I am as close as I'm going to get to photographing a sun dog, the atmospheric phenomenon that consists of a pair of bright spots on either side on the sun created by light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Sadly, I'm in the car and without my camera.

Thinking I can still make the shot, I race up the driveway of my studio near Robinson, IL, run inside, throw a card in the camera and head outside.

I set my ISO to 100, ignoring all other settings, and bang off a quick shot.

Well that was a little disappointing. That is not what my eyes saw - at all.

If you've ever tried to capture a bright sky photo in auto mode or, like me, without checking out your settings, this may be what you discovered in your viewfinder, a hot mess.

So what happened?

The camera's built-in light meter tends to compensate for objects in the photo that are either too light or too dark. In this case, it tried to compensate for the dark trees. In the process, my beautiful blue sky turned white. I would venture to say even the trees don't look so hot, though they are visible. 

Thankfully, despite my haste to get the image, I did a test shot and immediate saw my error.

Two quick settings adjustments later, I was able to capture the photo below without even moving my feet.

Whoa! Big difference.

Do I care you can't see the details in the trees? Not this time.

Switching out of your camera's auto mode can be daunting, but with a little practice, you'll be surprised at what you find.

Take the leap today!