposed (dark or even black). We do like to perserve the ami

So i think it is better to set the aperture first. Test a few shot for get the effect you want then select the shutter speed to the kind of 'freeze' action you desire. Iso not that important in the sense that you have control of the lighting condition in the room.

If need to set shutter speed to 1/60 or slower (and assuming that you will use a tripod), use a external flash to 'freeze' the 'action' further.
 

If it's me, i will recommend go Manual Mode on the camera set to 1/60s and and a smaller aperture and use off cam flash (via TTL cord or radio frequency or CLS) Go Manual on the flash as well,lower ur power setting to 1/32 or even lower. U can easily freeze action at relatively high shutter speed (e.g. 1/20000s) at lower manual flash output. Tripod is essential for all these.. Can read up on High Speed Flash Photography if u are still unclear..

HTH

Bryan :)