Beyond Auto Mode: A Guide to Taking Control of Your Photography

INTRODUCTION

Photography is the preservation of memory.

Photography is the means to recall the most important moments of our lives.

Photography is the literal recording of a moment, as well as interpretive art.

Photography is a way to bring people together, to record history, and to give perspective to events.

Photography is life,

life recalled in our images.

Everyone is a photographer to some degree, documenting their lives as they go. In fact, with smart phones, programs like Instagram, and the instant access we now have to imagery, we are living in the most visual era yet.

Eventually, many amateurs move on from their phones, to point-and-shoot cameras, to cameras with interchangeable lenses. That evolution of camera choices is often accompanied by a reliance on the camera’s automatic settings that began with the smartphone.

Using your camera’s automatic modes means giving up control of your photography. You push the shutter button to actually make the image but that just makes you a button-pusher, not an active participant in the process.

Photography, in its purest form, is a mix of art and science. As photographers we control the amount of light the camera uses to make the picture, and thus how the image looks. Each of us can be a “photographer” by taking control ...