Shooting Modes

The real photographer never use automatic mode. The professional photographer takes shots only in manual mode. I often hear such sentences. It is interesting that I read many books written by professional photographers and I never met such sentences in their books. It is also worth wondering why the cameras have many shooting modes and why some of them are called creative.

I decided not to listen to people who demand other to use only manual mode. I admit the manual mode is extremely useful and it cannot be avoided in some situations. Furthermore, I admit taking photos in manual mode is cool and it has unique atmosphere.

In most of cases, I prefer aperture mode (AV). This mode gives me freedom over DOF and it help me in calculation the related shutter speed. I welcome this help. However, the calculation sometimes does not meet my requirement. In this case, the setting the exposure correction illuminates the problem.

I sometimes decided to capture in Program AE mode. For example, when I was too excited to waste time with camera settings or in case of landscape shots. A week ago, I found a fantastic scene. Imagine a large cornfield on a small hillside with a fresh green tree in its middle. I jumped out of my car and take some shots. I realized that the shots were not taken according my will only at home, some hours later. I wanted sharp spikes in the foreground and the sharp tree in the distance. The automatic module of my camera did not know it and only the spikes became sharp in the picture. So, I will remain in the aperture mode to avoid such problems.

Of course, there are cases, when the only solution is manual mode. In night photos, the camera settings will not be the best. I usually take macro shots in manual mode, too. Please, understand I am not against the manual mode. I sometimes like it. Just I like to use the features of my camera. It is big help for me. Usage of AV mode prohibits me to listen to other useful things, like the subject of the photo or the composition.