Personally, for birds and general stuff, I tend to leave the camera in P mode and adjust exposure by using exposure compensation as necessary. I just keep an eye on the shutter speed - when there's plenty of light I might swap to AP to try and get a bit more DOF. I seem to remember many years ago struggling with shutter and aperture combinations when I first got a film SLR and it did suddenly click into place.
No need to make things over complicated though. A friend of mine has a friend who was a professional photographer for many years and very well known in her field. She now just takes photos for herself and my friend, with new DSLR in hand, stood beside her as she prepared to take few frames. Wanting some expert advice from one of the old school, my friend asked what settings she was using. She was met with a puzzled look and the reply 'I'm using programme of course'!
|