i already goggled and apperently i have a long way for knowing better my nikon d90...

dear Psig friends, what would you recommend where to start learning better technical know how about nikon d90 ? aperture priorty and shutter priorty seems easy as it is written but in practice they both confused my mind...

thanks in advance ...

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From ssal/Alex (27,509) on April 30, 2012 5:28:53 PM CDT Both Aperture preferred (A) and Shutter preferred (S) are semi automatic exposure method. Instead of letting the camera take over the entire process, shooter (that's YOU) control one element of the exposure matrix (aperture, shutter and ISO). Assuming the ISO is constant, A lets you select the aperture, while S let you select the shutter speed. The camera with adjust the shutter speed in A mode, or the aperture in S mode, to give you the proper exposure. When to use A or S depends on the situation. Generally speaking, you would use A mode most of the time because it lets you control the Depth of Field (DoF) of the picture. DoF is an important element of an artistic photograph. A larger f/stop (the smaller numbers like f/2.8, f/4, etc.) gives you shallow DoF. It helps you pop the subject while defuses/defocus the foreground and background. The obvious example is a portrait. You have the subject face crystal sharp, but the background is blurred. While a smaller f/stop (like f/16 or f/22) gives you great depth of field. The example is architectural shot where you want the entire picture to be sharp from corner to corner. While you're shooting with A mode, you should pay attention to what shutter the camera is automatically adjusted. If the lighting condition is poor, the camera may drop the shutter to below 1/60th of a second. That may create a problem because of camera movement. In rare situation, you may want to change the mode to S so you can control the shutter speed. For example, when you try to capture a sport action shot. When a baseball player swinging his bat, it is going at a very high speed. If you want to "freeze" the bat or the ball, you'll need shutter speed above 1/500th of a second or even 1/1000. So you set the camera in S mode and set the appropriate shutter speed and let the camera determine the proper aperture for right exposure. Again, you want to pay attention to what f/stop the camera is setting for you because that would affect the DoF of your resulting picture. Hope this helps. Reply

From 1canonman/Bruce (9,502) on April 30, 2012 8:05:34 PM CDT Ah--- a good review of basics for any photographer----Thanks Alex. Bruce Reply

From nazperi/Peri (723) on May 1, 2012 2:41:19 PM CDT thank you so much Alex...i took notes from your review as basics of A and S modes...i will try also with your review notes...thank you again! Reply

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