I’m convinced that Blake does not read the articles

Exposing for the highlights is great – IF you actually want detail there and it’s a light colored subject. But if you have a histogram pushed over to the right to get more in the light areas, but your subject is black – it’s overexposed and you can tell when you’ve shot it. Have you read this?

https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-read-and-use-histograms/

Hi Larry C, although I started with 35mm I earned my living with a 5×4″ which is still somewhere in a heavy, expensive, hand made wooden box with all the lenses and dark slides, a black & red hood, changing bag to enable more film to be fitted and a huge wooden tripod. The advantage was, with bellows between the body and the lens every lens was tilt/shift. I would take the exposed film home and develop it in a long (and rather smelly) process in my darkroom before getting to see whether I had what the client wanted.

My work was with color transparency film, Cartier-Bresson used B&W negative film, before that there was albumen-silver wet slides, cyanotype, salted paper etc. Technology moves on – I once mocked someone for having autofocus! One of the benefits of digital (have you seen the size of a scanned 35mm slide?) is the ability to post process – almost any photographer who will be reading this will do some processing of their image.

Would I go back to 5×4″ – no way! Darlene is quite right with her 6 steps to better photos and the more thought you put into a photo, from the quality of the light to the right moment to press the shutter and the framing off the shot (get off your butt and move to the perfect position, don’t stand in one place and zoom), the more successfully are you able to express yourself in your art.

Maybe not but you’ve still missed the point of the article. See my reply to your comment.

See that’s the thing about portrait photography – it’s not my choice it’s the clients’! So whichever they prefer. I like the interactive one personally but we did different ones like this intentionally and I took a few images when I felt the timing was just right.

Perfect applications and examples!

Yes exactly, thanks Allen

Blake did you actually read the article? Um I said that! Read it again noting the part where I said “When is shooting rapid fire an advantage?” like the whole middle section. You’ll notice I talked about moving objects and sports being applicable for burst mode.

You missed the point. I teach and see many new photographers using this mode on still objects and blasting off 20-30 shots of the thing. In my opinion that’s not necessary and you will get better results being more intentional.

Yes there is a time for each – maybe read it again.

You’re comparing apples and oranges. There’s a difference between comparing the quality of a ‘boiled’ burger and a ‘real’ one in taste, in most cases, but photography is entirely different. By your logic, you’re claiming you can tell the difference between a single perfectly timed shot, and the same shot picked out of a burst of 10. I sincerely doubt you can.

Using Photoshop/Aperture/Lightroom to bring about the creation of a work of art where photography is a component is embracing technology. The same can be said of HDR and enhancement programs. They use technology to enhance what is already there. That is just pushing the boundaries of traditional photography ito the next level. Does the ends justify the means… we could debate that far into the future. A hamburger coming out of a “boil’n bag” in a fast food joint and a fresh handcrafted gourmet burger are both hamburgers. Could you tell the difference? I would hope so….

As a side note William Mortensen 1897-1965 had his Camera Craft publications burned & he was described by Ansel Adams as alternately the “Devil”, and “the anti-Christ.””[6] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mortensen}

Mortensen was a classically trained artist, he manipulated and retouched his pictorial images to create what the camera couldn’t. Ahead of his time… yes. He was a phenomenal photographic artist and technically superior darkroom technician, thus his work and books demand high prices when they come available and are held in high esteem by collectors and museums. Did he spray and pray? Using a 4 X 5, I doubt it.

Another time I was shooting baby ducks. I wanted a close up of their feet as their feet were orange and black. Those babies also were fast movers, so while I knew the shot I wanted, I did not know if I could get it. I used continuous burst mode and I did get a close up of just their feet.

Summer swim team starts next week and you can bet that at meets I have to use continuous burst modes to get any decent shots at all. I also do a lot of macros where I can wait for the decisive moment-unless I am trying to shoot bees-in order to get a decent macro I needed continuous burst as they move erratically. Shooting stills of buildings, people, flowers etc I can wait for the decisive moment. Shooting moving people, things, or animals needs spray and pray in order to get the decisive moment shot.

Sir Blake. I think Ms. Darlene covered her points quite well. There’s no hint of a trivial superiority complex being expressed whatsoever. Seems to me she makes it very clear there are situations in which Burst Mode is applicable, photographing bands as you do being one of them. Ms. Darlene IMO is doing her best to serve those with ears to hear. Slowing down and being more deliberate in making images does make one a more observant photographer. Plus it increases the possibilities of having a higher percentage of good images. I too learned on film, thus spray and pray was potentially expensive and wasteful. Obviously digital has changed all that. Also, being a musician that sometimes plays in wedding bands (keyboards), I talk to the photographers when I can. A lot of them agree that sifting through all the images is not something they look forward to – it’s a necessary part of the gig. With that said, I think it’s great that you’ve got a quick workable culling system in place. Thumbs up, sir. Write an article. Share your knowledge and expertise. Be well.

I shoot live music in local venues, and I shoot burst mode. On a good day, I have bright lights whizzing around and an animated band leaping around the stage, and on a bad day I’ll have two dark, red gel lights and half the band standing in shadow. Burst mode, and knowing my settings, allows me to capture the best moments in a gig. I can’t sit there and wait for the ‘decisive moment’ when I can barely see what’s going on. Bursting a set of 5-8 shots means I can choose the difference between a drummer’s sticks blurring, or frozen in mid air. It means the difference between the guitarist standing there and looking boring, or having the most amazing look of joy or concentration on his face that you might have missed if you’d waited a fifth of a second. Maybe there’s a strobe going off – can you time for a quick strobe that’s faster than the blink of an eye?

Burst mode is just another tool in your toolbelt. If it helps you get the shot, more power to you. It’s no more ‘cheating’ than touching up your image in post production is. Just because you can’t do it on film doesn’t make it an illegitimate technique. If you wind up with too many shots, so be it – I can shoot three bands, come home with 1,000 shots, and pare them down to the best 36 or so within an hour or two.