For the LOVE OF GOD get out of AUTO, Please. Here's How 

I was completely new to photography and bought my first camera (from only ever using an iphone) After watching the FRO, I jumped in and made the decision to start in manual and strictly manual shooting RAW. I think I learnt a lot and now feel confident in my ability and have never used anything other than manual. From what I could gather here is how I summarise things. 1. You have three ways of getting natural light to the sensor on your camera, the ISO, aperture and shutter speed. 2. A high ISO is your enemy so do what you can to keep it as low as you can by adjusting the other two settings. 3. If you want to add light you can slow your shutter speed or open up your aperture. 4. If you cant slow your shutter speed any slower or open up your aperture then slowly increase your ISO . That's the exposure triangle from a beginner.

its ironic how you're webcam is over exposed because of your lighting :D

I have NEVER shot in Auto and that was the best thing I ever did. I read, and watched videos and went through tutorials before even purchasing my camera, and as soon as I had it in my hands it was in Manual. If you want to get into photography, start in manual! It will make your life so much easier because you will have to learn right away! SAY NO TO AUTO!

He didnt yell...he just expressed himself loudly

8:20 - "This kid in the background playing with his cup." LOL!!!

Holy crap. Why did this make so much more sense than what my teachers have told me!? Replicating the auto settings sounds like an amazing exercise!

I think one critical part of capturing the shot that was left out of this video is knowing the subject before the shoot! A photographer needs to know the average speed at which a kid is going to kick and the average speed of child running in a typical soccer match. When you take the 2 variables into account only then can the person have the slightest idea of what aperture and shutter speed to look for in relation to the frame. So, shooting in manual is all about understanding your subject matter and how to control the variables that present themselves to your ultimate goal.

Great tips. This example also illustrates the advantages of shooting in RAW. Opening the original file in Camera RAW, a person could boost the shadows, bring down the highlights, tweak contrast and crop to taste. Applying Jared's tips and using a suite of basic editing tools can allow even a novice photographer to take a good RAW image and, in about 1 or 2 minutes in Photoshop Elements, make a really nice image that family and friends will love.

HORIZONTICAL

Before buying my first camera almost 5 years ago, I registered on a nature photography site where 98% of the shots posted for critique were taken in manual. Many lengthy discussions in the forums also convinced me that manual was necessary to have full control over the situation at hand. On receiving my new camera, I took three photos in P mode - one of the box, one of the lens cap and one of the wife drying her hair lol. I put it in manual after that and it stayed there until I sold it three years later. Moving out of P mode may seem daunting at first, but swing that dial and practice. I guarantee you will enjoy taking pictures a whole lot more : )

I'm a beginner , I got out of auto recently, it has increased my picture quality and I'm learning more about the settings everyday, its great to tweak your own settings (:

Hahahha, "I hope I didn't yell at you enough" at the end killed me.

"Horizontical " -Fro

Thanks. I have now stepped out of Program mode to Aperture priority. Saturday, I shot a wedding my first time using an DSLR. I used Program mode and sometimes the faces were in shadow. I didn't know why. I've never used full auto. I just turned it to P and started shooting. The ones that were perfect were "spectacular" according to my cousin, the groom. Maybe I will have fewer shadow shots next time.

I was never scared of getting out of auto. In fact, I almost never used auto after founding Programme mode on my old point and shoot camera. Then I grew a little sick that my camera can only give me programme at most, and all phone camera are the same too, and most even worse than programme mode, so I finally buy a camera that allows me to do pasm. Manual is my favourite, followed programme, then shutter priority and aperture priority. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate auto, it's just that if I have time to make adjustments and have multiple tries on a photo, I would use other setting.

8:27 'I hope I didn't yell at you enough'…. That's GOLD Jared… GOLD!!!!! Your a great giver of your talent and knowledge. Thank you very much for your time..

