Are you still relying on Auto mode for your photos?

If so, I get it! It's totally understandable that you might be a little hesitant to switch to Manual mode, but I promise your camera has the potential to capture even better shots with even just a little guidance from you, which is why I always urge photographers to move away from AUTO mode and into manual mode sooner rather than later!

Luckily, there are features on your camera that can help you gently ease into taking more control over your photos.

By gradually adjusting taking more control of your settings, you can improve your pictures and gain the confidence you need to eventually switch to full manual control 💪

And that’s exactly what we’ll cover today!

Why can’t I use AUTO?

First off, it's best to understand what your camera actually does on AUTO.

When your camera is set to Auto mode, it tries to determine the correct exposure by setting the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO based on the available light.

However, this can result in photos with a "snapshot" quality, as the camera aims for middle-of-the-road settings to cover all eventualities. Remember, the camera doesn't have eyes, and doesn’t know what you are trying to photograph, so it can only ever guess at what you might want the scene to look like!

And as middle of the road settings = middle of the road photographs, we definitely want to avoid that at all costs!

Additionally, the camera may choose a shutter speed that is too low, resulting in blurry shots, especially if you are shooting indoors, or anywhere where the light is a little lower.

To improve your photos, switching to manual mode and adjusting the settings yourself is the way to go!

This allows you to tailor the settings to the specific situation and achieve better results.

But how do you get there?

Let’s look at how you can gently, but firmly, transition from Auto to Manual Mode.

Before we go any further, I do want to let you know about a little freebie I have for you - my free Camera Settings Cheat Sheet. In it I give you suggested Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO settings for different photos, so you can print it out and have it handy next time you’re shooting.

Print it out and keep it handy when shooting so you can confidently and quickly set your camera in Manual Mode.

Step #1: Start with Scene Modes

"Scene modes" are simply a way of telling the camera what exactly it is you are photographing, so that it can decide what the most important setting is, and it will work out the other two settings based on that.

For example, let’s say you are photographing your child on sports day. This means you need to freeze the movement to get a crisp shot.

In Scene Mode, you would choose "Sports" (sometimes called "Action") so your camera knows that shutter speed is the most important setting, so it will choose a higher shutter speed number to try to stop any motion blur. It will also choose an aperture and ISO setting based on this higher shutter speed.

But perhaps (maybe at the end of the race!),you want to take a portrait style image of your subject, where you have the subject in nice sharp focus, but with a nice blurred background.

Then in this case, we would switch the scene mode to "portrait", and it will understand that the most important setting in this case is the aperture. That means the camera will choose a wider aperture, which in turn will help give you that blurred background. And again, it will change the shutter speed and ISO for you based on that aperture number, and the amount of light in the scene.

By using Scene Modes, you are at least giving your camera an idea of what it is that you’re photographing, so it can start to move away from those middle-of-the-road, catch all settings, and choose ones that are better suited to what you want the scene to look like.

It’s by no means perfect (as there is still so many variables to consider!) but at least you have given your camera a bit more information, which in turn, helps it choose better settings!

However, I'm not a fan of staying on these too long, because there are many, many otherthing we’ll want to take into account when choosing our settings, and you are much, much, much better placed than your camera to make them!

Which is why, once you have used this mode to get some ideas on how your settings change in different situations, you should make the move to the NEXT stage of your transition from auto to manual mode, which is to….

#2 - Switch To A Semi-Automatic Mode

Semi-automatic modes, such as Aperture Priority Mode and Shutter Priority Mode, are a nice halfway point between full Auto mode and full Manual mode.

When using these modes, YOU get to choose what your most important setting is (rather than the camera choosing it for you in Scene Modes) and the camera balances out the exposure for you by setting the remaining two for you.

For me personally, I always use Aperture Priority if I am ever using a semi-automatic mode (which is not very frequent!) as this gives me the most creative control, however, if you are in a situation where getting a really fast (or really slow) shutter speed is essential, then feel free to use Shutter Priority.

In essence they do the same thing - allow you to choose that most important setting yourself, but with the safety net of the camera balancing out the exposure for you.

There’s another benefit to switching to a semi-automatic mode, and that is the fact that by doing so, you are also able to start making changes to OTHER crucial settings, for example, turning off flash, choosing your own focus point, changing your metering mode, or switching to shoot in the raw file format.

You will need to start choosing your own settings here but panic not, I have a FREE camera settings cheat sheet for you that details the most likely aperture, shutter speed and ISO numbers you’ll want to use in different situations so be sure to grab your free copy.

OK, so once you have been shooting in one of the semi automatic modes a while, you may be tempted to settle in and stay here.

But this is where many photographers (myself included) get frustrated, because despite having lots of knowledge, they STILL can’t get the photos they see in their head, or at least not consistently.

Which is why, as soon as you feel comfortable, you should switch to…

Step #3 - Full Manual Mode 🎉

Yep, our little journey through the scene and semi-automatic modes has all been building to this point, where you take control of ALL the settings yourself in Manual Mode.

In this mode, you choose the most important setting yourself (usually aperture or shutter speed) and then choose the remaining two settings yourself in order to balance your exposure.

In other words, you are taking control of ALL three settings yourself, and the camera sits back and lets the master get on with it :-)

Honestly, there really is no substitute for taking FULL control of your camera, because it's the only way to consistently get the images you see in your head to translate into the camera.

So as the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll get good photos, so I’d start to make the transition as soon as possible.

Is there a learning curve? Absolutely.

Will you stuff up a few times? Without a doubt.

Will you fumble around trying to get your settings right? Yep, but only for a little while!

Just like learning ANYTHING, there will be a period of adjustment while you learn the ins and outs of choosing the right settings, using the right metering modes, understanding how to ignore what your camera is telling you and shoot over or under (it takes balls to tell your fancy-ass camera you know best!) but after a while, it just becomes second nature and you don’t need to think about it so much every time you take a shot :-)

Don’t forget you can download that FREE Manual Settings Cheat Sheet to make choosing your settings that little bit easier.

Personally, I’m always pretty much in manual mode, only occasionally switching to a semi automatic mode when it makes more sense.

But here’s the crucial thing: when I switch back, I still retain ALL of the knowledge I have about shooting in manual mode, so I can make adjustments in aperture priority mode to still make sure I get the best shot.

Just because you CAN shoot in manual mode doesn’t mean you always have to shoot in that mode, but it does mean that you have the knowledge to get your images to look exactly the way you want them to, regardless of what shooting mode you use.

If the idea of learning manual mode is overwhelming, then you might want to check out my Auto to Awesome program!

It will take you from using Auto mode to shooting in manual mode in a couple of weeks - and give you all the information you need, laid out for you step by step, so that it makes total sense every step of the way. We go into lots of other things too, like how to get tack sharp photos, set your white balance, and use light more effectively! If that sounds like the very thing for you, check out Auto to Awesome right here!

Thanks so much for being here, and I hope you enjoyed this guide to moving away from Auto to manual mode in super gentle steps!