Most cameras have a couple of different operational modes. Different manufacturers might have different names, but the behavior is pretty similar across the brands.
Automatic: The Camera Does It All
The camera picks all of the exposure settings for you. You don’t have to think about any settings. The camera does it all. And they are not going to be bad photos at all. In fact, they are gonna be pretty excellent overall. They are going to be exposed the way the camera thinks is right.
Semi-Automatic: You Pick One, the Camera Picks the Other
You choose the ISO. After that you choose Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority. These are the modes where you pick a setting that you want to control. You set that setting, and the camera will adjust the other.
For example, a portrait photographer might choose Aperture Priority (A or Av on the dial) and set the aperture to f/2.8. The computer in the camera will read the light using the meter and calculate the shutter speed that will result in a technically proper exposure.
Shutter Priority (S or Tv) behaves in a similar fashion: you choose a shutter speed and the camera will choose the appropriate aperture.
Now some cameras will have modes that will also adjust the ISO for you. It goes back to the film days, where ISO was controlled by the film that was in the camera, and the only controls the camera had were shutter speed and aperture.
Manual: It Is All Up to You
And last, but far from least, is Manual mode (M). In this mode it is up to you, the photographer, to set all three controls to capture the proper exposure. If the three don’t add up, you won’t get a properly exposed image. The camera doesn’t care if the image is too dark or too light. In fact, you can go home with images that are completely black or completely white. The camera is OK with whatever you decide.
Do You Have to Shoot in Manual to Be a Real Photographer?
Some will tell you that if you don’t shoot in manual you aren’t a real photographer. I am NOT one of those people. You use the mode that works best for you in the situation that you are in.
An air show? My grandson’s lacrosse game? I typically use one of the semi-auto modes.
Why I Use Manual for Landscapes and Seascapes
Most of my landscape and seascape images were created with the camera set to Manual mode. Typically my subject isn’t going anywhere. And while the light is changing rapidly, it’s quick and easy to keep making minor changes to the settings.
For example, as the sun rises I might make the shutter faster, one click at a time, to account for the additional light. It really is that simple. Remember, we are just letting more or less light into our camera. That is all this is.
And that is all there is to that!
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