There's no universal answer to camera settings — the right settings depend on the light, the subject, and the output. But there are principles I apply consistently on commercial shoots, and most of them run counter to what beginner tutorials teach.
Aperture: Shoot Wider Than You Think
On commercial product and brand work, I rarely shoot below f/4. Most of my portraits are at f/2–f/2.8. The "safety" aperture advice — f/8 for sharpness — assumes you're on a tripod shooting static subjects in even light. Commercial work rarely offers that.
What I lose in depth-of-field I gain in shutter speed, which controls motion. On any shoot with a live subject, motion blur from a slow shutter is a bigger risk than soft edges from a wide aperture.
Shutter Speed: The Floor is 1/200
When working with speedlights or strobes, I stay at or below my camera's sync speed — typically 1/200 or 1/250. With available light and moving subjects, I don't let my shutter drop below 1/200 for full-length shots or 1/160 for tighter frames. Below those numbers, I expect blur and plan for it intentionally rather than accepting it as a mistake.
ISO: I Don't Chase Base ISO
The obsession with ISO 100 produces underexposed images that get pushed in post, which creates the exact noise photographers were trying to avoid. Modern cameras handle ISO 800–1600 cleanly. On a commercial shoot I'll gladly shoot ISO 800 to get the shutter speed I need. Clean image, sharp subject, slight noise that's handled in Lightroom. That's a better trade than a technically "clean" file that's blurry.
Metering Mode: Spot, Always
Evaluative or matrix metering averages the whole frame. On commercial shoots where the subject's skin tone is the priority — not the background, not the highlight behind them — spot metering gives you direct control over what the camera exposes for. I meter off the subject's face or the product surface, every time.
White Balance: Custom, Not Auto
Auto white balance shifts between frames. On a commercial shoot where consistency across 300 images matters, I set a custom white balance at the start of each lighting setup and don't touch it. The five minutes it takes to set saves an hour in post matching frames.
The Setting That Matters Most
None of the above matters as much as where you position your light. Get that right first, then dial settings to match. Photographers who obsess over settings are often avoiding the harder question of whether their lighting is actually working.