Beginner Am I wrong to use Auto mode?

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Gemizzel

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Gemma
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Hi all,

I have had my camera for about 18months and not used my camera as much as I would have liked. I have been out the past couple of days and taken some pics on auto mode. I feel like I am cheating myself somehow but I am a total beginner so even getting a good auto shot pleases me.
Am i wrong to be using this mode? I was happy with some of the shots I got... well they are good for me!!! but feel like I shouldnt be happy with them as it was really "me" taking the pic
:/

here are a few of the better ones.. be gentle - hope the links work!


16137947285_2d6c87375b_s.jpg
IMG_3737[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

16112153746_b7a4e55e46_s.jpg
IMG_3738[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

15951859019_686be55e81_s.jpg
IMG_3739[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

16112157446_23560803b2_s.jpg
IMG_3742[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

16136023911_2756bdd3ce_s.jpg
IMG_3766[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

16137948465_50120a6526_s.jpg
IMG_3734[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

16136024381_44994c424c_s.jpg
IMG_3771[/url] by Gemizzel, on Flickr[/IMG]

The light wasnt the best in the last one
 
This ^ and no, it's not a problem to use auto mode. If you are new to photography or the camera or the subject, then using auto gives you a good starting point to go from.

Look at the settings auto has used and then decide how you'd like to change the photo and away you go.

At the end of the day, sometimes it great fun just to experiment with different settings to see how they change the photo, once you got the shot to go from. And don't forget, enjoy yourself. :)
 
Gemizzel said:
oh.. links didnt work, how do I change them?
Click to expand...
You're missing the first part of the code Gemma - make sure you select everything in the share box on Flickr. I think you've just copied the last bit in the box, there's more before that.

How you get the image doesn't count, use auto, use manual, draw it in charcoal.. it's the image that counts.

There are a lot of people that shoot manual as a matter of policy because it's "the right way to do it" that still can't take an interesting image that people would enjoy looking at.

Focus on taking interesting images, take them any way that works for you.
 
On Flickr you need to select the photo then click on the little swoosh arrow (bottom right) - it is labelled "share this photo".

Then select BBCode option and copy the whole of the text offered into your post. I normally use file size Large.

HTH

Dave.
 
All auto or the various program modes do is allow the camera to select what it thinks are the most appropriate aperture, shutter and ISO settings. It doesn't press the shutter release and it doesn't compose the shot. Sometimes the camera will decide on the same settings you might have done, so no difference apart from it doing it far, far quicker than you could. Some of the time it won't, and if you're looking at pictures wishing you'd increased/decreased exposure, had more/less motion blur or wished to have more/less depth of field, then you need to take more control of the settings.

It won't, by itself, make you a better photographer or lead to better shots. In some cases, messing around with settings could lead you to miss the critical moment. Sometimes you'll get it wrong (whereas the camera might have made a better "choice"), so there's no perfect solution. Using priority modes more and exposure compensation (or full manual, if that floats your boat) should eventually lead to a better understanding of what the settings do, but it's still up to you to use them appropriately.

As a final point, if you spend more time and effort worrying about what the camera settings are, then I firmly believe you will produce worse shots, rather than better. However, if you want to take more control you have to go through this process. But don't think it's a route to immediate success or "better" pictures (whatever better means).
 
Gemizzel said:
Hi all,

I have had my camera for about 18months and not used my camera as much as I would have liked. I have been out the past couple of days and taken some pics on auto mode. I feel like I am cheating myself somehow but I am a total beginner so even getting a good auto shot pleases me.
Am i wrong to be using this mode? I was happy with some of the shots I got... well they are good for me!!! but feel like I shouldnt be happy with them as it was really "me" taking the pic
:/

The light wasnt the best in the last one
Click to expand...

For an amateur theres no such thing as the "wrong mode" - if you like taking pictures on Auto then thats entirely your perogative and you shouldnt feel pressured to learn about the other modes if you don't want to. Take pictures, have fun, the end.

