Whitewater rafting on the Taos Box, Rio Grande. You don’t have a lot of reaction time with scenarios like this. On this shot of a raft crashing through standing waves, and wielding around a telephoto lens, I needed a very fast shutter and I saw 1/2000th of a second which I knew would be fast enough to freeze the action-my intended effect. I made a quick exposure compensation adjustment (back down to 0.0 from +1.0) to compensate for the shadowed background. There was no way I could have reacted that fast in full manual exposure. And focus tracking would have been confused with all the water slashing up in front of the subjects.
In April 2027 Lauri and I will raft the Grand Canyon. It will be our third private trip and second running it in packrafts – small personal rafts that are only 7 feet long. Though we’ve been paddling whitewater for decades, I am concerned about my ability to stay upright through some of the big rapids. The key to successful runs isn’t learning or practicing paddle strokes. It’s reaction time to the unexpected. Paddle strokes are as second nature to me as the gear shift on a standard 5-speed transmission is which I’ve been driving since I was 16.
To stay upright and have successful runs in the big rapids, I need to memorize the best line I scouted while immersed in it with boiling whitewater all around me, and, having fast enough reaction times (bracing, executing the right paddle stroke with maximum efficiency and body balance) to keep my boat upright when something unexpected happens.
Fast reaction time with camera operation is also an important skill. Even if you have full understanding of the exposure triangle and have hyperfocal focus and subject detection dialed in, can you change or adjust your focus and exposure variables fast enough for optimal results before missing a fleeting photo op? When the action is fast and furious and distractions are all around you, minimizing reaction time and memorizing where your most critical buttons and dials are can make a difference between getting a wall hanger or a delete bin candidate.
Even on the lonely Richardson Highway, Alaska, in March I don’t want to dilly-dally with my camera while lying in the middle of the road for too long. Get the shot and get off the road!
Canon R5, Canon 70-200mm, f/4 at 135mm
ISO 400, 1/500th second @ f/11 Exp. Comp: +0.7 stop
My guiding principle for maximizing efficiency and minimizing reaction time is the 1 button, 1 function method. My camera is customized so one button or dial (besides the main shutter button which is universal on most camera bodies) for the functions I use most, only does one thing. Not only have I memorized what each button does, but I can also find them by feel without ever taking my eye off the viewfinder, which means I don’t miss the action. I can’t imagine having to look at the diagram on the knob of my shift lever (that shows 5 speeds and reverse) to know what gear I need to shift to. It’s all by memory and feel. Your camera operation should be the same way.
MASTER THESE 6 FUNCTIONS
Here are my top 6 most used customized buttons and dials. These will be different on each camera brand and model.
1. MAIN EXPOSURE CONTROL: Depending upon your chosen exposure mode, this is usually a dial you operate with your right index finger on top of the camera. 90% of the time I use Aperture Priority. Even if I need a fast shutter speed, I still keep it in Aperture Priority mode because it’s faster to get to the shutter speed I need adjusting the other exposure controls than it is change exposure modes on the camera from Aperture to Shutter Priority. Pro Tip: I’ve configured the direction of how the variables change based on the “lower left” principle. When I turn a dial to the left, numbers go lower – i.e., if my current aperture setting is f/8 and I want f/5.6 I know to turn the dial to the left.
2. ISO DIAL: Sure, you can use auto ISO. I want full control and assigning my ISO to a dial with my right thumb is just super easy and fast. The light rarely changes that fast to where I can’t just take half a second and change the ISO manually. I adjust my ISO mainly to get a hand holdable shutter speed when not using a tripod. On a tripod and shooting landscapes, it just stays at 100 ISO for the best image quality. I also use the “lower left” principle. If I’m at ISO 200, turning the dial to the left gives me a lower ISO, to the right, a higher ISO. This direction of change is something I program in the camera if it isn’t the default setting. Canon pro bodies have had that feature for a long time.
The shorter my reaction time is with focus and exposure settings, the more brain power I have for composition, making sure my background isn’t competing with the subject, and staying at a safe distance from a 1500 pound moose with raging testosterone. Moose, Coastal Trail, Kincaid Park, Anchorage.
Canon R5, 100-500mm f/4.5 -7.1 lens at 114mm
ISO 6400, 1/1250 second @ f/8 Exp. Comp: 0.0
3. EXPOSURE COMPENSATION: Rarely does your camera get the exposure optimal without any adjustments. Most of the landscape shooting I do is anything but middle tone, so exposure compensation is almost always needed for optimal exposure. It’s as simple as turning the thumb wheel to add or subtract exposure from what the camera chose. I’ve set it up for “lower left” turning the dial to the right increases exposure compensation.
