I have always had people ask me for tips when they are considering purchasing a new camera- and my number one suggestion is: If you’re going to get a dslr, learn to shoot manually.

You may have just gotten a fancy new DSLR for Christmas – my guess is you put the instructions manual aside and turned that dial to the cute little green box on top- also known as “auto.”  If I could smack your hand off of that dial, I would!  And then I would kindly move the green box to “M” hand you the instructional manual and send you on your merry little way to practice.  If you have purchased a dslr and you’re  shooting on manual you are doing yourself no good and you have wasted your money.

In a matter of 30 seconds I took the two photos below.  I didn’t do an elaborate set up (this is my bed in my master), I simply grabbed my camera because Eli & I had just woken up from a nap.  The window to the right is partially open because he loves to look at the leaves blowing in the wind (and have we not had the craziest windy days recently?)  The two images below are both SOOC (straight out of camera) with no editing at all- the only thing I did was convert the RAW files to JPEG and save for web.

Ask Anything:  What is the difference between shooting in auto or manual? Well, with manual you do have to set your own settings.. and instead of getting into the technical side of things.. I think I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves..