Technique Assessment

After examining his settings, David advised Allister tweak two key modes on his 7D Mk ii

manual mode

Many photographers are happy to rely on the semi-auto modes, and Allister had set Aperture Priority (Av) mode. However, to really take control of your exposures you need to shoot in Manual. “This enables you to set the aperture and shutter speed to get the results you want, rather than letting your camera dictate what it thinks should be bright and dark in the shot. This is especially important when photographing darker buildings against brighter skies,” says David.

White balance

Allister was sticking to Auto white balance but David suggested Custom white balance for more accurate colours: “Shoot a sheet of white paper under the same lighting as your scene, then set your White Balance menu to Custom and select the image of the paper. This is even more important when shooting cathedral interiors as the mixture of candle, window and fluorescent lights plays havoc with white balance.”