For Beginners: I'm curious to know...

[y0aimee]

I'm curious to know what mode you shoot in when you take pictures. I myself am a beginner and I thought it would be interesting to see the approach in which beginners use to start learning about their camera, settings, and understanding photography. If you're not a beginner, please share what you did when you first began learning. Feel free to post your best "beginner's shot."

I purchased my 1st dslr in April '09 and right afterwards I went to a local park and began shooting in 'manual' mode. It was frustrating at first but it helped me learn about my camera and proper settings faster. That's just me though.

Here are a few pics I took the 1st day of owning my Nikon D60 and I believe these were unedited:

i added vignetting to this..

 

[Wingutcg]

I have had my DSLR camera for three weeks now and I am only shooting in manual. This is to learn what the settings do and how they affect one another.

 

[The Shoe]

I switch between Aperture priority and shutter speed priority with my Canon A-1. Depends on lighting, situation, the lense I'm using and what not. Being a 30 year old camera, it has troubles in full manual mode, I can't get the aperture to change properly when in full manual, but I make due.

 

[JeramyJ]

I generally shoot in "P" mode. I do use most of the settings though, depending on what I am shooting. Manual is something I leave for those special shots such as a long exposure night shot etc. Below is one of my first shots with my D80 back in March of 2008. Unedited.

 

[TylerF]

i have had my d40 since xmas and i dont know if i have even used auto mode lol. i use manual and that's pretty much it. here's a collection of shots i have taken since i got the camera if anyone cares to look lol

http://www.tylerfinley.blogspot.com

 

[dxqcanada]

I use the mode best suited to the situation.

Shutter priority when I want to stay with a specific speed for moving subjects ... Aperture priority when I want a specific depth of field ... Auto when I am lazy ... and Manual when I know the camera meter will not calculate the expected exposure.

 

[DennyCrane]

I generally shoot in aperture priority unless there's a shot where I don't trust the camera's processor to get it right where I'll use Manual. Occasionally for an action shot, I'll shoot shutter priority.

 

[mom2eight]

Most of my first shots were so over exposed you couldn't see anything!lol Then I got a flash and oh my talk about white out I enjoy taking pictures of people so I practice a lot on my kids. I was told by my friend who is a pro photog to only shoot in M. So that is what ive always done. Right now my focus is on capturing eyes. Ya know those pictures that the eyes seem to really stand out so clear it seems you are staring at the person and not a photo. I can't seem to get it so practice practice practice I do. I wonder if sometimes this is done in pp, and not in camera but either way I cant seem to get it.

 

[AUS-10]

Manual cause my 50mm 1.4 doesnt work in any other mode.
And with my other lenses...
Aperature Priority for DOF shots or landscapes.
Shutter Priority for movin stuff.

But mostly manual.

 

[pharmakon]

I generally shoot in aperture priority unless there's a shot where I don't trust the camera's processor to get it right where I'll use Manual. Occasionally for an action shot, I'll shoot shutter priority.

+1

By the time I got my first DSLR I had already read 3 books (2 Kelby & 1 Peterson) on Photography, and spent countless hours on TPF and other sites reccomended by it's members, so I skipped right past the Auto mode... My camera only sees auto if I ask a family member to take a snap of the wife and I at a holiday gathering.

For pics see Flickr link

 

[Dominantly]

Aimee, cool shots of Balboa Park. I spent quite a bit of time at the outdoor theater with my camera, trying to figure out the camera, and composure.

I started off in Aperture Priority. It gave me enough control to be able to pick my Aperture, and control my DOF; which is what I initially found most intriguing when shooting with a SLR.
From there I found that in some lighting, the camera would give me a shutter that I couldn't effectively shoot, holding the camera. So I started to play with manually adjusting the ISO to compensate.
After I had that down pretty good, I found there were times where I may have wanted to emphasize shadows, or have an overall darker/light exposure then what the camera was giving me. SO I went into manual mode and started following the light meter around different parts of the scene.
That's where I spend 90% if my time now; the the 10% will be spent in Ap.

Here are a couple of my Balboa shots:

This was me trying to figure out a way to shoot into the sun, but still get detail in the shot and not just flare.

Aimee, if you ever want to meet up and do a walkabout somewhere like Balboa, shoot me a PM!

 

[EhJsNe]

dominantly: I totaly love those last 2 shots

@ the OP, I started out with an Fm10...which is a fully manual film camera...after film started getting pricey I bought a used D70..and since my lenses were manual focus...I had to other choice but to shoot in manual still. My mom thought I was really good at taking pictures and whatnot so she wanted me to take my brothers senior pictures...but my 80-200 f/4.5 broke...so I researched some stuff, and found the 50mm f/1.8 was cheap, good quality, (autofocus ) and according to reviews good for portraits.
After getting all excited about the Auo modes...I discovered I really didnt care for them at all, except for ocasionaly aperture priority which Ive grown to like a little more.

So ALL my shots are/have been done in manual or aperture priority since day 1.

I revently got a flash, and when I kinda need or really want the shot I put it in auto mode...but I still use it a LOT in manual mode..its arder to learn flash exposure because it changes with subject distance...

 

[jackieclayton]

is this balboa park??? i went there like 2 years ago and took some photos too, i'll have to find them and post them! lol, beautiful place for some photos!

Well, i'm still learning but I started on my Nikon D40x... i shot in auto mode first and paid attention to what conditions I was shooting under and why the camera chose that shutter speed/ aperture. Then I started to play around with the A/priority and S/priority modes once I got that shutter speed/aperture concept down. Although convenient if I was in a hurry, I rarely used the other modes on the dial (macro, landscape.. etc) because it seemed too much like a point and shoot camera with those settings, and i got the DSLR for a reason. I left WB and ISO on auto for awhile, and then started playing around with those after I knew what they meant. But shooting in Auto (or Program) mode is definitely not a bad thing... most cameras out today have some pretty good sensors to detect optimal settings. As long as you as the learning photographer studies WHY certain settings are chosen by the camera, then you'll make progress.

Nice pictures BTW... for those being the first ones and unedited, very nice!! what lens did you use on the last one with the flowers? the colors just pop and the DoF is very nice! keep taking pictures! its the only way to learn!

 

[jackieclayton]

Dominately, the 2nd to the last picture that you posted is a great shot!! i love all the archways and the color and contrast look great! nice!!

 

[matt62485]

cool shot folks. i shot in auto for about the first 5 minutes just trying to see how much better the camera was than my P&S. not very impressed i immediatly put it in M and stumbled around quite a bit not knowing a dang bit about the technicalities. joined here, learned a ton and have been shooting manual 99% of the time since. occasional AP mode if im trying to be really quick.

have the camera since june and i think ive come leaps and bounds from where i was, even though im still considered a beginner