Settings for photographing art, and also nature

[MrMatt]

What type of settings would you use (iso, aperture, shutter-speed) for two different scenarios:

First, photographing nature/birds, outdoors, from about 8-12 feet away in good lighting

Second: museum, indoors, from about 5-10 feet away from the pieces of art.

 

[corkyg]

Most art galleries and museums specifically prohibit photography of the exhibits.

As for nature, I use what the light meter suggests and go from there.

 

[arrfep]

Yeah. Likely won't be able to pop a flash at an art museum. You'd need a fast lens (low F number) or a tripod. But most art museums don't allow tripods so you're back to needing a fast lens. Biggest thing you're going to have to worry about is making sure you're square to the painting. It is way harder than you'd ever imagine to be lined up in all 3 axes enough to have no distortion.

 

[MrMatt]

hmmm.

Yeah, I figured no flash, was just wondering what kind of f-stop/lense speed you need. So faaaast lens speed it sounds like

 

[slashbinslashbash]

Yeah, for art galleries usually you'll be looking at shooting with something like a 50mm f/1.4, at f/1.4-f/2, ISO 400-800, shutter speed 1/50 or ideally faster. Most museums that I've been to will allow photography, but no tripod and no flash. Some allow monopods, which can help in stabilizing the camera, but I still won't go less than 1/focal length for shutter speed (unless I am using an image-stabilized lens; but all my image-stabilized lenses are f/4 so I would be looking at 1/6 or 1/8 second, likely at ISO 800 or maybe even 1600: not totally out of line with IS considered, but not ideal either.).

Nature, outdoors. On a sunny day, typically I will use ISO 100 or 200, f/8 to f/11, shutter speed 1/100 to 1/400. There is the old-school "Sunny 16 Rule" which says that on a sunny day, set aperture to f/16 and the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the ISO (so, ISO 100 = 1/100 shutter speed, ISO 200 = 1/200 shutter speed, etc.). f/16 is excessive for most DSLR's -- I would recommend you stick to f/11 max, until you learn more about the limitations of your equipment (diffraction hits high-megapixel crop sensors usually around f/11 or lower) -- so my rule of thumb would be off by a factor of 2 (if using f/11) or a factor of 4 (if using f/8). So, f/8 and ISO 100, you would go with 1/400 speed. f/11 and ISO 200 would be 1/400 as well. I would not have a problem going up to ISO 400 and shooting at faster than 1/1,000, since my cameras have little visible difference between ISO 100, 200, and 400.

Really, outdoors on a sunny day, you will have many options. If you want some narrow DOF then go to ISO 100 or 50 if you've got it, f/1.4 and 1/8000 shutter speed. But for general purposes I keep it in the f/8 to f/11 range. Generally you will hit a sweet spot in most lenses in the f/8 to f/11 range.

Here's sort of my decision tree:

Shutter speed must be "fast enough". 1/100 is generally fast enough for most shots, and I use 1/focal length as a general rule of thumb beyond that (50mm lens, 1/50; 30mm lens, 1/30, etc.) The slower the shutter speed, the more you have to worry about camera and subject movement. But at 1/100 or 1/200, I know I don't have to worry about anything. (Unless shooting sports or other subjects where extremely fast movement is the norm.) I always go for shutter speed first, unless I am shooting a static scene from a tripod (or using a flash -- in which case, use 1/160 unless needing to balance flash with ambient).

Second thing to worry about is aperture. If there's enough light to shoot at f/5.6 to f/8 then I don't worry at all. All of my f/4 zooms are pretty good even from f/4, so I barely think about shooting them at f/4. In general, I don't have a problem shooting wide-open on any of my lenses, but stopping them down by a stop or two will always improve things. However, depth of field is always a concern. Again, usually at f/5.6 to f/8 you don't have to worry about DOF as long as the photo is properly focused. Of course there are times when you *want* a shallow DOF, and in those cases the aperture might take precedence over the shutter speed.

Last thing to worry about is ISO. I see ISO 100, 200, and 400 as roughly equivalent. I don't really care when choosing between them, and will only worry about it when I need to change the aperture or shutter speed beyond the range where I am comfortable. I will be slightly reluctant to bump up to 800, but not very. ISO 1600 and 3200, I try to avoid, but I acknowledge that there are times when they are unavoidable.

 

[MrMatt]

Wow..GREAT post, thanks!

 

[MrMatt]

oh, forgot to say in OP: using the standard EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens that came with the camera (Canon XTi)