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auto or manual mode

I do not claim to be a professional photog. I have a nice Kodak 4meg with 10x zoom. I have it with me at all times when at work. Problem is, I have a 2 in 3 chance of being dispatched if we have a fire. (3 district chiefs on duty- second chief goes on working fire). Anyway- I cant do a 'back curtain sync' to get those shots without the flash reflecting on the scotchlite trim. If I go to manual mode, i want ti pre-set. What are the best settings to have in the cam for when its dark?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rob Gaylor on April 15, 2008 at 7:24am

Hello, i would like to touch base on this. I consider my self an amatuer. I shoot photography on the side. Vist my site if you want to see some stuff www.gaylorenterprises.com. I don't get the opportunity to shoot much scene time either hard to shoot when your working. I can however suggest a few things. With low lighting you have to use a larger apperature and a slower shutter speed. Some camera's allow you to change what is called your ISO rating. If you use a higher ISO say 800, 1600 or larger it will help as long as you don't wnat to blow up your pic larger than say an 8x10 you will get what is called to much noise or artifact. Something else use a tripod. especially for longer exposures say under 1/30th of a second or so. This will help alot. The bad thing with not using flash is the guys will be blurry because they are moving. If you don't want the motion blur try a bounce flash or a difuser. Send me an email if you want and I will send you some links for some outside sources. Hope this helps....

Stay Safe

Permalink Reply by MARK MCLEES on April 15, 2008 at 9:12am

ROB
Thanks for your comments. I just need to spend more time experimenting with my camera's various settings. (I should probably read the manual too) Although I had a manual SLR camera 20 years ago, I never really messed with anything as film was a costly resource to shoot alot of pix just to perfect my skills. Now with digital, you can shoot as much as you want and the data is embedded to see what settings were used. I guess that my feeling is this: I can create any scheme i want after the fact using Photoshop. So, I really want my original to be the one with the most to work with- duh!!
stay safe

Permalink Reply by Aaron Robbins on May 11, 2008 at 12:19pm

I have a kodak with 10meg and 3x zoom its good enough for me. Look at some of my pics and vids.

Permalink Reply by MARK MCLEES on August 28, 2008 at 7:04am

Dave
Thanks for your comments. My photo skills were amateur at best before digital age. Had a manual SLR, but was not into scene photography then. Now in a position to capture more (one of 3 chiefs on duty= if I am not first or 2nd due, then I go to shoot!!!)
On the website committee as well as calendar, so my lackluster attempts have the potential to be used in both.
using a Kodak DX 6400 with alot of features I need to learn more about
thanks again
keep in touch

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