There is a good reason race cars have manual shift gearboxes. It gives the driver total control and precision when he needs it most. No need dropping into a corner with the car in the wrong gear and losing valuable time right? The same theory should apply to you and your camera.
If your camera has the option, turn it to manual. You may ask yourself, why would I want to do this if the camera is perfectly capable of doing all the complicated work for me? The reason is that you now have total mastery over the camera and the situation in front of you. The exposure, the color and every other facet of the photo is now in your hands. But more importantly, you also learn about how your camera works and sees the world.
Shutter speed, Aperture, ISO, exposure compensation and white balance are important terms to know to become a better photographer. If you dont know these terms, I have provided a very simple dictionary list below. But the best way to understand them is to use them. And the only way to use them, is to shoot in manual. So pick up your camera, turn it to manual and start learning.
If you’re just not comfortable in manual, try aperture priority (you pick the aperture, the camera picks a shutter speed) or shutter priority (you pick a shutter speed, the camera picks the aperture).
Terms to Know
Shutter Speed: a common term used to discuss exposure time, the effective length of time the shutter is open. The total exposure is proportional to this exposure time, or duration of light reaching the film or image sensor.
Aperture: adjusted to control the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor. Effects depth of field as well.
ISO: how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor and therefore the possibility to take pictures in low-light situations.
White Balance: is the process of removing (or adding) color casts to an image, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the “color temperature” of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light.
Exposure Compensation: technique for adjusting the exposure indicated by a photographic exposure meter, in consideration of factors that may cause the indicated exposure to result in a less-than-optimal image.