Brilliant ! That’s why I watch “the Fro!” I’m so dumb I never thought of that. If you don’t have a light meter and don’t know how to tell “Manual” or even “Aperture” or “Program” how to set the shot, take one in “Auto.” Blurry? Increase shutter speed. Shadows on subject’s face? Open it up a stop. Or move around the subject to get a more evenly lit face (if you can). And so on. As the Fro says, let “Auto” be your in-camera consultant. Great video.

To get out of auto you need to be interested enough to remember the settings for specific situations. Its why I've stayed there. What would be useful & handy (may be a product idea for Jared). Create little business card size cheat sheets. That have typical settings to choose for situations. People can carry it with them, and maybe that will slowly helpn them out of auto.

"We got this kid in the background playing with his cup" LOL

Jared, I can't live without your videos (I can but I'm just saying LOL). Keep shooting RAW.

Jared Polin, I'm from Brazil but I lived a long time in the US. I started taking photos because you inspired me! Thanks so much! I got a D3200 and bought 2 lenses: 50mm Nikkor 1.8 G and a SIGMA 70-300mm DG APO Macro.

I'm so glad I learned photography with film, and at the time could only afford a manual camera. You HAD to learn about f-stops, shutter speed, and selecting the appropriate speed of film (ISO) - and you didn't have a choice, you had to finish the roll before changing. It's crucial to understand this to get good shots..

This is a really great invitation to shooting manual. I did wedding photography for a while and the whole thing was manual mode, as we knew each room's lighting and the extreme white dress could throw off the metering wildly (plus we used flash a lot to compensate). I have to admit, I usually use A mode and exposure compensation, adjusting RAW photos when I need to, but after seeing this, I will try using manual mode more. It seems to encourage you to be more creative with lighting choices. By the way, I generally prefer a prime lens, just something about the simplicity of it, though for convenience I'm often using a zoom.

Soooo easy to shoot in manual with the built in light-meter. Just look at the little scale. All you need to know is what direction the slider will move when you change a setting. Get the slider on 0, and you will have a setup that the camera thinks is acceptable. This will not always be right how you want it, but it will always get you in the ballpark.

I feel like Gomer Pyle after watching this. "This is my camera. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My camera is my best friend."

people who are on auto have not learned photography and that's why they are afraid to move from it. if you're not going to go to visual arts school then at least take a few camera courses at your local camera shop if you have one. learn the camera and learn the art is my tip. of course, there will be those people who just buy it to take pictures of their pets and are not really interested in the art and I guess that's fine.

I've had my first dslr for a week, today, and I haven't used it in auto other than to look at how it sets it up for certain situations. I have no idea how to use it, but I've been simply exploring it and messing around with it in all its settings thanks to Jared's videos (amongst others) which have been so helpful, I'm starting to understand it a bit better and it's amazing the things that it can do. What's the fear, what do you have to lose? It's all fun and a learning process.

I watch your videos for about 2 years now and I bought my D3200 about 1 1/2 years ago. At beginning I was afraid of getting out of auto BUT: Its soo bloody easy if you want it! You can try in Aperture priority so you have to lern what shutterspeed aperture and iso are changing! The best would be to photograph only in manual. I´m out of auto for a longer time now and the most things about photography I know is from Jared. So thanks for doing this very helpful videos. Stefan, 16 from Germany

Absolutley love your videos, im new to photagrophy and im jumping back and forth between auto and shutter priority atm, and are going to do some testing in manual today. Been shooting for mayby 4 months now and got myself a d7000 about 1 month ago had a used D50 i got from a friend before that. Well, what i wanted to say is thanks for the nice videos and keep up the good work.

This is why i think people should learn on film. It forces you to use manual and really learn how to use the tools in your hands.

To be honest i just started and my camara is just a Canon SX510, not even a DRSL camara, but it has all the triangule settings with its obvios limitations like ISO only until 3200, Shutter speed only untill 1600 and apperture F3.4-.8. Anyway i made a commitment with myself of learning from the basis and have shot my pics using only the manual mode and improving by little and watching videos like this and many others. Don't see the point of people getting 2K camaras and above to shot on Auto Mode, that´s just a waste of money.

