Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 beach photos

Nmendenhall

Hey! I have the Nikon D3200 camera. I have purchased the cheat cards for all of the lenses that I have. I am going on vacation next week and would love to get some group photos of my parents with all of the grandkids at the beach. The kids age range from 8 months to 14 years old. I have been shooting in manual mode. I am getting great pictures but I have been having to change the ISO, exposure compensation, and white balance after each picture because one picture looks great and then the next will need adjusting. While at the beach should I try shooting the group shots in Manual Mode and just change the settings constantly and hope the kids stay cooperating for me, or should I shoot in something that is a little easier and quicker ( if there is one ha)?

bruto

Beach pictures can be difficult because of the high dynamic range between darkened subjects and the bright background. The camera's meter will tend to underexpose when there's a lot of beach and sky in the picture.

Note that the exposure compensation does not work in manual mode if you use the [+/-] button and wheel in Manual mode you're changing aperture. Which is fine - that's how you do it, but there is no exposure compensation in manual mode. If you have Auto ISO on, the camera's meter will change the ISO and may override your attempt to compensate.

You might be better off to switch to spot metering, and aim your focus point at a face. As an alternative, you can switch to P, S, or A mode, and then use exposure compensation. A mode should work. To get people on a beach with the matrix metering, you will probably want an exposure compensation between +1 and +2. The beach will be whiter, and the people better exposed. You can also switch to spot metering and leave the compensation neutral. Just make sure that your focus point does not move. The spot meter follows the focus point, or defaults to center if you're using multi-point focus (not recommended).