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

GETTING IT RIGHT IN THE CAMERA

I bet you have some version of Photoshop or other image editing software, don’t you? You probably spend a lot of time trying to edit your image into something you want—cropping, playing with exposure adjustments, changing color settings, and more.

As you learn to move beyond auto mode on your camera, I’m also going to help you move beyond the “fix it in postproduction” mentality. Getting your image right when you actually shoot it is incredibly satisfying. If you want to polish it in postproduction, that’s great, but if you get it right when you make the image, there is no need to spend hours trying to fix it.

In fact, we are going to treat your digital image making as though it was film—no second chances and no fixing it later. One of the goals of this book is to teach you make images with intention, and manual settings. Photography is not about the digital “fixing” you can do later, it’s about getting it right every time you push the shutter.

You will find yourself making better photographs straight out of camera almost right away. Simply learning why your camera does what it does, and how to change that for each image you want to make, will change everything about your pictures.