I have the D80 and started again to take this hobby seriously and now I watching your videos which are great!!! thanks

D70 SHOUT OUT!! just retired it for a D300. Not selling the D70 but plan to convert to an IR. Many great shots with the D70.

The light suggests ISO 200-400. the action suggests 250-500th of a second. And I'm guessing the focal length probably wouldn't allow you to go below F5.6. Just because you have a DSLR you still need to treat it like a film camera. You couldn't just open the back of an SLR and and swap film out so get out of the habit of doing it with a DSLR. The fading light to me means ISO to 400. F5.6 is more than enough DoF so you're fixed on these 2 settings for a start. All you need to worry about is the shutter speed which should be 1/1000. I Said 500th above meaning the shirt would have probably have been blown out ( big deal it's white anyway ). However a quick look at the histogram and I would have increased the shutter speed by 2 clicks or 2/3 of a stop. and Jared stop saying horizontical... please ;)

Jared thank you for your informational video's. I recently picked up a Nikon D3300 DSLR which is my first entry level camera and what an awakening in the quality. I've used several of your videos to gain an understanding to get up and running, it's greatley appreciated.

Jared, seriously, this video is short but filled with great content! Thanks! Been waiting for a vid like this from you since I've started watching your vids a few months ago! After watching this, I've finally grown some balls to get out of AUTO! haha

the secret of shooting in manual mode is not that complicated folks... you make sure auto-iso is set and no matter what aperture and shutter settings you choose (within reason and parameters of the scene) the camera will make sure you get the proper exposure.

I recently bought my first DSLR, D7100. From the first time I played with the camera I shot in auto and took test shots with various apertures, ISOs, and shutter speeds. As well as popping on lens filters and using lens hoods. I try to keep my ISO below 800 despite the D7100s really good ISO capabilities. And I can say I shoot raw. Loving the camera and image quality. Oh and I also manually focus. I'll admit I need to improve on many things in my quest to become a better photographer, but i shoot manual and raw.

The first day I bought my dslr(with no experience whatsoever with it) I googled on how to properly use manual and get the correct exposure..didnt take me long to learn about the aperture, shutter speed and iso,I read a few helpful magz too..just cant understand why people can stick with auto which limits your creativity..they just dont understand the potential of their kits.just recently started shooting RAW after watching your vids jared and im thankful i watch it..keep doing what you do best!

Just learned this today: ISO is pronounced "Eye-so". It's not I.S.O. It's actually a word. Just dropping that knowledge on anyone seeing this in 2017.

Awesome video and advise! Thanks Jared!

You cropped the photo to portrait to get rid of the referee but would it have been an option to give the action some more leading space on the right?

I think it helps for beginners to take a traditional photography class and get exposure with film, especially black and white. Also, to get time in a dark room to actually produce pictures. It teaches the importance of knowing the f-stops and shutter speeds, as well as the iso and how it all melds together. Starting with a dslr gives too many options that make it easier to to just use auto because of the overwhelming options. In my experience traditional photography was an excellent source of basic information, coupled with the black and white aspect of it that forced me to be conscious about contrast and lighting. Making the transition to a dslr more organic. Just my two cents...

Good video for nubs. I couldn't get off of auto a few years ago so I bought a body that has no auto (Canon 1D2N) So I had to learn really quickly! Glad that I did it. Keep the videos coming!

2-3 weeks ago I bought my first DSLR and at all my first camera with manual settings which is Nikon D5200 ! ... I just start with Aperture priority mode. The only time that I switch to Auto mode was to compare the differences! And now I'm just practicing my skills on the manual modes.

my dad always questions why I'm always on manual..

Yeah, I'm about semi-auto. Aperture priority + auto ISO. Or when I'm doing a panning shot, then, Shutter Priority + auto ISO. It's way way quicker when I'm moving around facing different directions. Also, when I do manual, I'm end up picking the same settings as Aperture Priority anyway. :)

Horizontical!!!! Bahaahhhaaahhaaa that never gets old. You're a crack up. Love your stuff and the channel

Good Video Jared. I also like the horizont(ic)al version of this picture better. But the cropped version you did was the best option for a vertical photo. I remember shooting with a 400D for a long time. I usually wouldnt go over 400 ISO either except when it was really really needed. At full sunbright... even in sports, going for 1600 ISO with pre-2010 cropped sensor DSLRs is a no-go. Thanks for pointing that out to people.

