Would you ever shoot in Auto?

[Helen]

January 12, 2012 at 1:15 am

I know it may sound like a stupid question but do bear with me :)

Last year I was doing a documentary/press project for college and as it happened President Mary McAleese came to a local village so I said great would go down and see how I would get on. There is another photographer in my area who of course was there and we were chatting. I just asked would he use manual or AP – and to my complete astonishment he told me he would just shoot in Auto. I don’t think my jaw had come off the ground by the time the President did arrive. I should mention that this other photographer works as a wedding photographer. Could it happen that he could be using auto all the time and getting away with it?

So my question is auto mode – would you? Could you?

[miki g]

January 12, 2012 at 6:45 am

If I was just messing about with a P&S, maybe. I definitely wouldn’t be using it for anything important, like a wedding. :shock: It’s so long since I’ve shot in Auto, I forgot it was an option. :lol: :lol:

[shutterbug]

January 12, 2012 at 8:37 am

Does the end justify the means? If he is getting what he wants by using auto or maybe
he was pulling your leg!

If it was a choice of changing settings with no chance of a second shot and using auto
and being sure of a shot, which would you use? I dont have any problem using auto
especially shooting raw, I use either aperture/shutter priority which I suppose you
could say is auto…..as long as I get what I want I dont mind.

[Mark]

January 12, 2012 at 9:02 am

Well, I guess if you asked him did he shoot in manual or auto, then he could have been shooting in aperture priority mode
(which isn’t manual) which would be fine altogether. It doesn’t mean he couldn’t compensate for exposure corrections etc…

I’ve been led to believe that using auto (might even be pure auto, e.g. portrait mode) is quite a common practice with press photographers.
I’d imagine the print media its going to might determine the photographers need to use anything else e.g. would a b+w photo in a newspaper
allow for more tolerence?

[Helen]

January 12, 2012 at 9:19 am

No I don’t think he was pulling my leg shutterbug – he was deadly serious and to be honest after seeing some of his images I can see why he might shoot in pure auto mode. I suppose it is all about getting the shot.