However (before i get burnt at the stake) if you aspire to take better pictures, then Auto won't help you do that , as although composition is under your control you are giving up all your other creative control to the camera presets. Personally I'd say in those circumstance get a good book for beginners and experiment with the other modes to see what does what.
 
Dave Semmens said:
On Flickr you need to select the photo then click on the little swoosh arrow (bottom right) - it is labelled "share this photo".

Then select BBCode option and copy the whole of the text offered into your post. I normally use file size Large.

HTH

Dave.
Click to expand...

like this......?

IMG_3734 by Gemizzel, on Flickr

it worked, now how do i make the image bigger? ETA - figured it out :)
 
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thank you so much for all your replies. for a total beginner it feels like such a big step to move from the auto mode!
I will try and repost some of my pics, i would be grateful if you could tell me if I am on the right path to getting a good shot

IMG_3736 by Gemizzel, on Flickr

IMG_3737 by Gemizzel, on Flickr

IMG_3741 by Gemizzel, on Flickr

now as much as I like these two, the ripples above the swan distract me, does they anyone else?

IMG_3744 by Gemizzel, on Flickr

IMG_3745 by Gemizzel, on Flickr
 
You've got the hang of it now

Theres nothing wrong with those pics except that in some the swan is a bit over exposed (a consequence of the dark water fooling the meter), if you used a creative mode you could use the Exposure compensation to alter this, or choose different settings.

Also the swan is a bit central in the frame - try exposing with it to the left (if its swimming left to right)
 
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The light on some of the Swan shots is nice.

Something I try and do with birds on water is to kneel down before taking the shot. This can apply to lots of other shots as well. Most people take pictures from a standing position and changing the angle can give you a different shot than has been seen 100 times before.

I carry a small bean bag that I use to rest the camera on in hides - It also comes in handy for kneeling on.

Here is an example :)

Portrait of a Duck by davepsemmens, on Flickr

Dave.
 
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Dave Semmens said:
The light on some of the Swan shots is nice.

Something I try and do with birds on water is to kneel down before taking the shot. This can apply to lots of other shots as well. Most people take pictures from a standing position and changing the angle can give you a different shot than has been seen 100 times before.

Dave.
Click to expand...

thank you! I was knelt down but I was on quite a high banking at the side of the water and couldn't get any lower :(
 
again with #1 exposure is wrong - in this case too dark because the light reflecting off the water has fooled the camera the otherway

#2 is a bit empty (you could crop the middle third to a nice enough pan format)

#3 is a nice enough shot but lacks foreground interest
 
Always makes me laugh when people at either end of the scale say they only use this or that.. people who only use manual are the daftest as they think thats clever..... What on earth do they think the other modes are for?

Auto is great.. I put my camera on auto whenever I am using flash..

Use any mode you want.. the only thing i will say is.. if anytime your photogrpahs come out wrong.. too dark or too light then knowing a bit more than auto could save the picture... same if you want somehting to happen like an out of focus background.. or maybe you want to shoot somehting but the sun is in your eyes.. knowing more than auto can get you aound these things......

Lots of people use auto and are happy photogrpahers :)
 
I rather like the lighting on the swans (but then I have a temptation to push my exposure too far to the right sometimes) - colour-wise the lighting is nice too. I am getting a weird "artefact" of extra ripples on some of the pics though that might just be this forum.

For me, the geese (if that's what they are) are coming out too underexposed, at least for my eyes on my (uncalibrated) laptop screen. But aside from that, you have some decent shots... I'd guess that you have enough detail in both highlights and shadows to make the corrections in post if you wanted.
 
big soft moose said:
again with #1 exposure is wrong - in this case too dark because the light reflecting off the water has fooled the camera the otherway

#2 is a bit empty (you could crop the middle third to a nice enough pan format)

#3 is a nice enough shot but lacks foreground interest
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. As a beginner I feel its very difficult to pick fault in a picture unless it's blurred :meh: :indifferent:
 
KIPAX said:
Always makes me laugh when people at either end of the scale say they only use this or that.. people who only use manual are the daftest as they think thats clever..... What on earth do they think the other modes are for?

