Hi Duncan. I certainly didn’t want to give you the impression it was all too much. The reason I am taking your course is to learn how to become comfortable enough with Manual settings to use them whenever I am composing a shot. I am happy enough to use Auto for the fleeting snap but the whole point is to be as creative and personal as I can be. It is just that sometimes there is a lot to work on with all the settings and I find occasionally my concentration on that gets in the way of the creative aspect. So I am just trying to make excuses for why my shots leave a lot to be desired in that area. I know I am better at the creative side than my assignment work shows and as I become more familiar with the incredible amount of variations in an SLR, that will return. I do like to use Aperture Priority sometimes and that is almost Auto and I am (pleasantly) surprised that you use Auto sometimes.
Regards
Pete