4. HISTOGRAM DISPLAY: I use the live display so I can see where my highlights and shadows are in real time before taking the shot. I use this in conjunction with the exposure compensation dial to verify optimal exposure, or, if my scene exceeds dynamic range and I have to resort to doing an HDR exposure. The live histogram display is the single most useful display there is on mirrorless bodies for verifying exposure and dynamic range. However, sometimes the display creates a viewfinder that is too cluttered. So I have a button I can find by feel that toggles the histogram display on and off.
I never leave all the exposure and focus decisions entirely to the camera. It doesn’t know what I’m thinking. I want (and have) easy and quick manual override of both exposure and focus settings the camera makes. I call it the best of both worlds. In this scenario of a clamming brown bear near sunrise, when I saw the people come into the background I immediately changed my aperture from a normal f/4 or f/5.6 setting for wildlife up to f/16 in an attempt to bring more of the background into sharper focus. It didn’t work optimally here but at least I tried.
5. FOCUS BUTTON: By default, most cameras come from the factory with the ability to focus either with a back button or the main shutter button. Following the 1 button, 1 function principle, the key is to disengage autofocus operation from your main shutter button and only have back button focus. When auto focus is not working my back-up focus method is simply grabbing the focus ring on the lens and doing a manual focus adjustment. There are many reasons to make a manual focus adjustment that I won’t get into here. The main point is, if you do focus tweaking manually, which again has many advantages, if you leave your focus linked to the main shutter button, your manual adjustments will be immediately erased when you press the shutter. If you disengage it from the front button, your focus will stay where you manually put it, UNLESS you press the assigned back button.
In many situations, subject and even eye detection auto focus works well but sometimes it fails. This bear’s head was constantly moving up and down and it was constantly moving amongst the dandelion. My pro level AF system was having trouble staying locked on. Simply adjusting the focus manually and tweaking what the camera chose saved the shot.
Canon R5, Canon 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 at 186mm
ISO 3200, 1/1000th second @ f/7.1 Exp. Comp: +1.0
There is no detail in this silhouetted bear’s eye or head. Focus tracking can struggle with no contrast within the selected focus point. All auto focus systems struggle to lock on any area with homogenous tones or color like the bright sky. The solution? With back button only focus, as soon as I achieve focus, I remove my thumb and the focus stays where you set it. With the bear moving parallel to the camera there was no need to keep focusing once it was achieved. With the abundant light I was able to stop down to f/13. This gave me some focus “wiggle room” due to the increased depth of field at that aperture without sacrificing an action-stopping shutter speed.
Canon R5, Canon 24-105mm f/4 at 100mm,
ISO 1250, 1/400th second at f/13
6. DEPTH OF FIELD BUTTON: This has been a feature on pro level cameras for decades. I’ve used it on my first pro level Pentax LX in 1988. Even with modern mirrorless DSLR bodies you can’t really see your true zone of focus until you press this button. I use this button almost every time I shoot. I constantly check my zone of focus. I programmed this button to be in the same place, on the lower right side of the lens barrel, where it has historically been.
Ice cave on the Icing Glacier, Alaska.
This block of ice in the foreground was 2 feet in front of me with the rest of the scene unfolding into infinity in the background. Without taking my lens out of AF mode, I simply manually focused beyond the block of ice in front of me and used the Depth of Field preview button and manually adjusted focus until I got the zone of focus I wanted which was the entire scene.
For exposure, I knew I needed f/16. Using the ISO and exposure compensation button, I quickly optimized exposure looking at my histogram, making sure I didn’t blow out the highlights in the background while still having detail in the darkest areas inside the cave.
With a 14mm lens and IS, 1/60th was fast enough for a hand held shot here.
Canon R5, Canon 14-35mm f/4 lens at 14mm
ISO 100, 1/60th second @ f/16. Exposure Comp: -0.3
PRO TIP:
Higher end camera body models generally make it easier to customize and use the features that advanced photographers use regularly. My belief is the main reason to upgrade to higher end models isn’t because the sensors are better, but the performance can be. THE main reasons I chose Canon system isn’t because they have better sensors or lenses than other brands do, but because of ergonomic design giving me ease in using the best of both worlds – auto focus and exposure with manual override.
I was photographing landscapes of coastal lupine when I saw this kiteboarder. I was quickly able to reconfigure my settings on the fly while running down the beach so I could capture this series of action with this incredible late-June mountain backdrop.
Canon R5, Canon 70-200mm, f/4 at 200mm
ISO 800, 1/1600th second @ f/5.6
Breakthrough Photography X4 CPL filter.
In this situation, using AF even with subject detection would have been useless. I manually focused so most of the image would be in sharp focus. I needed f/8 to maintain the zone of focus I needed so I adjusted my ISO and exposure comp. When we hit a big wave, all I had to do was compose and shoot. Quick manual override of both AF and auto exposure modes made the day.
Sony a6600, Sony 12mm lens (24mm full frame)
ISO 400, 1/1000th second @ f/8