Shoot Cards

This may be helpful to some people, especially new starters. I've made some A6 laminated cards to remind me about camera settings I always have to look up. For example, one of them is for "indicative night settings". It lists ten night settings like "full moon" or "floodlit cathedral" and next to each I've got Time Value, Aperture Value and ISO settings. At A6 size, the cards fit nicely in my camera bag and it's easier to find what I want from them as opposed to looking through the manual. Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by alison oxley on November 25, 2009 at 1:13pm

great tip colin, i too always forget which settings to use so its helpful for me

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Permalink Reply by Richard Crowe on December 3, 2009 at 4:27pm

I carry this information on a cheat sheet. It has proven fairly accurate over the years. I can easily extrapolate when I want to increase ISO speed or change f/stops. These are only starting points and it is always helpful to bracket exposures.

TYPE OF LIGHTING SITUATION ISO 100
Night, away from city lights, subject under starlight only: 16m – f/4
Night, away from city lights, subject under crescent moon: 8m – f/4
Night, away from city lights, subject under half moon. Meteors (during showers, with time exposure): 4m – f4
Night, away from city lights, subject under full moon: 2m – f/4
Night, away from city lights, snowscape under full moon: 1m – f/4
Subjects lit by dim ambient artificial light: 32s – f/4
Distant view of lighted skyline: 8 s - f/4
Lightning (with time exposure). Total eclipse of moon: 4 s - f/4
Fireworks (with time exposure): 2 s – f/4
Candle lit close-ups. Christmas lights, floodlit buildings, fountains, and monuments, Subjects under bright street lamps: 1 s - f/4
Night home interiors, average light. School or church auditoriums. Subjects lit by campfires or bonfires: ½ s – f/4
Brightly lit home interiors at night. Fairs, amusement parks: ¼ s – f/4
Bottom of rainforest canopy. Brightly lighted nighttime streets. Indoor sports. Stage shows, circuses: 1/8 s – f/4
Las Vegas or Times Square at night. Store windows, Campfires, bonfires, burning buildings. Ice shows, football, baseball etc. at night. Interiors with bright florescent lights: 1/15 s – f/4
Landscapes, city skylines 10 minutes after sunset. Neon lights, spotlighted subjects: 1/30 s – f/4
Landscapes and skylines immediately after sunset. Crescent moon (long lens): 1/60 s – f/4
Sunsets. Subjects in open shade: 1/125 s – f/4
Half moon (long lens). Subject in heavy overcast: 1/250 s – f/4
Gibbous moon (long lens). Subjects in cloudy-bright light (no shadows): 1/500 s – f/4
Full moon (long lens). Subjects in weak, hazy sun: 1/500 s – f/5.6

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Permalink Reply by Colin Jennings on December 4, 2009 at 11:34am

Thanks for sharing that, Richard. I'll have to break it down into chunks to fit my A6 cards, though.

The first card I make myself look at before a shoot is WAIT -
White balance
Aperture value
ISO setting
Time value

I do this because my camera is always set to whatever I shot last and I prefer to get as much right as I can in-camera.

Thanks again.