Auto is great.. I put my camera on auto whenever I am using flash..

Use any mode you want.. the only thing i will say is.. if anytime your photogrpahs come out wrong.. too dark or too light then knowing a bit more than auto could save the picture... same if you want somehting to happen like an out of focus background.. or maybe you want to shoot somehting but the sun is in your eyes.. knowing more than auto can get you aound these things......

Lots of people use auto and are happy photogrpahers :)
Click to expand...
appreciate your reply
 
pjm1 said:
I rather like the lighting on the swans (but then I have a temptation to push my exposure too far to the right sometimes) - colour-wise the lighting is nice too. I am getting a weird "artefact" of extra ripples on some of the pics though that might just be this forum.

For me, the geese (if that's what they are) are coming out too underexposed, at least for my eyes on my (uncalibrated) laptop screen. But aside from that, you have some decent shots... I'd guess that you have enough detail in both highlights and shadows to make the corrections in post if you wanted.
Click to expand...


The extra ripples were from kids nearby skimming stones
 
Hello Gemma. It's not that auto is wrong as such. You'll find though that it will limit your creativity in certain situations. Knowing what and when will come with experience.

In my opinion most of your shots are a bit underexposed - white swan, lots of bright reflections and the camera averages out the tones. So adding extra exposure compensation gets the image a bit brighter. It's a learning curve but worth the patience and practice.
 
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It really doesn't matter what you use so long as you look at the settings the camera wants to use. If the image isn't quite what you had in mind, or can see in front of you, ask yourself why, then go to the manual/ask advice/use trial and error and work how to get exactly what you want. Probably P (program mode) is a better starting point than full auto as it's easy from there to make adjustments, and probably easier to work out exactly what the camera is doing.
The two of the lake are good images, but try cropping the bottom off the first (losing that bit of near bank) and see if you think it improves the composition.
 
Gemizzel said:
Thanks for the feedback. As a beginner I feel its very difficult to pick fault in a picture unless it's blurred :meh: :indifferent:
Click to expand...

If it's any consolation, I really REALLY struggled in the early months knowing whether a picture was under or over exposed. In fact, many of my early pictures showed quite similar exposure traits to yours (although the actual images weren't as good as yours) - i.e. underexposure. This was particularly problematic in portraits/people shots, where they just looked a bit "dirty" and I didn't know why or what to do.

I don't know if you have access to any sort of post processing software, but something I used briefly to get my "eye" in was Lightroom's auto exposure function. It's far from perfect and I wouldn't recommend using as anything other a than "ah - that looks different/better/worse" test, but I found it hugely helpful to make me realise I was chronically underexposing a lot of my shots by 1 or sometimes even 2 stops.

This is nothing to do with what you or your camera do, but what "looks right" to you. If underexposed shots "look right" then you'll happily go with an underexposed auto (or priority mode) setting, or even make compensation adjustments to "correct" the camera's chosen exposure to make it underexposed. I did that for quite a while before I started to get my "eye" in through experience and seeing others' shots.

Don't worry about it - it's all part of the learning process and the great thing about learning is we never stop. I still know less than most good photographers will forget on a daily basis, but that's ok because it means it's easier and quicker for me to improve :)
 
Learning to read the histogram properly is a major help in judging exposure. Sometimes the brightness of a screen can fool us into thinking things are better than they really are. But the histogram tells the true story.
 
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Sam Tip said:
Learning to read the histogram properly is a major help in judging exposure. Sometimes the brightness of a screen can fool us into thinking things are better than they really are. But the histogram tells the true story.
Click to expand...

yep , LCD = looks crackin' don' it :LOL:

Also if your camera has it activating "blinky highlights" (different makes call it different things - look for "over exposure alert" or similar in your handbook) can be a big help. As the name suggests this makes areas of the image that are blown out (that is so over exposed that you've lost all detail) blink black so you can see them clearly on the LCD
 
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All good advice. There's nothing "wrong" with using auto, and modern cameras can produce excellent results in this mode, but it does have some limitations and learning to use the other modes will give you a lot more flexibility. This does take time and practice, but it's not particularly difficult and digital photography lets you check and compare results instantly. It's also "free" - once you have the camera, lens and a memory card - and you can shoot as much as you like without having to worry about the cost of film and processing, which is a definite bonus!