I bought my first dslr day before yesterday ... shot two photos on auto mode .... didnt liked them at all .. studied a bit about aperture , iso and shutter speed ... just within a day im taking awesome pictures using aperture priority mode .. viola !! guess im on the right track

Paused at 1:20, I'm using Panasonic Lumix Lx7 (Always Full Manual for Video & Photo) There's no way in hell you'd ever catch me shooting at F 8.0 outside at ISO 1600, especially at a soccer game with natural daylight at my disposal. I'd use F 1.4, ISO 80, with as high as a shutter speed as I could get away with for crystal clear images and or video footage. The shutter speed is really nice, but.. it's too high, don't need that high of a shutter speed for soccer game. You will get blurless images, YES, but it can be brought down a little bit, and then you can decrease the ISO giving for better "less noise" images or video. As for the shadows, there's really nothing you can do about it. The boys right side is facing the sun. It's a natural shot, as if you were to see it in person without a camera. (+1 : 694)

i love seeing people with dslrs and and they are shooting in a well light and then you see the pop up flash and i can't help but shake my head. I'm a junior in College and a photography major and i still see photo majors shooting on auto and get so confused my the pop up keeps coming up and they have no idea why, i stopped shooting auto six years ago when i didn't know anything

I think there really NEEDS to be a digital full-frame SLR with following properties: Price: about $200 MRSP, including kit lens: manual 50mm 1.8. Display: none Menus and options: none Sensor: full-frame. Old-generation sensor is OK to cut cost. Focusing: manual, assisted by split and microprism ground glass. Flash: hot-shoe connector available File format: only Adobe RAW. We don't need a DSP that way. Start-up time:

guess i was lucky i found jared the first week i picked up a dslr turned it straight to manual and raw, never changed it since, just made my self learn thanks jared

I have had my canon t5i for a little over a month, and I already use manual settings, this is my first dslr, and all it took was a little experimentation to figure out the settings for anything, I guess what am trying to say is that anyone can use manual settings, no matter if you are a beginner or a pro...

I adore all your videos. Much cheaper than traditional school :) currently watching while waiting for my Nikon d5300 to come in the mail!! Hopefully by today I can also say I SHOOT RAW! :)

the only time i will use auto is when i really don't want to mess with anything and that isn't very often

Great video Jared. I got my first dslr a few years ago (d3200 +kit lens) was super determined to just go shoot. Going out at night time really really helped me learn my camera. I think I out grew it in 3 months. I dig your vids man!

Had a friend that bought their first DSLR a few weeks ago who was asking for some tips. Simply put, never turn on auto... ever. Auto is for when you hand the camera to someone who doesn't know how to use it.

"Kid back there playing with his cup" LOL

i have been shooting manual for a couple of months and i began with it. i was at best buy and and was using some cameras it was kinda nice to just let the camera do the work im not gonna lie.

I learnt so many things from you ...mannn i'm glad I found this channel..:)

This is the fro we miss , classic upload

"we got this kid in the background playing with his cup".....LOL

Yes it's better to take control of what the camera is doing. Here's my shooting: Manual 50%, Aperture priority 45%, and Shutter Priority 5%. I never use Program or the scene modes.

Wow man, loved the passion you put into the video. This is why I keep watching your videos, beacause you put all of you into photography. Keep up the good work, FRO!

Auto shooting is something to get you started, and learning path. After learning for awhile you will progress to manual.

I stay mostly with aperture priority. Sometimes Shutter and rarely manual. All depends on what I am doing. Fully automatic modes don`t offer enough control for my tastes.

I forgot, my cousin's wife just changed her facebook profile picture to my image. She didn't notify me of this; facebook did. (She's an awesome person if you haven't already guessed). I wasn't paid for this. They already had a professional photographer. This was me wanting to do something special for them with my new 6d.

