Leave the camera in A at f/8, 23 mm, Auto ISO with a 1/250 s floor, and shoot the whole day without changing modes. Save your attention for what you point it at.
C1 bank f/8 DR AUTO FINE+RAW 2 cards
Before you leave the room
- Battery charged, spare in a pocket inside your jacket if it is cold.
- Card formatted in the camera; second card in the bag.
- Exposure compensation back to 0 — it is sticky and survives being switched off.
- Recall C1 so you start from a known state.
- TIME DIFFERENCE set if you have changed time zone, so file times stay honest.
Shooting the day
| Situation | Change only this |
|---|---|
| Interior of a church or museum | 15 mm, wide open, 1/60 s floor, DR100, brace against a pillar |
| Market stall, food, hands working | 33 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 s floor, get close |
| Wide view from a hill | 15-23 mm, f/8, compensation -1/3 to protect the sky |
| Portrait of someone you have just met | 45 mm, f/5.6, step to 1.5 m, ask first |
| Midday harsh sun | DR400 at ISO 640, or find shade and shoot detail instead |
| Evening, lights coming on | Wide open, 1/60 s floor, ISO ceiling 6400, AUTO AMBIENCE PRIORITY white balance |
Shoot the day as a set, not as souvenirs
Aim for a sequence for each place: one wide frame that establishes it, two or three closer frames of detail or of people, and one portrait. Five good frames of one street beat fifty of a whole city, and this structure gives you something to come home with.
At the end of the day: offload to a laptop or phone, copy to a second place, then format the card in the camera before the next morning. On a trip, that ten-minute routine is the difference between memories and a story about a lost card.