I used to shoot almost exclusively on aperture priority. I guess it's the topic or subject. I set the aperture which controls the opening of the lens and let the camera take care of the rest. Back in film days that's the setting I used the most and that's the only auto mode my Nikon FE has anyway.
When I picked up my camera again about a decade ago I faced with more varieties and more flexibilities. When you shoot film you almost always got stuck with a single ISO and single WB film unless you really shoot professionally and change film back when you see fit in the middle of the shoot.
When I shoot cycling I tend to shoot with shutter priority and let the aperture float and sometimes even let the ISO float. I don't bother so much as white balance. Auto white balance is or was my friend.
When I shoot event I'd like to shoot manual, i.e. I fix the aperture and shutter speed and let the ISO float. I set the base ISO the lowest first or some ISO I think won't go lower. If I need to freeze people who are walking, 1/250 is the minimum, 1/500 should be ideal but then if you are shooting indoor with low light, you are lucky to get to 1/250 of a second. If people are just standing there talking 1/60 or 1/125 can certainly freeze the subject.
If I shoot with flash or strobe, I tend to shoot manual but with fixed lowest ISO possible, it could be ISO64 or ISO400 but I'd like to have it fixed. If the ISO is auto, it's essentially auto exposure and with the flash going off the picture is gonna overexposed for sure.
Event photography can be challenging as it could be outdoor, it could be flash and then it could be indoor with lots of tungsten and mixed lighting; all in one event. I don't know other brands of camera, but Nikon tends to not auto white balance that well when it's indoor tungsten. I tend to manually white balance it otherwise it comes out super yellow and orange.
With indoor, outdoor, flash, invariably something is going to screw up. Like I forgot to set the ISO to not auto. Or I forgot to set the white balance to auto when I went outside in the middle of the shoot. I think it's then I appreciate on RAW or NEF format. The file is certainly savagable even if over or under exposed and with the wrong white balance.
So event photography can be a challenge even I carry two cameras with a combined focal length between 16 to 200mm. Thanks to high ISO and LR noise reduction, a f/4 max aperture is not as limiting as possibly ten years ago. I am no Light Room and certainly not a Photoshop wizard but even armed with minimum knowledge I can savage a problematic picture.
Sunpak 120J full blast on silver reflective umbrella on light stand on camera left and right. 1/100s and f/8 at 25mm WB at 5500. I don't think the skin tone is that great but I tried. No Photoshop.
Note: as a photographer, there should be no excuse as you should really take control and ownership of the situation. That should be in theory as well as in practice. Ultimately you are the one responsible especially when things go bad.
Control the situation:
Make sure both eyes can see the camera
Do not use a wide angle setting, I think 35mm should be the widest used as people look wider on the sides if the focal length got wider. If you can shoot with a 85mm for group go for it but rarely can you shoot like this indoor with that much space.
Keep the camera focal plane parallel to the plane of the subjects. Use a tripod if you can.
Keep the subject in a straight line across the focal plane or just mildly curved if you must.
Do not mix lightings. If you can shut off ambient use 100% strobe, do it.
Often times, I don't heed my own advice.
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