So why not use the 'Auto' button?

The Auto button works very well and produces good consistant images (providing you've focussed and composed correctly!).  So why would you want or need to learn how to use the manual controls on your camera?

Well I've been running workshops for a while now and what's great to see is the absolute delight when a creative shot is taken, it might just be blurring some action or freezing some water but the result is sheer joy!  I get an awful lot of satisfaction when I see someone's face light up and that penny drops.  It's not often though that I get to go out and 'play' with the camera however on a recent trip to France I had the pleasure of doing just that!  No, I'm not about to share my holiday snaps with you - that would be very boring!  Instead though I'd like to use one or two to demonstrate how using the manual functions on your camera can create more interest in your shots.

Ok, so these could have been taken anywhere but it was a good opportunity to get up close and personal with these giants!  The first image has frozen the action so you would think that the windmill was stationery.  The camera would have considered the bright light and therefore chosen a faster shutter speed, freezing the action.  

In this image we've told the camera what to do, slow down! You can now see the movement of the windmill..

Ok, so what else can you do?  Take a look at these images, why do the flowers jump out at you?

By taking control of the camera you can create that nice blurry background which makes the flower jump off the page.  Great for people shots too, and bubbles....!

Learning how to slow down the camera in the evening can create some real drama in your photographs.  It's likely that the Auto button would fire the flash, destroying any atmosphere.  The tree in this shot was already lit...

And for this shot I fired a bit of flash to light up the tree.

Ideally the camera should be mounted on a tripod for these shots, I didn't have one with me so it was all about finding something to balance the camera on but you get the idea!

There's so much more you can do with your camera.  Learning the basics of manual control opens up many more opportunities to get creative!

Thanks for reading..

www.sallyparkinson.co.uk