{"id":33776,"date":"2014-02-26T04:30:53","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T12:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/?p=33776"},"modified":"2014-02-25T22:40:47","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T06:40:47","slug":"gearhead-wednesday-14-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/gearhead-wednesday-14-08\/","title":{"rendered":"GearHead Wednesday 14-08"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GearHead\"<\/p>\n

Got a gear question you want answered? I want to help and answer it. Send your gear questions to me at Gear Questions<\/strong><\/a> and I’ll do my best every Wednesday to answer as many questions as I can. Keep in mind the answers are just my $.02 worth and you have to take what works for you and your photography and embrace it and ignore the rest. So here’s this weeks questions ….<\/p>\n

What’s with that switch?<\/strong>
\nWhat’s the difference between the A\/M position vs. the M\/A position on the focus mode switch of the 80-400mm Nikon lens? As near as I can tell there’s more force required to manually focus in the A\/M position … is that correct?<\/em>
\nAdam<\/p>\n

\"MA_switch\"Adam, to be straight up honest with you, I just never have understood this too. The idea behind these switches is to provide manual focus operation while still in autofocus mode. This is how Nikon explains A\/M An \u201cautofocus-priority autofocus\u201d mode that reduces the sensitivity of the manual override to prevent unexpected switching from auto to manual<\/em> and M\/A AF-S NIKKOR lenses feature Nikon’s exclusive M\/A mode, that allows switching from autofocus to manual operation with virtually no time lag – even during AF servo operation and regardless of AF mode in use.. As I\u2019ve experienced it, the A\/M is more sensitive to the touch, which is why I always use the M\/A option. As for making the manual focus more difficult, that I personally don\u2019t find on my 80-400.<\/font><\/p>\n

The gray skies blues<\/strong>
\nHi Moose,
\nI don\u2019t think my question is a gear question, but love reading the articles. I have a suggestion for another weekly article- Technique Tuesday. This question may have a gear answer though. I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit the past few years for my own work as well as tagging along with my wife\u2019s work. We have also taken vacations to some amazing places (New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland), but the travel is typically work focused so I may only have a few hours or a free day to shoot. I am at the mercy of the weather and season so I shoot regardless of the conditions since I may never get back to the location. My question is how to photograph landscapes when the skies are solid overcast. Skies that are grey without detail. I have tried post processing in lightroom and photoshop to bring out any detail that might be there, but still end up with photos that look flat. I shoot in RAW, which helps in some situations. Typically I will just have an UV filter on the lens when it is overcast. Are there other filters that would help? Camera settings? I shoot a D7000 in Aperture mode 90% of the time.
\nThanks,<\/em>
\nScott<\/p>\n

\"Alabama<\/p>\n

Scott, there are so many versions of \u201cgray\u201d skies that I don\u2019t have a blanket answer for you. There is no \u201cgear\u201d answer for your question sorry to say. It\u2019s a photographic question that has to do with subject, light, storytelling and a whole lot more. I would suggest you try using Clarity in ACR and\/or Nik Color Efex > Detail Extractor on just the gray sky and see if that brings out what you\u2019re looking for.<\/font><\/p>\n

That AF Button<\/strong>
\nDo you ever use \u2018back button AF\u2019 and if so when do you use it?<\/em>
\nJames<\/p>\n

James, I sure don\u2019t. No matter how I\u2019ve tried (and I have) I simply can\u2019t master using that button. I know hundreds of shooters who can, I\u2019m simply not one of them.<\/font><\/p>\n

Hi Moose,
\nLove your new GearHead Wednesday posts!
\nI have been reading your book \u201cCaptured\u201d and have learned a ton from it. It is clear from you book that one area I need to learn more about to improve my wildlife (especially bird) photography is the use of flash. In reading the book and some of your blog posts, I see that you are using an SB-910 speedlight and the e4 custom setting on your Nikon bodies to decouple the flash exposure compensation from the body compensation.<\/em><\/p>\n

It would be great if you could provide a quick overview for those of us who don\u2019t have high-end Nikon cameras\/speedlights on how we might at least get started with flash \u2013 for example are there some things you can do with fill flash even if you don\u2019t have e4 and an SB-910 available to you?<\/em><\/p>\n

Mike, there is no way to that I know of to duplicate this operation which is why it is so important. Computers make all the difference! To do it any other way would mean to go to all manual flash photography and that\u2019s a lesson WAY too long for a blog post. <\/font><\/p>\n

\u00b7 On a camera specific question \u2013 it looks like the D7100 I just got does have the e4 capability \u2013 is this the same capability that you talk about with the D3, D4, etc. bodies? <\/em>
\n-yes<\/font>
\n\u00b7 If so, can I successfully use that with my SB-700 speedlight (and a Better Beamer) for wildlife flash? (I\u2019m not sure what the SB-910 has in the way of capabilities I might need vs. my SB-700.)<\/em>
\n-yes <\/font><\/p>\n

I guess overall I am looking for your flash recommendations for those of us who are getting started and can\u2019t afford a D4\/SB-910 \u2013 what would be a suitable starting point.
\nThanks! <\/em>
\nMike<\/p>\n

Mike, that answers you seek and in much greater depth are in the book you have, Captured. The place to start is in your own home photographing simple objects you have control over. Flash is real easy, it\u2019s the mind that makes it difficult. Start with the camera having complete control and once you understand what that delivers, start to take control of it all. But this is not a gear question but a much bigger one, that of light and exploration. Follow the Teddy Bear Exercise in the book and start to see the light that works for your storytelling.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Got a gear question you want answered? I want to help and answer it. Send your gear questions to me at Gear Questions and I’ll do my best every Wednesday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"GearHead Wednesday 14-08 http:\/\/wp.me\/p6YJx-8MM that's more technique than gear this week","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-33776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-new"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Podcast.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&quality=100&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Podcast\/B08JJQC1GR?ref=a_pd_item-n_c0_bc&pf_rd_p=1da7ab30-c785-4a0e-a160-4a7e7077b353&pf_rd_r=EEDMYHQM3DZ05FPRTHMJ","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2fRA9VaVfSdQMKf1ipxr0tipxr0t","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/moose-podcast\/id1107405746","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/moose-podcast","embedCode":"

GearHead Wednesday 14-08<\/a><\/blockquote>