Was on a nature hike recently. Wanted to capture things like birds, flowers, naturescapes, etc. Full tree canopy and shaded at times, wide open and sunny at other. Was a guided hike and I didn’t want to hold up the group. Ended up flipping it to Auto instead of fiddling with shutter/aperture. How does an experienced photographer handle that scenario? I feel so dirty for using it on Auto.
I think that’s totally reasonable. I always felt the same way while photographing events.
That said, you should pay attention, and sometimes you may decide to switch back to manual and adjust from the automatic settings and retake a shot, to achieve something specific.
Also, shutter-priority and aperture-priority can be a great middle option. I often did that for weddings, which are often in dark (sorry, “romantically lit”) reception halls. I use shutter-priority to make sure I keep things at a reasonable place for hand-holding the camera, set my ISO based on ambient light, and let my aperture and flash float automatically to accommodate slightly different lighting in different areas. Trying to shoot “100% manual” just to prove I’m a “real photographer” would mean worse images in most cases.