Technology is a Great Thing but Occasionally Being a Luddite Is, Too

There have been significant improvements in photographic technology over the last 50 years. Although it helps us get ever-better photographs, there is an essential reason for going back to basics.

Since I first picked up a camera at the age of seven, the technology behind every aspect of photography has changed enormously. The ones I own now are arguably the most technologically advanced models available, with many features unheard of in other cameras.

I am a technophile; I love gadgets. So, the fact that I can watch extremely long exposures gradually develop on the camera’s screen, I think, is brilliant. I also have up to eight and a half steps of image stabilization, so I can handhold using a 50mm lens for a couple of seconds. Although I never use it, I can shoot 120 raw frames a second. Furthermore, I can digitally add an ND or graduated ND filter as I shoot, focus stack in the camera, and build up star trails over without over-exposing the entire shot for as long as the camera’s battery lasts.

If someone reads this in ten years, all of that will be old school. But right now, it’s state-of-the-art technology.

Of course, all cameras have unique features that help us get better shots. Consequently, when I browse the old photography books in my library, I can see that image quality has vastly improved in recent years. It doesn’t matter which of the known brands you use, or even which sensor format you choose; you can achieve good photos if you know how to use any camera.

Knowing how to use the camera is key. All that technology can deskill us. Therefore, there are times when I like to switch off and revert to the basics. That helps maintain my camera skills, which would otherwise degrade from lack of use. For that reason, I sometimes switch all the camera’s automated features off. Alternatively, I might head out with my vintage 35mm analogue SLR to hone my photographic proficiencies.

How are your skills holding up? If you were to be handed a camera with only manual controls, how would you fare?

Here are some ways you can help keep your camera skills from rusting.

Focus

One of the significant issues with many DSLRs is their pokey little viewfinders, which make it very difficult to see the subject, let alone manually focus with accuracy. I guess the manufacturer’s thought was that autofocus was so accurate that one didn’t need to do it. However, older, especially low-end, cameras also had a limited number of focus points. Therefore, it was less easy to compose the shot and focus where you wanted. Furthermore, the focus points on the sensor would mostly be either vertically or horizontally orientated, which made it difficult to lock onto a subject with the same orientation.

As technology advanced, the number of focus points grew, and most cameras now have hundreds of selectable cross-type sensors, sometimes over 1000, covering 100% of the frame. On top of that, the more advanced cameras feature a type of hybrid AF system that combines the speed of phase detection, which quickly locks onto the subject, with the accuracy of contrast detection, which refines focus for perfect sharpness. It is exceptionally good in low-light situations. Canon employs a slightly different method, a dual-pixel system that uses parallax to fine-tune focus.

Moreover, cameras have subject recognition that quickly identifies the shape of specific subjects. Therefore, it will lock onto the selected subjects such as faces, birds, mammals, planes, trains, or motor vehicles. This feature has revolutionised wildlife and sports photography.

Good-quality lenses have become exceptionally fast at focusing on a subject, too. Where older lenses used to hunt for the subject, new technology allows them to silently and instantly lock onto it.

Despite all these improvements, it is sometimes necessary to tweak the focus. Many mirrorless cameras (and some DSLRs in Live View only) have focus peaking. That allows you to see the in-focus areas highlighted, so it is easy to identify what is sharp when you turn the focus ring. There are occasions where this can be useful.

The Luddite Approach to Focusing

As I suggested earlier, manual focusing is sometimes necessary. Therefore, practicing it can be a real help when you actually need it.

A common mistake I find many novice photographers make in landscape photography is focusing on the horizon, when usually focusing much closer to the camera is necessary. Practicing manual focus can teach you about where to focus in a scene, especially when using focus peaking to help highlight the sharp areas of the photo.

Good-quality modern mirrorless cameras feature large, bright electronic viewfinders that make manual focusing much easier. Some even have a mode that allows you to see in the dark. Furthermore, accuracy can be achieved by using the magnify feature, which zooms in on the scene to help you assess the subject’s sharpness.

Focus is also about depth of field, or how much of the photo is sharp. Varying the focal length, proximity to the subject, and the aperture all affect depth of field.

2. Metering and Exposure

We are all used to using the through-the-lens (TTL) metering within the camera. However, how it calculates the correct exposure has its limitations, which I recently wrote about in my article on that topic. Moreover, we can use the camera to do the heavy lifting.

For example, when photographing wildlife, I shoot in aperture priority, setting the aperture to achieve the desired depth of field and also considering the lens’s sweet spot. I then set the ISO to auto with a maximum of ISO 25,600, beyond which the images become too noisy. I also define a minimum shutter speed of around 1/2000 second. As a flock of birds flies over water, against trees, and then into the sky, the light changes rapidly. Setting the camera in this way means it can keep up with those changes.

The Luddite’s Approach to Exposure

There are other ways of setting the exposure. One could use an external meter, or one could learn the typical exposure settings for different situations.

For example, at f/4 and ISO 100, the approximate settings are as follows:

• Lighting Condition Approx. Exposure Value Shutter Speed
• Bright Sunny Day EV 15 1/2000 sec
• Slightly Cloudy EV 14 1/1000 sec
• Overcast / Cloudy EV 13 1/500 sec
• Sunset / Sunrise EV 10–11 1/60 – 1/125 sec
• Blue Hour (Dusk) EV 7–8 1/4 – 1/8 sec
• Shopping Centre / Bright Indoor EV 8–9 1/8 – 1/30 sec
• Indoor – Incandescent EV 5–6 1/1 – 1/2 sec

These may vary depending on your location and, of course, any creative effect you want to apply when photographing. A good exercise is to put together your own table of settings for each circumstance.

Single Frame Shooting

It’s very easy to use burst mode when photographing wildlife or sports, shooting dozens of frames a second in the hope that one will give you a good result. This machinegun approach is all very fine, but it takes away the skill of learning the creature’s or sportsperson’s behaviour, and thus you lose the ability to anticipate their actions.

Similarly, my cameras can buffer shots before the shutter is fully depressed. This function, called Pro Capture or Pre Capture depending upon the brand, is spreading to more cameras. But that also takes away the skill of knowing exactly when to press the shutter.

The Luddite’s Approach to Shooting Frames

The appeal of photography is similar to that of hunting, but the big difference is that we are not killing what we shoot. Just as our ancestors carefully stalked their prey to feed their tribe, wildlife photographers use the same techniques to avoid disturbing their subjects. There are tremendous mental benefits to the calm, mindful approach required to capture the decisive moment.

Furthermore, it requires great skill. Instead of buffering 50 or even 120 raw frames for the second before you fully press the shutter, it’s worth switching the camera over to single-frame shooting. Admittedly, this will mean you miss a few, but the sense of achievement when you fire off that perfect shot is enormous.