What am I missing here?

Overly simplistic question. Whenever a photograph is printed in any

type of photography publication, it always has the aperature used,

focal length (even on a zoom) and shutterspeed. I know some of this

photography is moving quickly (sports and such) and that they must

be shooting in at least shutter priority, if not full programed

mode. Now are these people stopping every shot to write down what

the picture was taken at, or is there some device that records this

for them? If so, what is it called and can where can I get one for

a Nikon F100. That would be a great learning tool for myself.

Thanks for any help you have.

That information is usually imprinted on the film frame from 35mm cameras with data backs, the back doing the imprinting. Some Canon EOS and some Nikon bodies can upload all shooting data and other information to a computer. I don't know about digital, but I think they operate the same, storing frame by frame data in a digital buffer.<p>But the photos you are talking about in publications are usually recorded primarily for the photographer's information. Almost without exception, with medium format and 4 x 5 and larger cameras, in particular <i>all</i> sheet film shooters, have time in between shots to record data.<br>

They are very deliberate shooters, some of whom, with the advent of GPS devices, even record their exact position on Earth along with the other data!<p>"Back in the days", before built-in motors, shooting film was a frame by frame, shot by shot endevour. Sports shooters usually had a selected vantage point from where they set up, prefocussed and using light meters, set the meter readings to their cameras and wrote down that data.<p>Remember too that motorized film transport is relatively new (1970s) and until about 1985 when 35mm cameras with built-in winders began to appear, was generally confined to upper end 35mm "Pro" "system" cameras.<p>See if there is a data back made for your Nikon.

Browse the web for information on Photo Secretary 2 software from Nikon for your F100. You can download to a PC the information you're talking about.

 

-Jim

A minitape recorder works for me.

I have wondered the very same, for nearly 50 years, with some conclusions.

 

The reporting of shutter speed and f/stop for each picture seems to be a cultural thing in photo magazines, and virtually nowhere else. I think the data is a combination of fact and fantasy, to meet a perceived need. While there are exceptions (notably, large-format), hardly anyone writes this data down.

 

With experience, most photographers use certain settings or exposure stragegies for certain venues. Sometimes that will favor the shutter speed, and other times the aperture. The other parameter will be reported as an educated guess. It's not too hard to remember the focal length - the image itself suggests it. But the zoom level?

 

For digital cameras, the EXIF data associated with the image tells all, in excruciating detail. There are accessory backs for film cameras, standard with some (e.g., Contax 645) that do this to a lesser extent. The best (and most expensive) options print this data between frames rather than inside the visible image.

 

From a practical point of view, it is important to remember the basis for setting the exposure, not the exact values themselves. You need to use the right "rules," and make adjustments to the "rules" based on experience.

Back in the 'seventies, I asked some friends who regularly contributed to photographic magazines where they got their data from. All of them admitted that they made up the figures as they typed up the captions. I felt less guilty about doing the same thing after that.