On the nikon d40, why would I choose p setting over auto?

Question

on the nikon d40, why would I choose p setting over auto? I am new to the camera, and I don't know anything about the settings, but I take a lot of pictures of my kids running around with hats on. Because of their hats, their faces are dark. I would like to see their faces without making the rest of the picture (background) too bright/washed out. thank you!

Answer 1

The issue of the dark faces of your children is because the hats are blocking the light from the top (sunlight) and it makes the background and their hats properly exposed, while their faces are not getting enough light. You need to use the fill flash feature of your camera (turn on flash option even if you are taking pictures in bright light) so you can have their faces illuminated properly. Try different setting in your scene mode with flash on to get the best combination you want. You may even have to do some flash compensation of +1 so that it will give you more flash output.

In taking pictures of people, it is important to use fill flash to have the faces come out properly lit. When I take wedding pictures, I almost always try to take their picture in the shade and use flash even if it is bright, or if I have no choice because they are coming out the church and the sun is above them, I still use fill flash to have a nice balance between ambient light and the flash.

Answer 2

"P" Program basically makes the D40 into a sophisticated P&S camera making all the photo decisions for you

When shooting in back lighting, unless you use flash fill, your only choice is to either expose for the face in the shadow area and let the background go over exposed or expose for the background and have silhouettes of the subjects.  Just basic photo technique.

OR, you can shoot with the sun to the right, left or behind the camera

Answer 3

I think fhotoace meant to say "Auto makes your D40 into sophisticated point and shoot". P is a lot more advanced than auto. It makes basic "shutter/aperture" decision, but I believe even then you can adjust (don't remember now, through control dial, or by pressing arrow buttons) what combination it uses.

I just answered your other question about modes, where I went into a lot of discussion as to why "p" is better than "auto" if you know what you are doing. You have a lot more control over what's going on in "p" mode. Many of them are set through menus though. But one of the very important controls is flash. I forgot to mention it in my other answer.

When the camera is in "auto" mode, it will decide for you if you need a flash (and it could be mistaken). So if it thinks flash is in order, it will automatically pop it up. In "p" mode it's all your call. It will flash the little lightning bolt symbol for you if it wants to suggest you a flash, but it won't enforce.

in "P", if you pop the flash up, it will fire no matter what. In situation with your kids wearing hats, that's what you want to do. The flash will work as fill flash, like others said. The camera will shoot the way it must for available light, to expose everything well, but the flash will also fire, and will illuminate your kid's faces so that they are about as bright as the background. That way you will get a more evenly exposed picture.

On the contrary, if you do not (or forget to) pop the flash in dimmer light, the camera won't force it in "p". So it will expose for the dim room, meaning a long shutter speed, so you may get a blurry picture. Therefore you need to know how to decide when flash is in order and when use available light.

That's why I suggested in prior answer that you get a good book and learn a bit about basic photography. You won't regret it, because your picture quality will go up from there. No camera is smarter than you are.

LEM.