Pixiq

Can you get great results from your camera if you’re still shooting in auto exposure mode?

The short answer is yes. Perhaps the real question is why would you want to use full auto exposure?

There are only a few reasons to use the full auto exposure on your camera in my opinion.

• When there doesn’t appear to be a large dynamic range in the scene before you. In those situations where the lightest and darkest parts of the scene don’t seem to be too far apart your camera will actually do a pretty good job accurately reading the light and will likely provide a fairly good image.
• You’re strapped for time. When there is no time to think because the action or sequence of events requires you to pull your camera out and hit the shutter then at least you captured the scene. Who knows when the next time your 3yr old princess will be able to get the dog to wear pink sunglasses and a tiara again? Just make sure you take off the lens cap.
• Getting a general light reading. Here, you actually have time to plan the shot but you need a starting point. You can set your camera to auto exposure and adjust accordingly. Perhaps you need to blow out the highlights in the background in order not to silhouette your subject. This is actually a good exercise to practice your exposure guess work. I mean, who carries around a light meter these days anyway?