Lack of understanding photography transcends income levels.
In the '70s, I worked in a camera department in a department store. We’d get a bit of “farmer made good with the oil well” traffic, simple folk with a sudden order-of-magnitude increase in their wealth. I remember one person specifcally asking “for the best camera there is”, and pointing at the Nikon F2 in the case. I tried to deflect him to the recently-introduced Polaroid SX-70, but he was having none of it, wanted The Best Camera Available. Two weeks later, he returned with the kit and some of his photos, wanting to exchange for the SX-70.
Looking at his photos, P-mode would have been quite helpful.
Or Because of your experience, you recognise the usefulness of each tool?
I suppose P mode is a bit like A and S mode mixed? We get the choice: choose shutter speed or aperture, and the camera will adjust the other for the same EV.
It seems like a good idea! Confession: I don’t use P mode because I find it harder, not easier, than A mode!
Sometimes, I feel baffled by how get the pic I want and, nothing to loose, switch to AUTO. And I should probably remember to try it more often!
About 23 years ago I switched from earning my money by being a photographer to teaching photography. I always tell my students that while I am teaching them how to use their cameras in manual mode because it is the best way to learn that at the end of the course I have no problems if they shoot in P mode or any other semi-automatic mode like AV or TV, but that I am a failure as a teacher if they use auto mode and they should ask for a refund.
The logic behind that is that P is still a creative mode where we can adjust exposure by EV compensation and change color through WB. Also we decide if we want flash or not. But on many Nikons and Canons all these creative options are non-existent once we select Auto.
I would recommend reaching for P mode before Auto.
On my Pentax cameras I even sometimes use the scene modes like landscape because I am telling the camera what my subject is and it sets aperture, shutterspeed, picture style to suitable settings for that scene. My Pentax still allows me to use EV compensation and flash if I want. My Nikons and Canons don’t give this same creative control if I select the scene mode, some versions of even Nikon and Canon do, but not the ones I own.
That quote made me realize a tidbit about cameras. I said before that I don’t use P, but A. But that’s actually not true, since I’m using a Fuji camera. P on Canikon is a full-auto mode where adjustments are still just one flick of a dial. That’s all-A in Fujispeak: everything is automatic, but adjustments are just one flick of a dial. (On some Fujis, there actually is a fully automatic toggle as well, which disables all dials. I never use that.)
So I guess, I take back what I wrote earlier. Actually, I use P all the time.