Thanks for the advice. Just learning, and it makes more sense with a practical senario than just reading about numbers on the web. Keep up the good work.

thanks jared since I started watching your videos I shoot raw thanks thank you my first pictures of 2012 were self now I shoot only raw filesy manually through your tutorials you do

Yeah I'd do zoomed out with widest f stop (5.6) and it looks quite sunny so I'd do iso 200 and since it's in action id do at least 1/320 or 1/500 shutter speed to freeze the moment. Just my thoughts though. Great picture regardless!

LOL. It's left right left. XD Too hilarious.

I NEED to hang out with you for the day! Your Vids are the best, yelling is ok with me, I am Italian and from NY. So, your advice is very useful. I want to LEARN more about the proper lens and Fstops and all settings. I got out of auto so that's good!

i hate seeing people whose dslr keeps popping internal flash up and she keeps pushing it back having no idea what the heck is going on.

It's funny this came out now. Just today I was contemplating taking my photography business more seriously and working to get business instead of waiting for it to come to me. Anyways I was reviewing the photos from my wife and mine engagement and wedding. Both taken by "professional" photographers both paid more money than I've ever charged for a wedding. And both did ok. But both shot their cameras in program mode (might as well be auto). I don't think I ever used my camera in P or Auto. But then I learned on a Pentax k1000 which didn't have program mode etc. only manual. I never shoot in anything but M, av, or tv now and for the last 10-15 years. I've been very frustrated by this today. I suspect the wedding photographer knows how to use his camera. But I can't believe he didn't want any control over his. Even using auto white balance for an outdoor wedding. The gal that did our engagement photos was saving up to get a canon 7d (which is what I use) she had a canon 50D and I don't know what lens. One exit reads a 18-270 must be a really high quality lens. Right up there with the "L" Series I use. NOT, The wedding photographer used a Nikon D600 and did have good fast lenses (like 70-200 f2.8). But I see almost all the shots were f/5 or similar. And again "normal program" and "auto white balance" What's even more fun is he won't give me the raw files without paying for them and several of the jpegs he sent are overexposed and the highlights are completely blown out and unusable. If I had the raw at least I could attempt to salvage the files. Same with the engagement gal. Though she pretty much didn't edit her photos at all. The wedding photographer sent me several overexposed with no highlight detail and several over saturated photos etc. I'm tired of people who pickup a fancy camera and take photos in auto and call themselves photographers because the cameras these days have such good program and metering they can pull off great photos. Let's put a center weighted metering camera with manual focus and full manual only controls in their hands and see how they handle things. I'm fed up and wish I could convey this lack of skill to the consumer without sounding arrogant and thinking I'm gods gift to photography. I'm not that good and have a lot to learn still after 15 years but I love it and enjoy what I do. And love doing events and photos for the love of photography more than making money at it.

couldn't agree more. Just turn the knob to aperture set aperture to F6.3 since these lenses are not crazy sharp wide open and benefit from stopping down a bit. And keep your Iso on 400 locked or on a very bright day even 200. When it's cloudy check your shutter speed and compensate your ISO. always keep your shutter speed above 1/500th of a second with a 300mm so when it drops below add a stop of ISO. Shooting in aperture priority ain't rocket science. And you will learn about depth of field in the real world for free.

I liked this just based on the title and still. Looks like your having a drunk rant ha ha All the best fro !

Nice video sir and you have deeply knowledge of photography

Well I have a form of dyslexia known as math dyslexia. When people speak numbers I tend to zone out. Math classes were hell for me and being left handed as well was no help. I tend to transpose numbers and sometimes even words which often makes my grammar a bit off. I'm a defect, or at least was always thought of that way. BUT. That never stopped me from trying. Being an artistic mofo in school made my art teacher who was a photographer suggest I get on the yearbook staff which he ran. I managed to get a bit of the photography concepts in my young brain and even got experience in the dark room. Flash forward years later and I get into 3D modeling and rendering as a hobby and you do need to know a bit of photography to get your renders to turn out fine enough (but UV mapping can be a pain because dyslexia). But using an actual camera, digital camera in my case, was just a by the way sort of thing to get a "tourist shot" of whatever I wanted to capture. And it was Auto to the rescue. Now that I've perused a few of your vids I think I'll give this whole photography thing a little more of a try. At least it may help my renders come out a lot better. ....your passion and enthusiasm is contagious. Thanks. :)

