Photography … an intelligent person's fully auto.

11 November 2014

Learning the ins and outs of my DSLR is a bit of a roller coaster ride. I don't want to be a professional photographer, but I do want to understand what I'm doing and I do want to be able to take better photos. So, when an email pinged last week from my brother with an idea to try, I thought … why not?



So, here's what it's all about: The Intelligent Person's Fully Automatic as per Terry Lane, the Imaging digital photography reviewer for Fairfax publications in Australia, an unusual title, but Terry obviously knows his stuff and is highly regarded.

Luckily, my brother loves to read The Age and is also interested in photography … as well as birds … and is happy to share intel with his little sister.

Anyway, Terry's article, which you can read here, suggests a (for me) new way to set up my camera to take great photos and to only have to worry about minimal control, Exposure Compensation. 

Once I worked my way through his instructions and found the Exposure Compensation button, I set off snapping away.

(I was using the Dioptric adjustment knob initially, instead of the Exposure Compensation button. I know … how could I make such an error! Dioptric adjustment button … the jargon!)

Firstly, a very obliging model.


My burgeoning tomato crop.


And its blossoms.


A native bush, with fly, in a neighbour's front garden.


So, all I did for these was, using the new set up, point and shoot. 

I was happy. The photos were clear. I did no editing. It seemed to be working.

But what happens when I do as Terry says and change the Exposure Compensation from zero through positive and negative?

I started inside. And, again with no editing, it was easy to see the impact. 


And then with my favourite model.


So, I think I'm going to play with this new set up for a bit.

See if I can master this exposure compensation control.

Seems relatively easy.

What do you think?

Worth a try?

Any other tips you can offer me?





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