Today’s Question: Can you clarify what you meant when you said that you “think about exposure based on compensation”, in the context of preferring aperture priority mode?
Tim’s Quick Answer: I tend to think about setting exposure on my camera based on how the meter is likely to be “fooled” by the scene in front of the lens. Based on this mindset, I find it more intuitive to set an exposure compensation setting in conjunction with a semi-automatic exposure mode, rather than potentially needing to constantly evaluate and refine the exposure settings in manual exposure mode.
More Detail: My overall view about establishing exposure settings on your camera is that it doesn’t matter what approach you use as long as you can arrive at appropriate settings confidently and relatively quickly. My view is that whatever approach resonates with you is probably the best approach to use unless there are other reasons to choose a different approach.
When I evaluate a scene in front of my lens, I’m often considering how the meter is going to be “fooled” by the scene. Based on this, I find it easiest to refine exposure based on applying exposure compensation. Furthermore, depth of field tends to be a priority for me in many cases, and so I tend to favor aperture priority mode. Therefore, I find it most comfortable to use aperture priority, dial in the lens aperture I want to use, and then apply an exposure compensation adjustment as I deem appropriate.
I could certainly use manual mode, adjusting the shutter speed after establishing my preferred lens aperture, to the point that the meter shows the applicable level of exposure compensation. However, for situations where I’m photographing various areas of a scene and therefore needing to adjust exposure based on framing, I find it much faster and easier to use exposure compensation combined with aperture priority mode, for example, rather than having to more frequently adjust exposure settings in manual mode to manually compensate for exposure changes.
I should hasten to add that in many cases manual mode can offer advantages that are more important than the factors that cause me to usually favor aperture priority mode. For example, if I’m photographing a moving subject such as a bird in flight with a fixed lighting condition but variable background as the bird moves across the scene, locking specific exposure settings in manual mode can be far and away the best approach.
Ultimately, whatever approach you’re most comfortable with and that will enable you to establish accurate exposure settings as quickly as possible is probably the best approach. I pretty much never use fully automatic exposure modes, but if they work for you then I think it is perfectly fine to use them. But I also don’t think it makes sense for photographers to try to “force” themselves to use manual exposure mode if they’re not comfortable with it in certain situations.
Use the camera settings and options that best help you achieve good exposures consistently, and whatever that consists of I would say represents a good approach for you.
