I wanted to record this video real quick today to let you know about a DSLR
photography setting that has changed the game for me in regards to bird photography,
wildlife photography, sport photography; anywhere where you've got moving subjects.
And it is auto ISO or I-S-O (if you're one of those weirdos that says it funny)
in manual mode, and in a minute, I'll tell you why it's so good. Don't go away.
[camera shutter clicks and music swells]
Hi. I'm Barry Callister of Photographer's Freedom; taking you from beginner, to better,
to business. Here on my YouTube channel, and over at photographersfreedom.com, I do camera
tutorials just like this one, photography gear reviews, and I give photography business advice.
All of that is designed to help you no matter where you are in your photography journey.
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Now I use manual mode on my DSLR pretty much all the time, because I like to be in control
of what the camera is doing, and how my photo is going to look, right? I've never been a fan of
shutter priority or aperture priority, because the camera still controls some aspect of your shot.
For example, with bird photography or sport photography, or anywhere where you've got moving subjects, it's...
..You're told that it's a good idea to choose shutter priority mode, because then you can set your
shutter speed to whatever you need it to control your motion blur, or to remove your motion blur,
and then the camera will decide the other settings for you, and you'll get a great exposure every time.
The problem with that is...is with bird photography especially, I like to sit around an aperture of
f8. But if i'm in shutter priority mode and I set my shutter speed to say 1/2500th
of a second; the camera is then going to not only choose my ISO, but it's also going
to change my aperture. And it's going to choose apertures like f5.6 or f3.5, or somewhere down the
wider end of my lens, and i don't want that, because that's going to make my
shots not as sharp. They're going to be quite soft, and I don't like that. So...recently I discovered
auto ISO in manual mode which is fantastic, because you can choose your aperture, you can choose your
shutter speed, and then set your ISO to auto, and you just shoot. Why is this a game changer?
Let me explain.
So right now, I'm at Woolgoolga Headland which is one of my favourite spots to come for bird photography.
You get so many sea birds flying past here: seagulls, cormorants,
there goes a couple of seagulls..um..osprey uh..sooty oystercatchers, brahminy kites.
So many different birds, right. But if you look behind me, you can see we've got three different
areas of contrast here. You've got the sky which today is a bit cloudy and overcast. If it was blue,
you'd have a nice bright blue sky. Then you've got the darker ocean, and then even darker rocks down
here. So what I normally do if I see birds that are tracking at sky level coming towards me, I will
meter off the sky; so I'll put point my camera up towards the sky, I'll have a look at my meter,
and I'll say you know...I've got my aperture set to f8 which is where I want it. I've set my shutter
speed to 1/2500th of a second or 1/4000th of a second;
whatever I feel like on the day. Whether I want a little bit of motion blur or hardly any at all.
And then I'll set my ISO to whatever gives me the best exposure. That's fine if the bird stays on the
sky. What if that bird decides to dip down onto the water, or even worse, down to the rocks? The moment
it dips down onto that water, your exposure is going to drop, right? This is why auto ISO in manual
mode is so magical, because what you do is set your ISO to auto, you just track the bird wherever it
goes; your camera will choose the right ISO for the correct exposure. All you got to do is shoot.
So why not try auto ISO in manual mode today on your own camera. In just a sec, I'm going to show
you how to set it up on the Nikon d5200. But if you've got another camera, you should be
able to do it. It is totally a game-changer guys, I'm telling you. You'll get so many more keepers.
So with the Nikon d5200 it's really easy. All you have to do is hit the menu button,
scroll to the shooting menu, which is a little camera icon, then go across and down to ISO
sensitivity settings, click ok or the right side of the multi-selector, and then go down to auto ISO
sensitivity control, and turn that on and you're ready to go. So go and try auto ISO in manual mode
yourself. I'm sure that you'll love it. Please come back to the video again and leave a comment to let
me know if you do love it. If you already use it and you love it comment below. Hit the Like button,
and if you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, please do so, and ding the notification
bell so you get notified whenever I release a new video. Until next time. I'm Barry Callister
of Photographer's Freedom.Get out there...if you can. Take some wicked shots. I'll see you soon.
[ocean sounds]