Why Auto Mode is Holding You Back – (and what to use instead)

I got my first camera many years ago.  I bought it second hand at a camera shop and chose it because…. it fit my hand right!  Yep, I was all about the comfort and feel of the camera.  It happened to be a Nikon, and I’ve stuck with that same brand till this day.

Sure, I had taken pictures before, but never with a professional camera. (OK, it was probably entry level, but who’s going to tell?)  Well, one day my mom wanted pictures of the first grandchild in the family (not mine) and so I took pictures of my little nephew in the kitchen.  Sitting on the kitchen table…Lots of dirty dishes in the background…. just his bare belly and his grin.  It was near the open door at my back.  I had put the camera on aperture just to see what it would look like.  Total experiment. 

Now remember, this was in the days of film.  I had to wait a week for the prints to get back.

Magic.  Pure magic.

There was the little tike, grinning like a Cheshire cat and…all the dirty dishes in the back had disappeared…all the stuff on the table had  disappeared into darkness, and his little bare belly and grinning face just signaled triumph!

Took me more than a minute to figure out what I had done. 

Well, the aperture was set to a setting that exposed for his bare skin being lit up by the light from the open door behind me. Which meant that the background went dark because it was so far away from the subject  and the light source and much darker.

That’s when I realized:

Auto mode doesn’t know what you see.

It can’t read your heart or the feeling of a moment. It just guesses.

What’s the problem with Auto?

When you shoot in Auto, your camera makes all the decisions — exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO. And while that sounds convenient, it’s also limiting.

• Want those soft, creamy backgrounds? Auto might keep everything sharp.
• Want to capture the glow of sunset? Auto might over-correct and erase the magic.
• Want a crisp, detailed landscape front to back? Auto might blur what matters.

Worse yet, sticking with Auto stops your growth. You never get to learn how to shape light, control mood, or tell your story with intention.

The Quick Fix: Try Aperture Priority (A or Av)

Here’s the beautiful bridge between letting go of Auto/Program and feeling like a photography pro:

Aperture Priority Mode.

This mode lets you choose the aperture — which controls how much of your photo is in focus — while your camera helps by setting the shutter speed. It’s perfect for beginners who want creative control without diving straight into full manual mode.

• Want a sweeping mountain scene sharp from foreground to sky? Try f/8 or f/11.
• Want a dreamy background behind a flower or portrait? Go for f/2.8 or f/4.

Your Next Adventure

If you’ve been relying on Auto, I totally get it. It feels safe. But growth — and joy — lives just beyond that comfort zone.

Try Aperture Priority on your next walk, hike, or backyard moment. Play with depth of field. See how it feels to choose the look of your photo instead of letting the camera guess.