At work the other day I noticed that a coworker had a Nikon P90. So of course I started a conversation about it and photography in general. During this exchange I discovered that for the most part she never moves the camera from the Auto setting, which leads me to this discussion. If you are like her and always shooting on Auto it's time to get out of your comfort zone and start taking control of your photos.
So the first question you ask is "Why would I want to do that"? Auto was put there by the manufacturer for a reason wasn't it? Well let's look at that. When you are on auto the camera decides for you both the shutter speed and the aperture. Since the camera does not know what you are taking a photo of, it only knows what amount of light is getting to the sensor. But doesn't the camera know best?
Well if you are photographing a fast moving subject the camera may not set the shutter fast enough to stop the action. Or if the aperture is not set right you may not have enough depth of field to have all the area of the picture you want in focus. then there's different types of lighting to consider, many of which can be adjusted in other settings.
That's a lot to consider, but if you are reading this you must want to improve your photography. So my first suggestion is get your manual back out and take a second look at it. Start to understand what the different settings are for. Take some practice photos and see what they do. And watch this blog for more posts about the effect shutter speed, aperture and ISO have on your shots.
