A Photography Tip: Auto Manual

There are times when shooting full manual mode is appropriate and then there are times when "semi-automatic" (shutter priority, aperture priority) is more appropriate (i.e. event photography). That's when you don't have time to set the camera on manual and meter and then set the settings accordingly. And when you need semi-automatic settings you have to decide which to use, shutter or aperture priority. But what if you need to be able to choose BOTH the shutter speed and aperture but it's too slow a process? Easy. Use Auto Manual mode. What the heck is Auto Manual mode? Good question. Many photographers don't know that you can choose BOTH the shutter speed and aperture too and it still be auto. How does one go about doing that? All you have to do is set the mode dial to Manual then set the ISO to auto. You can even "select" the range that the ISO will shoot at, say, from 100-1600 (as an example). This technique is certainly one of my all time favorite techniques for shooting events where I need a fairly fast shutter speed (1/200 second) AND a shallow depth-of-field (f-2.8). Then I let the auto ISO do all the rest of the work for me. Now some cameras can't do Auto Manual but most can. Check your camera and see if it is possible to shoot auto ISO while in Manual mode. If it does you'll have so much more control over fast moving subjects, like wild life photography and wedding photography.

Hope you enjoy this little tip!

Mark