The Phoblographer is essentially a Facebook based ‘blog’ all about photography, which seems reaonable given the name…
In between articles about the latest ‘must have’ camera strap or bag, there are sometimes some interesting articles – a recent one regarding the UNSPLASH photo hosting site was actually very good – but then 90% of it was a video made by a working photographer…
Another recent article, entitled « Set it and forget it » is about using the Program exposure mode on your camera. Again, the major part of the article was given over to a video by Eric Kim (apparently a ‘respected’ street photographer – a Google search shows he’s everywhere – virtually, that is) and I have to say his explications, well, they’re completely wrong.
The basic premiss here is that all ‘real’ photographers use manual mode, and that this is not necessarily adapted to all shooting situations. WRONG – manual mode is adapted to ALL shooting situations – it just means it takes experience to set the camera correctly for each shot. To make things easier for the photographer, the manufacturers invented Program mode which lets the photographer change a few settings (White balance (what?), ISO, exposure compensation) while controlling the aperture and shutter speed. Kim explains that he is often going in and out of dark and/or light situations, and in manual mode it’s a pain to be constantly changing settings, and missing shots. I agree with him.
The idea that Program mode is the way to go is just nonsense – I use aperture priority pretty much all the time – I can choose the depth-of-field I want, and then I let the camera do the rest – I never miss a shot due to camera settings. I shoot RAW so white balance is something to do in post processing, and I can’t remember the last time I changed the ISO value. I do, however, change the exposure correction when the lighting is simply too confusing for the camera and needs a little help (sunrises, sunsets etc.). That’s why it’s there…
I have never used Program mode – I have total control once I have chosen the aperture value I think is needed for the scene, as the camera will set the shutter speed and I know I can hand hold very slow settings (or use a tripod) and Program mode would take away all the flexibility I’m used to.
Kim is a ‘street’ photographer, and frankly I would have thought he’d know better…