Creating a Starting Point

Presetting my camera’s ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and white balance not only prepares me for those unexpected photographic moments but also provides me a consistent starting point from which to change my camera settings. If I’m going to change my aperture or white balance, I don’t have to waste precious seconds figuring out what my last setting was or, worse yet, taking several bad exposures before realizing that my settings were for a shooting situation from the night before.

Shots like this likely wouldn’t be possible if I were preoccupied with my camera settings. Checking and changing white balance, shutter speed, and ISO can rob me of the time I need to actually make the photograph.

Canon 40D | ISO 400 | f/6.3 @ 1/500th