Example, if using a 100mm lens, use 1/100 second (or the next highest equivalent shutter speed, like 1/125 ) under average conditions. Some photographers are able to handhold their cameras for impossibly long exposures, like 1/4 or 1/2 second. To do this, you must practice good breathing and shooting techniques. With the handheld camera laid flat in the palm of your hand and your elbows in against your body, take a deep breath and hold it. Do not exhale until you’ve squeezed the shutter. Spread your feet like a tripod and if you are near a doorway, lean against it for additional support.
According to Michael O’Neill, “My digital camera [a Nikon D2X] is set in the manual-exposure mode about 90 percent of the time. My camera does not know that it is a digital camera with awesome 3D Color Matrix metering capabilities. It does, however, know how to record a properly lit and exposed scene the same way my film cameras did. My trusty Minolta flash meter still occupies a readily accessible spot in my camera bag and gets pulled out for ambient light or manual electronic flash readings many times throughout the wedding day. I usually start my day metering the light falling through an appropriate window at the bride’s
According to Michael O’Neill, “My digital camera [a Nikon D2X] is set in the manual-exposure mode about 90 percent of the time. My camera does not know that it is a digital camera with awesome 3D Color Matrix metering capabilities. It does, however, know how to record a properly lit and exposed scene the same way my film cameras did. My trusty Minolta flash meter still occupies a readily accessible spot in my camera bag and gets pulled out for ambient light or manual electronic flash readings many times throughout the wedding day. I usually start my day metering the light falling through an appropriate window at the bride’s
home for intimate available-light portraits of the bride, her parents and her bridesmaids. All of my ceremony shots are done in manual exposure mode and most are done pre-focused with the camera’s auto focus capabilities turned off. Ditto for the candid shots at the reception.”
The window-light photograph of the bride was taken before the ceremony with a gold Light Disc reflector fill. This was a manual exposure metered with a handheld incident-light meter. Manual white balance setting was used on the Nikon D2X to achieve the warm flesh tones. Photograph by Michael O’Neill.
