Sorry for the absence lately everyone, I have been attempting to get things together for this YouTube channel along with Katsucon. If you are going and still need a photographer feel free to sign up HERE! I have a really awesome post for you guys today and it’s a topic that I do not discuss often. I’m also showing you some unedited photos which is something that I NEVER do. As I engage in different shoots, I am constantly moving lights around while changing angles and adding gels. Many often ask why I do this and what it achieves? Well, I can’t discuss EVERYTHING in a single post, but I would like to talk about the difference between shooting with AUTO mode and no external lights, vs Manual and with external lights. Assisting me with the shoots is the lovely @princessleighann. She has some amazing cosplays so head over to her page for some inspiration.
So, shooting in manual is an absolute must for cosplay photographers. For this shoot I used my trusty NIKON D7000 which is a rather dated camera but never lets me down. It does not have some of the bells and whistles of the newer cameras but still gets the job done. All of these images were shot on my Nikon 50mm Lens. I have written about this lens previously which can be found Here. Some of the main things you have to consider when shooting Manual vs Automatic is that the camera is automatically setting a few vital settings for you. The big settings that the camera is deciding for you are the F-stop, ISO, Aperture and White Balance.
F-stop
The f-stop basically determines how large the aperture opening of the camera is. Another aspect that is commonly overlooked by newer photographers is the fact that the f-stop determines what will and will not be in focus. The lower the number the greater the bokeh effect or blurriness of the background. This image was shot at an f stop of 5.6 meaning that most of the elements in the photo will be in focus. While in automatic mode, the camera chose an f-stop of 5.6. When I switched to MANUAL mode, I decided I preferred 2.0 because I like the subject to pop while blurring the background.
This means that more light will be allowed into the camera, so we have to up our shutter speed but let’s not get to complex. Just understand that F-stop determines the amount of light in the camera and what will be in focus. I personally prefer darker images, and this would not be achievable with using the cameras automatic settings. To develop your own style, you must use MANUAL mode so your images will be far more consistent and not dependent on environmental variables.
Aperture
Referencing the next two images, we can see that the first image is much blander, and nothing really stands out in the image. The cosplayer and background are basically the same color or brightness. There’s nothing technically wrong with this image but it’s simply not my style and there’s nothing really amazing about this photo. Of course, we could enhance certain elements of the photo with photoshop but let’s go ahead and do as much as we can with the camera now to cut down our post work. The camera decided that the best aperture for these images would be 1/125 of a second. Anything generally above 1/60 of a second means that you will not get motion blur, but this does mean that 1/125 was the best aperture settings for this photo.
With Automatic settings, the camera wanted to make sure that the entire Image was well lit. I do not necessarily care for the entire picture being well lit and only care that the cosplayer is well lit. To achieve my desired effect, I had to crank up the aperture to 1/2500 of a second. This was required to darken the background. Such a high aperture requires the use of flash as everything in the photo would be dark without it. I used my Orlit Rovelight to light @princessleighann and can sometimes use up to three of them in a shoot. There’s so much that can be done with off-camera flashes but we will touch on this in another post.
ISO
Likely the easiest setting to determine out of all the ones listed is ISO. ISO determines how sensitive the camera is to light. The higher the setting, the more sensitive the camera is to light while the lower the lest sensitive. In general, I try to keep this setting as low as possible because once again I prefer darker images. This also cuts down on the amount of noise present in photos. When you factor in external lights, it’s very important to keep your ISO settings low so you can get the image just right with your external lights. Now back to our Automatic settings. The camera decided the best ISO was 400. This is literally 4x the amount I am accustomed to. Despite the fact that there was an overcast, this setting is way too high in my opinion when shooting midday.
Upon entering Manual mode, I decided to drop the ISO back to 100. This means that the camera was far less sensitive to light and of course needed some extra help from my Off-Camera Flash. Although settings are once again a personal preference, going manual means that you will be much more consistent. I would advise getting familiar with your camera and understanding which ISO settings you prefer as shooting indoor vs outdoor requires very different settings.
White Balance
This setting is extremely important and determines so many things about your image. Most cameras come with automatic white balance settings that let you account for whatever the day brings. For example, if its sunny, you can set the camera to sunny day and the white balance will be adjusted accordingly. The same goes for cloudy, indoor or Incandescent lights. White balance settings can either make the image appear warmer or cooler. This has a drastic effect on how the image will be perceived. Cooler images may work better for certain cosplays such as villains while warmer white balance settings are more suitable for loveable characters.
With our first image, the cameras automatic settings went with 5300. This is actually rather cool and works well with the other settings chosen by the camera. When I switched to Manual settings, I decided I needed to warm up the pictures due to the use of my external lights. In general, I like to set my white balance so that all of the pictures I take that day are very similar. This also helps develop my own personal style and makes editing far easier. You can essentially batch edit the pictures which means that the same settings can be applied to all of the images. Of course, minor adjustments will be necessary but in general, the same settings are used throughout.
Overall the images taken on Auto were not terrible but they simply do not make anything stand out. Everything in the image is flat and the picture is kind of blah. Vibrant images or images with a great Bokeh effect are usually much more desirable and eye appealing. This simply cannot be achieved with automatic settings. So, take the time and get familiar with your camera so you can switch the camera to Manual. Also make sure you are shooting your pictures in RAW. RAW images are much larger files, but the information contained within each one allows for much greater modifications in both lightroom and photoshop.
There are so many other factors to consider when shooting but a good starting point is switching from AUTO. I hope this guide was informational and gave you a look at the differences between AUTO images and Manual images. Remember all of these images are taken right out of the camera and have not been enhanced, modified or cropped in any way. Thanks so much for checking out my post and look forward to more content in the future. Also, give my PODCAST a listen. We have had some great cosplayers on the show so make sure you check them out! Until next time, stay BOUNDLESS!!!
