Camera Labs

So, I have been reading a lot on Ken Rockwell's site the last few days http://www.kenrockwell.com and he gives some good and sometimes in your face recommendations. He recommended a study of how the camera sees evening light that we can't see. The first week of July I'll be back in some of the hills in south/central New Mexico and plan to take an evening to do this. I have a perfect spot that I can shoot towards a mountian that the setting sun will shine torwards then turn and shoot the plains right at the sunset. He said start at sunset an take a picture every minute or so for an hour past sunset to see the colors we can't.

Now my question is settings. I guess part of this is I should explore them myself but...I shoot mostly in Av an know my sharp range for my 35 f/2 I'll be using. Should I let the camera pick my shutter time or should I go full manual and try figuring out how long I should let the shutter go?

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

When I'm out taking photos where I actually care for the outcome, I usually go in Av mode and let the camera suggest a shutter speed and ISO. If I agree, I click the shutter, if I disagree, I go in manual, or set a +/- ev compensation if I know the picture will be too dark / too bright.

If I'm out practicing my photography techniques, I'll usually go in M mode and set everything up manually. I then look at the light meter in the bottom of the viewfinder to see if the camera agrees with me, then I give it a shot. If I'm out learning a specific technique, or trying to understand how to solve a specific problem, I'll usually spend around 100-200 shots, and then spend a few hours analyzing them on the computer to see what I did right or wrong, what I can improve, and what I learned from the experience.

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Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T2i, Canon S90
Lenses: Tamron: SP70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD, Canon: EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens, 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III, and EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Retired camera: Fujifilm Finepix s700

My $.02,
If trying to learn what the camera can do, use auto settings. If working on your skills, use manual.
Let us know how it goes.

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Photo Taker for ~30 years.
Books: The Art of Photography- Barnbaum, Photographically Speaking- duChemin.
@Clifford Rourke on Twitter, Clifford Rourke on Google Plus

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Can DSLR's see something we don't? I find the opposite to be true, because of limited dynamic range which limits the camera to only grab details from certain parts of a scene.

This is especially true if taking an image against a setting sun, we have no issues seeing the beautiful colours that are drawn over the skies as well as the darker ground. A camera would have to choose, and if you wanted both then either several exposures or a grad filter would be required.

On the other hand I might not fully understand what is meant by the quote. ^^

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Canon 5D MkII -|- Sigma 24mm f/1.8 | Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 | Canon 50mm f/1.4 | Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro | Lensbaby Composer
Canon A-1 -|- Canon 28mm f/2 | Canon 35mm f/2.8 | Canon 50mm f/3.5 Macro

Lorride,

This really isn't about getting the landscape, it is about understanding the light itself so I'm not to worried about the contrast between the landscape and sky. This is a quote from his site http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/color.htm:



So from my hill top I will have a perfect vantage point being able to shoot at the sunset then turn 180-deg and get a mountain face (all though a little ways off) being lit by the setting sun.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

It's not as if you are limited by the number of shots you can take.

Time may be a factor as such I go with the camera, it's brain works a little faster than mine.

But if you do have time shoot with both av and manual. Use the camera and learn from it.

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Canon 550D, Canon EFS 17-85 IS USM, Canon EF 75-300 IS USM, Canon EFS 10-22mm USM, Canon EF35mm F2.

Got some of the gear but really still no idea...

I went on my weekend trip and did not know it would be a working trip Helped my father-in-law put in 16 railroad-ties as fence posts, still a little sore. That with it being summer and the sunset being rather late I didn't stay up to really try. I did spend about an hour photoing the sunset. As soon as I've gone thru those I'll post a few.

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Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS