25th Apr 2008
My camera’s shutter gets the middle finger
For my operating settings, I’ve got a few secrets that will help you snap quicker / better exposed photos when your flash is too hot.
My wife tells me that I’m too fast for this world so this trick my not apply or matter to some of you. del Sol Photographers all use Manual photo control when shooting our weddings. We have grown close to cameras performance and when shooting, we find it helpful to be able to adjust your shutter and aperture settings while also working some photojournalism in there. I know that everybody will have their own way to adjust these controls… if you open your mind to a little change now and then, you may become inspired.
This technique also has a little flashflavor advise built in as well. With a manual power slave flash, your exposure latitude is pretty short, not allowing much room for error with the brightness to darkness of your frame. the closer that slave gets to the camera, the hotter its going to be and vice versa going the other direction getting further away.
For example, if you were shooting a group of people who were gripping and grinning, your flash could be 2 times brighter than you thought it *should* be however, drastic measures are needed and quickly inside the camera to make the photo you are shooting that second, perfect! I enjoy rolling my right index finger on the top right dial on my camera, allows me to adjust my shutter. Think of it as a finger-roll technique. If you want to shoot a test but don’t have time to test your flash to subject distance, keeping in mind that photo moments happen way faster than you can remember, you aim and shoot. Your light’s intensity may be considerably high or low in relationship to how it *needs* to be. Roll the finger on the dial (front or back dial) as fast as possible to stop down or open up. I have calculated that there is a scale of how hard to how soft you can roll the dial, thus resulting in a multi f-stop roll, a single f-stop roll, or a little bit of a f-stop roll…. or something like that. I call that rustic technique the finger roll.
Just thought I would share this idea. For me, shooting Manual flash slaves can be a challenge and this technique has helped me in situations where I was totally unprepared with the power settings of my manual slave flash.
Here is my secret: Notice the index finger’s position, on the shutter control.
I give my camera’s shutter the middle finger. 
I honestly didn’t even realize this until one of my assistants pointed it out to me at a wedding the other week… I don’t even know what they heck i’m doing these days, but glad some body has figured it out for me. Thanks Diego for pointing that out!
DO you have any crazy camera quirks that help your game? Wanna share? Tell us about it.
Cheers!
mateo
I didn’t realize anybody used their index finger for a shutter… I’ve been using my middle finger since I was 13… I never actually gave thought to that ’til now!
I too never gave it a thought until now.
I’m pretty sure the norm is for the index finger to squeeze the trigger, and sometimes I will use that finger…
Crazy to have it pointed out by my assistant… But, when you think about it, this trick (for us) is an instinctive one that does the job… for others, it may be an eye opener…
I think its the little things that can make big changes in your game.
Cheers & thanks for taking time to comment!
mateo
some custom function to put the auto focus to that little star button on the back for the thumb. keeps the meter and focus separate.
My question is why is your assistant so intently watching your middle finger?
:^)
Hehe, us Nikon folks have been doing this for some time, although we have the middle finger on the aperture dial and the index finger on the trigger. I come from a Canon background and at first I thought the placement of the dial was a bit odd until I discovered that I could have one finger on the dial and one on the trigger, makes it possible to work so much faster.
The f-stop roll, never get really used to it. My problem is that I use 1/2 ev steps for shooting nightclubs and 1/3 ev steps otherwise. At clubs I need to be able to change the settings more and quicker and I want to be able to see +-three ev-steps on the lightmeter in the viewfinder (I have the D200). +-3-steps would be nice otherwise as well, I often need it while underexposing the ambient when I use flash (which is often).
Brilliant tip. Its so obvious and I’m wondering how come I didn’t think of this. I’m going to train myself to use this as I think it will add a few miliseconds to the process (which sometimes is the difference between a good image and a brilliant one…..
Hi, great blog! I never realized that i can use my middle finger for shutter release.
ps: I’m from germany. sorry for my grammatical and spelling.
Hey Mateo
Use that middle Dedo to send me your addy again Por favor!
Pretty good tip there amigo!
Chris Collins
Using a Pentax, I have the middle finger on the dial and the index on the trigger. Also have focusing on a button on the back of the camera, to keep it separate from triggering (avoids getting stuck by a camera that does not want to shoot because it’s not sure of its focus).
But I didn’t really get the point of your f-stop rolls. What’s the difference with automatic bracketing ?
For me, I typically don’t have time for automatic bracketing for every frame. This technique is to nail down a single frame that was unexpectedly bad, for whatever reason.
I once had a friend who customized my back buttons for focus on my 5d, I thought my camera was absolutely broken… i was terrified. i resorted to a backup camera and finished my session.
Every since that traumatic time, I refuse to even think about the button the back of the camera being set to the focusing… although many of my friends use it, i never will
The f-stop roll takes some time getting use to.. but I find that it works for me rather often. Sometimes not though.
Bill, my assistant watching the middle finger… go figure…
I have to admit I’m a bit puzzled. The front dial on Canon controls shutter speed when the camera is on manual mode. While the technique is useful when shooting manual without flash, I fail to see how it can help you to dial exposure on manual flash shots. Shutter speed only controls the amount of ambient light (if any) you will get into the shot. Aperture actually controls the exposure (back dial if enabled) in this particular situation.
yeah, i guess you are right, when shooting under the sync speed, the shutter sees the ambient.
This technique still allows for adjustments on the fly,regardless if you are using a flash and if you have the top dial configured for the shutter control. Some of those who switched from nikon may have configured the top dial for aperture.
Many folks often wonder why this rule is true… My rational is that the flashes power burst happens in a micro second (i dont know if that is a true measurement) but my point is that its faster than your shutter speed. Thus, your flash burst becomes your true shutter. If you are dragging the shutter (read this post), as I do very often, you may suddenly find yourself in a position where you have TOO MUCH ambient light, thus your subjects start ghosting by the amount of available light hitting them while the are moving, and a shutter adjustment is necessary. Remember this technique, you will not have any problems.
Cheers!
matt
I shoot with the 5D with battery grip, I recently adjusted my left-hand cradle of the lens for less strain on my wrist. imagine holding out your hand to show someone a signal for STOP - with all fingers extended and spaced apart…now, turn the hand around and place the camera lens where it normally goes, but keep your fingers extended. I used to curl up my ring and little fingers. This has relieved significant stress on my left wrist….and that’s just huge in itself…but wait, there’s more… I have my AF and shutter release under my middle finger like matt suggests, with my index on the SS dial, and I use the joystick on the back for quick selection of AF points (custom function 13-1 multi controller direct) Using the joystick really helps me nail a sharp photo when shooting wide open (1.4-2.8). WAIT…..here’s the whacked out part. I have started (not intentionally) focusing when i’m shooting landscape orientation using my extended pinky of my left hand on the Battery grip AF/shutter button leaving my right hand to work the other controls and to snap the shutter. I have missed fewer (wide open) moments because my left hand is engaging the AF controls as the camera comes up to my eye, and not after.
I never thought about it this way. I often use my middle finger when my index finger is tired.
Thanks for sharing this nice tip. I haven’t ever even thought about it before =)
Great tip Matt, never even thought about it before. I’m going to have to give it a go, even though I can see the 1Ds getting mighty heavy with only 2 fingers holding it.
As much as you have a vendetta against it, give the back focus button another go, I really couldn’t live without it!
Alex