Establishing Re-set Routines

Today’s Photo Tip: Establish Re-set Routines to be used between shots and after each photo shoot. I have talked before about the importance of having a Pre-shooting Equipment Checklist, what some refer to as an Accessories Routine, when preparing for a shooting session, however, I failed to mention that I also have a Camera Default Setting Checklist (see below). Having a default setting checklist can be a valuable asset, unfortunately, failure to properly utilize it has cost me some good shots; hence the need for establishing “re-set routines”.  For example, when you are out on a picture outing and you take the camera out of the bag for the first time and fail to check the camera’s default settings before you begin shooting. Another example is when you have taken the time to create special settings for a specific picture, maybe a low light flower close-up under windy conditions, and then quickly move on to a landscape scene and forget to “re-set” the changes made for the previous capture. This is why I use the plural, routines. You need to do this before, during and after each shooting session. Reviewing this list before a shooting session allows you to not only confirm common defaults, but also reminds you to make any necessary changes based upon your evaluation of the current shooting situation. A quick review whenever changing scenes reminds you to make any necessary resets. For example, let presume that your first shot was using a tripod and you turned off the stabilization (anti-shake) mode, and now for your next series of shots you have removed the camera from the tripod and will be taking handheld shots. Failure at this point to “re-set” the stabilization mode back to “on” may prevent you from obtaining a sharp picture. Remember that sometimes changed settings automatically “re-set” to the default value after you snap a picture or by turning the camera off/on – however, many remain until you change them back to your original “default’. Failure to “re-set” everything at the end of the shooting session may be setting you up for a potential failure during your next outing. The last thing you want to do is start shooting and find that your camera is still in the previous day’s extreme set up. Following a “re-set” routine will allow you to pick up the camera, run out in a hurry, and be set to capture most basic shots. Camera Default Setting Checklist: If you are like me, now that you have become more familiar with your camera and all of the many available settings, you have probably come up with your own set of “default” settings; a group of “start” settings that generally work well as a jumping off point whenever you need to grab and shoot. To give you an example of what I mean, I have provided a summary of the default settings I like to begin any shooting session with below. A more detailed list with available options for each setting can be found at the bottom of my page ... Preparing For The Shot. A quick glance at my LCD/Viewfinder screen (top image) reveals two groupings of 19 icons across the top and bottom that display my default settings.  Some of these are set using the internal menus, some using the various buttons and dials on the camera’s body. The blue text in brackets indicates the default setting. The top of the screen has 10 icons representative of the following: - Flash [No Flash-Closed], Opened Flash=F/Slow Sync/red eye - Film Mode [STANDARD]=Standard color settings - Stabilizer Mode [Mode 1] - Shutter Mode [Single Shot] - Movie Mode [HD] - Picture Size [L=4:3 12MP] - Quality [RAW+Fine] - i-Exposure [i-Exp Std] - i-Resolution [i-Res Std] - Battery meter [[][][]-Full] The top of the screen has 9 icons representative of the following: - Focus Mode [AFS] (Auto Focus Single) - Metering Mode [1-Area] - Mode Dial Setting [P=Program Mode] (Controls Shutter Speed & Aperture) - Aperture Setting (based upon mode dial setting) - Shutter Speed Setting (based upon mode dial setting) - Manual Exposure Setting [---0---] - ISO Setting [iISO] - White Balance Setting [AWB] - # of Remaining Pictures Available