Aperture and shutter priority are also automatic or, at least, semi-automatic modes and programme is a combination of the two. These just let you choose the aperture or shutter speed you want, and let the camera do the rest. They're straightforward, so experiment and get comfortable with them. In fact, the manual mode also uses a degree of automation if you simply follow the meter's recommendation for exposure.

The biggest problem for most newcomers is often learning how to achieve correct exposure. The camera doesn't always get it right, irrespective of the mode you're using, and sometimes you need to dial in more or less exposure compensation, or switch to spot metering. This is a big subject and there are many photographers on the forums who will be able to give you far better advice than I can, but there are good books and internet tutorials/articles too, and you can learn a lot by experimenting yourself once you get the basic idea.

Most of us just take photographs because we enjoy it, and for the satisfaction of producing good images. That's the main thing. Just relax and don't worry too much about whether you're doing things the right or wrong way, if they work for you.
 
I'm officially calling it:

The internet has finally grown up! :banana:

3 years ago this thread would gave been full of people saying you might as well have a P&S if you're not shooting Manual. 2 years ago, there'd have been a debate 50/50 auto/manual.
 
Phil V said:
I'm officially calling it:

The internet has finally grown up! :banana:

3 years ago this thread would gave been full of people saying you might as well have a P&S if you're not shooting Manual. 2 years ago, there'd have been a debate 50/50 auto/manual.
Click to expand...
I'd say it's too early to call..
.. there are at least two of the usual suspects that haven't replied to this thread, and they'll both disagree with themselves if no one else will argue with them.. ;)
 
Hi

Auto v Manual ? The answer is actually quite simple

If you know when the auto setting will give an incorrect expose you will also know when the manual setting will give the wrong exposure and if you don't know when the auto setting is going to give an incorrect expose you won't know when the manual setting will be wrong.

In the real world whatever the camera recommends in it manual setting is going to be the same as it recommends in auto mode, the only time it's different is in program mode but even then it still sets itself based on the same exposure meter that would be used in full manual mode.

In auto you will learn more by sticking to either A or S mode rather than P mode until you learn about shutter speeds and apatures and their effects.

Once you are happy you understand why a smaller or wider apature or a faster or slower shutter speed is needed and learned when the built in meter can sometimes get it wrong, then is the time to use P mode

These days I tend to always use P mode unless there is a good reason not to.. knowing when there is a good reason not to is the secret if you don't you won't know when shooting in manual mode will be wrong either.

P mode plus program sift plus exposure compensation dial is all I need to get correctly exposed photographs.

Paul
 
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Hi Gemma,

Never mind camera stuff, you have ferrets? Ferrets are ace! :D

I think one of the great things about photography is that you can go into it as little or as much as you want, and there's only you who can decide how much that is. If you're happy using auto and it's working well for you then no-one can tell you you're wrong for using it, obviously it takes every element of decision-making away from you but if your photos are looking how you want them to you probably don't need to worry about it. If you're wanting to do more specific things like blurring backgrounds, panning while keeping the subject sharp but blurring the background, etc, then you're probably going to have to leave Auto and go into one of the other modes. If you're happy for the moment then just keep shooting as you are and enjoy it!

Don't feel like it wasn't you taking the photo if you're using auto though, there have been some wonderful photos taken with iPhones which are about as automated as you can get. :)
 
Wrong to use Auto mode? No not wrong, just sometimes it's a bit limited especially in difficult light.

The final arbiter is the image you create/capture. If it's what you wanted, then the mode you used is unimportant.
 
