Why only M or P??? My decision would be whether to shoot in Av or Tv.

If you are in any way unsure and you are only going to get one shot at an unforgettable pic, you will not be hauled off to jail by the Digital Police if you decide to go full auto! Better to get the shot than not. 

How far away are you likely to be from the 'action'? Which lens are you likely to use?
 
Make sure you shoot in RAW so that you can alter WB in PP (and a whole load of other settings if you need to).

HTH 

WB is White Balance. PP is Post Processing.

If you do not process RAW then I would shoot this in Raw+L jpg. I would hate to see you miss out on shots if you did not know any post processing. So if you shoot the combo then you will have the jpg and you will also have the RAW to fix up proper.

If you use your 50mm then you will have some nice open Apertures to work with. I would not shoot wide open at 1.8 but may just a stop or two down for that extra sharpness. Try to get the shutter to at least 1/60 or greater and yes if they have florescent lights and you have a florescent filter then use it.

I wish that I had more time to hammer some of this out with you but my wife is screaming for me and I have to run. If you still have questions just post them and someone will help answer them.

WB is White Balance. PP is Post Processing.

If you do not process RAW then I would shoot this in Raw+L jpg. I would hate to see you miss out on shots if you did not know any post processing. So if you shoot the combo then you will have the jpg and you will also have the RAW to fix up proper.

If you use your 50mm then you will have some nice open Apertures to work with. I would not shoot wide open at 1.8 but may just a stop or two down for that extra sharpness. Try to get the shutter to at least 1/60 or greater and yes if they have florescent lights and you have a florescent filter then use it.

I wish that I had more time to hammer some of this out with you but my wife is screaming for me and I have to run. If you still have questions just post them and someone will help answer them.

I don't want you getting yelled at! So sorry!

Any other info is appreciated (but I understand you can't skippy!). I'm gonna do Auto today for sure, that way I don't have to worry. I hate worrying!

Thanks everyone!

Make sure you let us know how you got on! 

I'm back but I am sure I am late.

I will be eager to see or hear how it went. I will be really curious to see how far the camera pushed your ISO if you went full AUTO. I don't blame you for doing that but this is when I tell people that they need to figure some of those things that you know you need to figure out. It is not some crazy leap to go to AV, TV, or even M. It is just simply understanding those settings and being comfortable enough to use them.

When I sense that people are going to get lost with the settings then I have no problem telling them to use AUTO rather than miss a lifetime moment, or shot.

Hi Skippy, I used Auto mostly. The pictures turned out well when we weren't in the room they had it in. When in the room, I had y Flor. lens on but didn't seem to help a whole lot. I used my 50mm and my 75-250 mainly. When we were outside the room, the pictures were great, mainly because there was lots of natural light otherwise. Had our daughter's birthday party yesterday, what a mess.

I forgot my florescent lens of course and that is all they had it seemed. I used auto, and tried TV and AV at times. I mainly used my 18-55mm, because well, it was chaos. I think I if I had a cheat sheet, it would help. I haven't had time to read the book I got on Exposure.

When I say a cheat sheet....meaning what setting works best in full light ( or whatever) what ISO  tends to work best with full light and aperture (it still hasn't sunk in).

Don't worry, I know there are many situations and many combinations.  It's just overwhelming and it shouldn't be, because I learn fast. I am just disappointed that when I used the sports setting, it wasn't very good turn out.

Anyway, I love learning, just hitting a wall and it's not sinking in. I tried getting close when I could, didn't help much. My nifty fifty.....totally forgot I had it.

Hopefully I can start reading this book.

I see it shows settings for the pictures they took, it would be awesome if I could use that as a cheat sheet somewhat and type it up, but something tells me, I can only duplicate if the same conditions of light/weather etc are the same? Thoughts?

I am glad you are pleased with at least a few of the photos you took.  I doubt that anyone on the forum has ever gone out and every shot has been a keeper and the bad shots are the ones to learn from.

I read an article recently that had a quote along the lines of "You'll make more great photos if you are not afraid of making bad photos too".

Keep practicising - it will all start falling into place soon enough. 

Thanks. I practice allot, I just have to "get" it with understanding when to usually use what settings and such. That's why I said a "general" cheat sheet of some kind to look at would be helpful.  Another book I bought might help in that area too, it tells what settings were used in the pictures it shows, and that is something to go on.

don't worry camerafreak....I throw away (no kidding) probably 90 to 95% of my photos...Its not that big a deal. Take a LOT throw away a LOT


Now...I'm going to try and get you to understand something....ok?

You NEED to turn your camera to MANUAL if you are going to understand it...trust me....using any auto mode; even TV or AV masks what's really happening inside your camera and you don't learn that way.


I'm going to TRY and make a short movie showing how to adjust your camera for manual...trust me...it's not scary.

I understand. A video sounds great! Of course, only when you have time. No rush. Thanks