What Camera Settings should I use on my Canon EOS Rebel T5 for photographing a Baby Shower?

[jessewilliams]

At 2:30 today, I will be photographing a Baby Shower for my church. I would like to know what camera settings I should use in Manual Mode on my Canon EOS Rebel T5. I would like the pictures to look good.

Thanks, Jesse Williams

[Danny]

Hi, Jesse!

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Thanks and have a great day!

[TCampbell]

If you're not already adept at using manual mode, the important event is not the time to learn.   To learn to shoot in manual mode, pick a day to learn to shoot test subjects when you can treat the shots as disposable because you wont care if they come out well while learning.

Instead, set the camera to use Auto ISO and set the mode dial to Av (Aperture priority mode.  Av stands for "Aperture value").

Set a low aperture value (if you are using the kit lens such as the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 then most of the time the lowest possible aperture value will usually be f/5.6.)  The computer will automatically decide what shutter speed to use.

You can use the flash as a "fill flash" (the camera will primarily expose for the available light and only use the flash to suppliment the light -- it will not use the flash as it's primary source of light in this particular mode.)

The on-camera flash is not particularly powerful... so don't expect this to work well if subjects are 25' away.  But if subjects are 10-15' away it should work well.  Canon's external speedlights (such as the 430EX II) are considerably more powerful and offer the added advantage of having a built-in focus-assist beam which lets the camera focus even in complete darkness.  

[ScottyP]

I would not use Av setting because your the camera will slow the shutter too much and you will get blurry pictures from subject motion blur and maybe also camera shake blur.  

I would use the Tv mode, which is Shutter Priority (Time Value). You set the lowest shutter speed that will work, in the case of a baby shower probably 1/100th of a second will be fine. You might be ok a little slower but I would not take the chance.

In Tv shutter priority mode, the camera will set the aperture for you, but have no fear,  it will no doubt open all the way up without you having to use AV mode to tell it to do so.  With the auto ISO working, you should be all set as far as exposure goes.

[TCampbell]

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@ScottyP wrote:

I would not use Av setting because your the camera will slow the shutter too much and you will get blurry pictures from subject motion blur and maybe also camera shake blur.   

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There's a setting to restrict this.  I know where it is on my 5D III but would need to look it up for other camera models.  It specifically decides what speed to use when Av mode is used AND a flash is used at the same time.  

The default for the setting is simply "auto" but the other choices are to use flash sync speed (typically 1/200th or 1/250th but some models use 1/160th), and the other choice (and the one I personally use) is to limit the shutter speed to the range of 1/60th-1/200th (the upper end is actually whatever your flash sync speed is for your model.)

In other words, when I shoot in Av and use a flash, I'm guaranteed to get a shutter speed somewhere between 1/60th and 1/200th for my 5D III camera and the camera will boost ISO if necessary to guarantee that.

The benefit of doing this is that the camera sets the exposure for the available light in the background, but then supplements with the flash so you end up with a nicely balanced shot.   I'm not at my computer, but I'll see if I can post an example from my photo library later so you can see the effect.

[jessewilliams]

Thanks guys for the replies. I did what the first suggestion said and it seemed to work fine. I took a class that was local but it only lasted for a day. I did learn some, but not enough. Photography coarses are just too expensive.

[TCampbell]

BTW, I looked up the location of the setting on your camera model to control shutter speed in Av when using flash.

It's on page 259 of your manual.

C.Fn-3  Flash sync. speed in Av mode

The possible choices you have are:

0:  Auto (this is the default)

Flash sync speed is automatically set in the range of 1/200th to 30 sec exposure.  (This mode permits shutter speeds which are much too long.)

1:  1/200-1/60 sec. auto.

Flash sync speed is limited to this range and can never shoot slower than 1/60th sec.  (This is the mode I prefer to use because it guarantees that you wont have a shutter speed too slow for hand-held photography.)

2:  1/200 sec. (fixed)

Flash sync speed will only fire at 1/200th sec.  No other speed will be used when the flash is active in Av mode.

I use setting "1" (1/200-1/60) because this allows the camera to expose for ambient so that the background isn't black, but uses the flash to light the subjects.

Here's a quick candid to show you what this does.  This is a candid shot I took at an outdoor/nighttime "town party" on Maui.

If the flash had been the "key" (which is usually what most point & shoots would do) you end up with a properly exposed "subject" but the background is black and the photo looks unnnatural.  

When you allow the camera to set exposure for the background light, you end up with a shot like the one above where you capture the atmosphere of the place and yet the subjects get adequate light from the flash without being over-exposed.

[Kenny101]

Hello, I see this is an old post, but I am a Digital Camera Dummy who just bought a Canon Rebel 5i. Why did you recommend using an AV setting and not a full auto setting? What makes the AV setting better than AUTO? 

Thanks 

Ken

[Tim]

Hello Kenny 101, 

The simplest reasoning would be that shooting in Av mode allows the user to set the aperture as a priority and have the camera take care of the shutter speed.  In full auto mode the camera sets both exposure values itself.  Allowing the user to set aperture as the priority affords an additional level of camera control to the user not found in auto. 

[BurnUnit]

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@Kenny101 wrote:

Hello, I see this is an old post, but I am a Digital Camera Dummy who just bought a Canon Rebel 5i. Why did you recommend using an AV setting and not a full auto setting? What makes the AV setting better than AUTO? 

Thanks 

Ken

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TCampbell pretty thoroughly explained the procedure and its benefits about five posts above this one. It's not the only workable solution but it's well worth considering to get the kind of results the OP probably desires.

For some reason I can't remember how to multi-quote to my post so I've pasted most of TCampbells response below.

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"...Instead, set the camera to use Auto ISO and set the mode dial to Av (Aperture priority mode.  Av stands for "Aperture value").

Set a low aperture value (if you are using the kit lens such as the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 then most of the time the lowest possible aperture value will usually be f/5.6.)  The computer will automatically decide what shutter speed to use.

You can use the flash as a "fill flash" (the camera will primarily expose for the available light and only use the flash to suppliment the light -- it will not use the flash as it's primary source of light in this particular mode.)

The on-camera flash is not particularly powerful... so don't expect this to work well if subjects are 25' away.  But if subjects are 10-15' away it should work well.  Canon's external speedlights (such as the 430EX II) are considerably more powerful and offer the added advantage of having a built-in focus-assist beam which lets the camera focus even in complete darkness."