GeeJay57 said:
Wrong to use Auto mode? No not wrong, just sometimes it's a bit limited especially in difficult light.

The final arbiter is the image you create/capture. If it's what you wanted, then the mode you used is unimportant.
Click to expand...

Yeah. How many people wonder what mode the photographer used when they look at an image? Photographers might be interested in the settings (ISO, aperture and shutter speed), but not the PASM mode; and many famous photographs were taken long before cameras had "modes".
 
If you want to move on a step then using Aperture priority or Shutter / Tv is a good idea.

The camera will still meter in the same way but what should you use for what?

The aperture controls what is in focus from front to back (other settings also have an impact but that is step 3 or 4) A small number is a small amount in focus (small depth of field) whereas a large number is a lot in focus (large depth of field)

The Shutter speed controls how much movement is frozen, a small bottom number such as 1/4 will freeze virtually nothing whereas a large bottom number such as 1/2000 will freeze nearly everything.

Whichever mode you select as you turn the number up i.e. we change the aperture from f8 to f16 then the shutter speed will go down say from 1/250 to 1/60

There is a third number which is the ISO but maybe that is the next step.

Mike
 
I thought primarily Aperture is the amount of light admitted. Every time you move up the scale, say f5.6 to 8, ii, 16,22 (for example) you halve the amount of light admitted to the camera sensor. Yes, it does influence depth of field as well, this is also influenced by the focal length of the lens

In fully automatic mode the photographer has no control of the camera settings

In Aperture priority mode, the photographer selects the amount of light to admit and the camera selects what it thinks re ISO and shutter speed

In Shutter priority mode, the photographer selects the shutter speed, the camera selects what it thinks are the correct aperture and ISO

In manual "M" mode as opposed to manual focus the photographer has total control of all 3 aspects

ISO is light sensitivity, as one moves from 100, 200 ,400 etc one is doubling light sensitivity, the downside is that budget equipment usually handles high ISO poorly, images become noisy ie grainy

also a seriously underexposed photograph will be prone to loosing details in the darker areas (shadows)
A seriously overexposed photo will be prone to loosing details in the pale areas, especially whites such as the OP's swans ("blown"). again such detail cannot be recovered by PP
 
The aperture is like a tap, fully open it allows all the light in, varies with your lens. You image is sharp around what you lens has focused on. As you turn the tap off the amount of light getting to the sensor is reduced. This results in a sharp focus at the image plane. The shutter speed controls the amount of time light is allow to get to the sensor and ISO controls the sensitivity of the sensor to light, downside is it adds noise as you increase the ISO. Again this all depends on your camera body, lens and most important the light conditions you are trying to take the image in.

If you think about aperture, shutter speed and ISO, they are linked, change one, it affects the others.
 
Gemizzel said:
Hi all,

I have had my camera for about 18months and not used my camera as much as I would have liked. I have been out the past couple of days and taken some pics on auto mode. I feel like I am cheating myself somehow but I am a total beginner so even getting a good auto shot pleases me.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's cheating. I'm not quite a total beginner as I started over 50 years ago and I use auto when using a Sony a7r because it's simple. OK, it's aperture priority mode because I use manual lenses and set the aperture myself; but I'm still letting the camera make the decision. I do however note the shutter speed, and adjust the ISO setting if I don't like it; and I do reach for the exposure compensation dial when I know that the camera will either get it wrong, or not give the exposure I want.

When using my other cameras - well, they are all purely manual and don't have a meter, so it's a hand held meter for me and experience in interpreting the data it gives me.

Even when it's digital, I don't use the histogram, or even review the image on the back. I'm aware that the histogram is based on the jpg recorded, not the full information that's in the raw file, so distrust it, and trust my own experience instead. Digital photographers will not like this as advice, because it's not seen as good practice. :)
 
Just remember - Auto will get you a shot, just not always the shot you were looking for...
You have plenty of modes, when you have TIME, read the manual & play with the other ones - Self timer is always a good one to play with..
 
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