I started using my first DSLR on manual. I had been watching a ton of youtube videos before getting it so i knew what the settings did lol

If you were at one to 250th To gain one-stop of light you would have to go down to 1/25 to let more light in if you want to get out of one further do you have to go down to 1/60 to let more light in it but in the shot 1/60 might be too slow and you might have blurry

My best shots have come from being able to whip my point & shoot out of my back pocket and click, all within 5 seconds, capturing natural ,unrehearsed shots. Most anyone can manipulate images to make them look good. The real art today is in the actual capture.

I don't understand why people drop anywhere from $600 to $3000 on a quality DSLR and keep it in auto when you could've bought a point-and-shoot that does the exact same thing (like a Nikon 1) for $350. Why pay for the added features you're never gonna use? My first camera was a DSLR, and I kept in in manual all the time.

I like your enthusiasm.

I love your work and try to watch as much as possible you are the one that has gotten me to adventure into manual.. with that said i am having trouble at events quickly adjusting to get a sharp properly exposed photo is there any other mode you prefer while learning how to pick just the right settings?

I did a little research before I bought my DSLR and tried to wrap my head around the exposure triangle before I even took my first shot. I wanted to be prepared. That's why I never actively used the AUTO mode of my D3200. I went straight to Aperture Priority. I only took a few shots in AUTO to compare them with shots I took in other modes and the AUTO shots always sucked. It's just as you said, f8, high ISO no matter how good the light is and a ridiculously fast shutter speed. If I had a camera with two selection dials I would probably always shoot in manual mode. But with just one dial that just isn't fast or comfortable enough.

I would love to learn how to shoot out of auto but wouldn't it make more sense to get the shot rather than spend 1 full minute trying to configure the settings/aperture/ISO in manual and eventually missing the shot?

Thanks to your videos I'm shooting Manual and loving it :) Thanks Froman.

Good video Jared, and you're absolutely right! I usually use Manual mode when I shoot sports, unless there are clouds that come and **** things up, then I go shutter priority with Auto ISO (and maybe a little exp comp). ... Wish I had Exposure Comp in manual mode (with AutoISO) though - Like the 1Dx is going to get in the next FirmwareUP..

I know professionals that use aperture priority with auto ISO. Works great.

DSLR - Manual (no need for full manual) Point and Shoot - Up to User Camera Phone (Smart Phone) - Auto this what I use with my cameras

Auto is satan.

I never touched auto :P I started in Aperture priory and then moved onto full Manual with no help only self-teaching myself for a year, i didn't even know a light meter existed until someone pointed it out, i wasted so much time guessing shutter speeds etc when there was a light meter to tell you aha

I have nothing to edit images on so I shoot JPEG. Sorry Fro.

Jared Polin , yes it was yelling but totally worth it. I mean it was really helpful for me too. Thanks.

I also got bad outdoor pictures at 1600 because I forced 1600 in the previous picture that I took indoors, but my camera kept this setting in memory

Am I wrong for getting mad at someone who calls herself a pro-photographer and yet she shoots in auto all the time? She shoots in auto all the time and doesn't want to practice manual. Her excuse "I don't like manual. It's to hard to learn." I told her "You should just get a point and shoot camera if that's the case for you." Long story short, I don't think its right to take paying gigs and charging people for pictures that are obviously shot in auto. To me nothing is wrong with shooting in auto but don't go charging people for obvious crappy work.

I never even bothered with Auto. I figured if I was going to drop a nice amount of money on a camera then I was going to force myself to learn how to use it

I just love These videos. I have a Canon Rebel T3i that I just got in August and I'm so green when it comes to using it. I have nNO idea what I'm doing so these help!! Thank you J!