Taking great photos in manual (not auto)

[RonanCork]

Hey guys,

Have my MA2 a few weeks now n trying out different manual camera settings. For my previous MA I moreso focused on video that photo.

Would anyone have any good links, resources, YouTube etc about how to get the best photographs using the MANUAL camera settings?

Flew last night at the golden hour n took a pile of photos while playing around with EV n other settings - will look at today to see how they came out, but it would be good to get your thoughts on it.

Thanks Ro

 

[Ziggy01]

Hey guys,

Have my MA2 a few weeks now n trying out different manual camera settings. For my previous MA I moreso focused on video that photo.

Would anyone have any good links, resources, YouTube etc about how to get the best photographs using the MANUAL camera settings?

Flew last night at the golden hour n took a pile of photos while playing around with EV n other settings - will look at today to see how they came out, but it would be good to get your thoughts on it.

Thanks Ro

 

[Ziggy01]

What do you mean by "manual"? The Air 2 is autofocus and static f-stop. You can change the aperture and ISO...

There's a pretty good rundown here:

Mavic Air 2 48MP camera - Is it any good? Shot by shot comparison

I take a look at the 48mp camera

mavicpilots.com

 

[Meta4]

Would anyone have any good links, resources, YouTube etc about how to get the best photographs using the MANUAL camera settings?

The best settings are whatever gets you the best exposure for any particular picture.
But there are so many different subjects and lighting situations, there are no "best settings"

There's nothing special or better about using manual setting.
Any photo will look best when the proper settings for correct exposure are used.
Whether you achieve correct exposure making adjustments yourself or letting the camera do it for you doesn't make much difference.

 

[Ziggy01]

The best settings are whatever gets you the best exposure for any particular picture.
But there are so many different subjects and lighting situations, there are no "best settings"

There's nothing special or better about using manual setting.
Any photo will look best when the proper settings for correct exposure are used.
Whether you achieve correct exposure making adjustments yourself or letting the camera do it for you doesn't make much difference.

Well, the ISO has a bit to do with it as well...to be fair. A photo can be optimally exposed whilst employing sub-optimal ISO (for example).

...just saying.

 

[Meta4]

What do you mean by "manual"? The Air 2 is autofocus and static f-stop. You can change the aperture and ISO...

If we want to get picky .. maybe you better fix that last sentence.
I'm guessing you meant can't rather than can.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Would anyone have any good links, resources, YouTube etc about how to get the best photographs using the MANUAL camera settings?

It's just a camera with a fixed aperture lens. The fact that it is attached to a drone is irrelevant. Any photography tutorial will suffice. No difference between automatic exposure with exposure compensation and manual settings that accomplish the same thing. If you are unsure about the exposure, use AEB, with a 5 image bracket, and shoot in DNG. Best photographs are more about composition and subject matter and lighting, rather than the exposure. Experiment. Practice. Shoot lots of images. Cull ruthlessly! The main difference between a professional and an amateur is in the number of images they shoot and the number they share. The pro will shoot 100, and share only the best one. The amateur will shoot only 10, and share all 10.

 

[itsneedtokno]

I usually take around 500 pictures per shoot.

Almost always AEB(5)

Out of 500 pictures, I usually end up with 5-10 HDR pictures.

(I've got one HDR that is 195 pictures merged in to one)



Here's what I do:

Get airborne (kinda obvious)

Use Auto mode to see my subject clearly.

Once I have my composure, framing and lighting correct I'll switch to manual.

In manual mode I ALWAYS use ISO 100. That gives you the least amount of grain/noise.

Using the shutter speed slider, I go up and down until the picture looks a little dark. (Overexposure is more difficult to fix than Underexposure)

I confirm that I am in AEB shooting 5 pictures...

Then start shooting.


The shutter will need to be adjusted as you fly, but the rest of the stuff should fine staying the same. (unless it's the golden hour, then you may need to bump up the ISO depending on how dark it is)

Using shutter speeds lower than 1" (one second) on a drone is kind of a mess. It really depends on your environment (read: wind and stability)







As far as stitching and such goes, that comes down to your software. I use Adobe.

 

[jowlymonster]

Yep, I have so far done AEB 5 with slight underexposure - even then the sun was a bit blown out behind clouds in a couple of shots... but even shooting DNG, the sensor DR is of course nowhere near my full-frame camera, and exposure blending is needed for a good result.
I also did manual AEB with the 48Mp mode. Works, but stuff moves much more between shots which can make blending harder... so I think for HDR I will stick to AEB/Manual and only use 48Mp when one shot is okay.

 

[Ziggy01]

If we want to get picky .. maybe you better fix that last sentence.
I'm guessing you meant can't rather than can.

Well spotted.

 

[RonanCork]

I usually take around 500 pictures per shoot.

Almost always AEB(5)

Out of 500 pictures, I usually end up with 5-10 HDR pictures.

(I've got one HDR that is 195 pictures merged in to one)



Here's what I do:

Get airborne (kinda obvious)

Use Auto mode to see my subject clearly.

Once I have my composure, framing and lighting correct I'll switch to manual.

In manual mode I ALWAYS use ISO 100. That gives you the least amount of grain/noise.

Using the shutter speed slider, I go up and down until the picture looks a little dark. (Overexposure is more difficult to fix than Underexposure)

I confirm that I am in AEB shooting 5 pictures...

Then start shooting.


The shutter will need to be adjusted as you fly, but the rest of the stuff should fine staying the same. (unless it's the golden hour, then you may need to bump up the ISO depending on how dark it is)

Using shutter speeds lower than 1" (one second) on a drone is kind of a mess. It really depends on your environment (read: wind and stability)







As far as stitching and such goes, that comes down to your software. I use Adobe.

Great thanks that's what I was looking for - a workfor

I usually take around 500 pictures per shoot.

Almost always AEB(5)

Out of 500 pictures, I usually end up with 5-10 HDR pictures.

(I've got one HDR that is 195 pictures merged in to one)



Here's what I do:

Get airborne (kinda obvious)

Use Auto mode to see my subject clearly.

Once I have my composure, framing and lighting correct I'll switch to manual.

In manual mode I ALWAYS use ISO 100. That gives you the least amount of grain/noise.

Using the shutter speed slider, I go up and down until the picture looks a little dark. (Overexposure is more difficult to fix than Underexposure)

I confirm that I am in AEB shooting 5 pictures...

Then start shooting.


The shutter will need to be adjusted as you fly, but the rest of the stuff should fine staying the same. (unless it's the golden hour, then you may need to bump up the ISO depending on how dark it is)

Using shutter speeds lower than 1" (one second) on a drone is kind of a mess. It really depends on your environment (read: wind and stability)







As far as stitching and such goes, that comes down to your software. I use Adobe.

Thanks that's what I was looking for, the flow of how you guys do it. I'm doing the same it seems as the above bit didn't use AEB last night, not for any reason, I used AEB-3 on my MA all the time. Just wanted to see how others went about it
Cheers

 

[Dale D]

Hey guys,

Have my MA2 a few weeks now n trying out different manual camera settings. For my previous MA I moreso focused on video that photo.

Would anyone have any good links, resources, YouTube etc about how to get the best photographs using the MANUAL camera settings?

Flew last night at the golden hour n took a pile of photos while playing around with EV n other settings - will look at today to see how they came out, but it would be good to get your thoughts on it.

Thanks Ro

My GO TO source for everything photography is the MAESTRO of all- Vic VideoPic

. and other You Tube clips of his. The best teacher ever.

 

[snapdog]

My GO TO source for everything photography is the MAESTRO of all- Vic VideoPic

. and other You Tube clips of his. The best teacher ever.

As a professional photographer in the 70s and 80s, used Hasselblads. Got to thinking how great it would be to upgrade my Air 2, camera to a Hasselblad. Currently shoot with Canons on the ground but it would awesome to have the option on the high resolution quality of the Hasselblad! I Sounds like a good business venture.

 

[WDKZoom]

It's just a camera with a fixed aperture lens. The fact that it is attached to a drone is irrelevant. Any photography tutorial will suffice. No difference between automatic exposure with exposure compensation and manual settings that accomplish the same thing. If you are unsure about the exposure, use AEB, with a 5 image bracket, and shoot in DNG. Best photographs are more about composition and subject matter and lighting, rather than the exposure. Experiment. Practice. Shoot lots of images. Cull ruthlessly! The main difference between a professional and an amateur is in the number of images they shoot and the number they share. The pro will shoot 100, and share only the best one. The amateur will shoot only 10, and share all 10.

I like this.......the professional has picky customers, the amateur, ie "me" just likes flying his drone and shoots whatever looks good and most of his friends will just say "wow"!!

I have watched at least 30 videos now on settings and techniques. My favorite teacher being Ken Heron. Everybody has a slightly different take on the subject and ultimately it seems while the final cut is subjective, the better camera on the drone will capture all the details but the real magic is done on the ground with all the color grading and image enhancement and to that end, it does not have to be perfect to please me.

WDK

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

This is an 8 second exposure with my old X-Star (You can see the taillight streaks on the right) It was done on automatic exposure and I was surprised at how little noise there was considering the long exposure. These cameras are pretty good at getting a good exposure unless you have tricky metering challenges. I'm going t try and recreate this with my Mavic Air 2 when I get the chance, just as a comparison.

 

[Ian in London]

Hey guys,

Have my MA2 a few weeks now n trying out different manual camera settings. For my previous MA I moreso focused on video that photo.

Would anyone have any good links, resources, YouTube etc about how to get the best photographs using the MANUAL camera settings?

Flew last night at the golden hour n took a pile of photos while playing around with EV n other settings - will look at today to see how they came out, but it would be good to get your thoughts on it.

Thanks Ro

This video shows all the manual settings; the Mini & the Air 2 have similar settings in Fly App. It explains a fair bit....
Cheers

 

[WDKZoom]

While you can basically write a template for manual settings, in order to be somewhat perfect even to the most discerning eye they have to change almost minute by minute as the conditions do. My pictures in manual at this point look pretty close to my pictures in auto.

WDK