Golden Ears Falls - going off automatic is often necessary

A low shutter speed blurs moving water - if you do it right.

The problem many people have with their cameras is that they don't take them off automatic.  There are a number of reasons for this, but the two big ones are fear and uncertainty.

We have fear because it prevents us from doing stupid things.  This includes Darwin award winning events like walking off a cliff, stepping in front of a moving bus, or running into a burning building to get warm.  This goes too far though when it comes to technology.  This is particularly true regarding using a camera.  People are scared of breaking their cameras, ruining their shots, or causing so much internal carnage as to render them useless.  The best plan is to leave it on automatic.  It certainly reduces the likelihood of making a mistake, but it is like staying in the car to not go over the edge.

Uncertainty is another imposing factor which prevents the power of the camera from being unleashed.  It relates basically to a lack of knowledge.  Most will attempt to curb this with a new device by looking at the instruction manual.  After ten minutes of utter confusion and a confirmation that all things technical are outside of their grasp, most will write off the attempt and use this new thing with as little physical contact as possible.  Cameras, it seems, can break if they are touched too much.  One of those buttons is probably for self destruction; they are better off left alone.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem.  First off you camera will have some way to counter any changes you made to it.  There is usually a reset button, menu item, or hidden actuator which will set the camera back to factory defaults.  This insures, barring some disaster, that the camera will be fully operational again and the attempt to cause malfunction was spent in vain.  The second issue deals with the confounding manual.

People often use the camera's manual as a book to read while enjoying a moment of peace and quiet.  That, of course, evaporates soon after the first few pages are turned.  Instead the manual should be used the way you might try to answer a question by accessing the internet.  You would never attempt to learn about something by reading the whole internet - that would take more time than you would have in ten life-times.  Instead, you would look up particular aspects by using key words.  You do the same with your camera's manual.  Referring to the index or table of contents, then turning to that page specifically will give you all the answers you need.

The assumption in all of this is that you know what to look for.  This is where the whole thing can fall on its face.  It also depends upon the manufacturer's ability to have a decent index at the back and to help the user problem solve.  There is, again, a solution to the problem.  It comes with education and using other research tools.  There is a lot to be gleaned on line for using your particular camera.  A search on youtube.com for your model and problem will go a long way to answering any queries.  I will talk about these later in another blog.  Until then, happy shooting.

www.ericspix.com