Don't touch that dial!

Don't touch that dial! The mode dial that is. Set it on A and forget it.
The white A not the green one. The green one is for hopeless cases that think the camera is smarter than they are. So just turn the dial to the white A and stay there.
Unless you want to go to M for manual. I almost always shoot in aperture-priority unless I'm being lazy or I'm shooting in manual mode. Shooting in aperture priority automatically forces me think about what I'm doing and gives me fine artistic control over the picture I am trying to create. Subject matter makes little difference. If I want to freeze motion I usually go to ISO 1600 and set the aperature as wide open as possible. That automatically forces the camera to go to a high shutter speed. For landscapes I go to a small aperture (high f number) for as much depth of field as possible.

One more thing, on one of my photo outings I once heard the remark that if you are shooting at normal camera angles (standing and just pointing the camera at the subject) then you are wrong.
At the time there was too much going on for me to pursue that subject with the person that made the statement but it has always stuck with me.
If you are taking a picture like everyone else, then your picture will look like everyone else's. Makes sense.
The train depot at Rhyolite, Nevada is a good example.
When I walked up to it my heart sank because there was no way to get a really decent shot of the fine building.

A big ugly chain link fence surrounded the building and then if that was not enough, the Bureau of Land Mismanagement threw power lines over the building just to make sure you can't get a decent image. 

I went and got my old truck and climbed on the roof of the cab for this picture.

                                                                              

People thought I was crazy, and they are probably right but I think I got a much better picture.

I hate fences and power lines. Sometimes I will walk 50ft or more to get past a power line.

Yeah, I strayed a bit from aperture-priority shooting but the point is to get a beautiful picture instead of an ordinary one.

Let me know what you think, or if you have a suggestion.
Or leave a comment below.