Six shooting techniques commonly used by professional photographers

Nowadays, the more advanced digital cameras are, the more functions they have, but for beginners or amateur photographers, some buttons or methods may never be used. But in fact, there are many very practical functions that professional photographers often use. Now let's look at six useful examples.

1. Focus button (AF-ON) on the back of the machine.

The AF-ON button is usually located on the back of the machine for thumb operation.

Focusing is usually half-pressing the shutter, but there is actually another way to achieve autofocus: press AF-ON on the back of the machine. So when will this function be used? The following are two examples commonly used by the author:

(1) Press AF-ON for pre-focusing when some objects enter the shooting range, and press the shutter once the objects enter;

(2) In AF-C mode, press and hold the AF-ON key to focus, and press the shutter as long as the composition is appropriate;

When to use the AF-ON button depends on your needs and preferences, but its main function is to let you quickly press the shutter to shoot without going through the step of half-pressing the shutter to focus.

Shooting running animals can also use AF-ON technology to adjust autofocus to AF-C (continuous autofocus), and then use AF-ON lock to stop shooting.

2. Different exposure modes are used in different environments.

Novices often use automatic gear, P gear and so on. In fact, professional photographers will not use these modes, but will use aperture priority, shutter priority or full manual mode, so that photographers have greater control and take their own ideal photos. This list gives examples of situations where these patterns are recommended (depending on the situation, they may not all be used in this way):

Do you find that one of these modes will be used at any time? By the way, it is the full manual mode M-mode, but in fact, it can be used in most cases by making good use of the functions of aperture priority and shutter priority plus exposure compensation.

Novices should be familiar with the convenience brought by aperture priority and shutter priority, and with good composition, they can easily take good photos.

3. Use the "spot metering" function

"Spot metering" can be used as an aid when shooting some pictures with large light difference, or when the subject must be exposed accurately.

Among different exposure functions, balanced metering is the easiest mode to use, but one metering mode is extreme, but sometimes it is also very useful, that is, spot metering mode with small metering range.

In spot metering mode, the camera only measures light according to the focus (some cameras can only measure light according to the middle focus), and the range is very small. Light sources outside this range will not be included in the metering value, so it is very suitable for use in situations with large light differences, such as concerts and backlit portraits. Of course, if you have experience, it is also feasible to use full-area balance metering and then adjust with exposure compensation, but spot metering is more direct.

4. Use the "exposure lock" function

The AE-L button on the back of the camera sometimes has AF-L focus lock function, which can be adjusted in the camera to see if it is effective.

The exposure locking function is a function that professional photographers must know. In the case of aperture or shutter priority, the camera will constantly measure light to change the combination of aperture and shutter in real time. If you want to lock the exposure value and change the composition, you can press the AE-L key of exposure lock, so that the camera will stop metering and only use the same exposure combination.

Cut photos

Later, the photos can be cut by software for secondary composition.

When it comes to the later stage, many people will also think of changing colors, contrasting, and even making the skin smoother. In fact, photo editing is also an important post-processing method, which some photographers will call "secondary composition". In this digital age with large pixels, it is no longer difficult to cut photos. However, some people will ask why they want a second composition.

In fact, this is necessary in some cases. For example, shooting competitions, sports, wildlife, etc., the most important thing is to "shoot". And the exposure and composition can also be slightly modified in the software. Therefore, in order to shoot wonderful works in an emergency, "editing photos" is also an important skill.

6. Make good use of flash to fill the light

Using Stander DF660 external flash as supplementary light can produce beautiful eyes and make the environment bright enough.

Flash, whether built-in or external, is very easy to use, and novices often think that using flash photography = "destroying the atmosphere of photos" In fact, the best way to use the flash is to blend it into the photo silently and colorless as a tool to fill the light. Through the intensity of the flash and the color of the flash light (plus colored paper), we can make the subject produce or eliminate the shadow, and the external flash can also be used to reflect the flash or calender during the day, so a professional photographer must have a flash in his backpack.