David, shooting in manual is not necessarily a badge to wear. Manual has a great place in shooting, and one certainly needs to master it, but not at the expense of missing a shot.
Just this morning, I was shooting an add that involved CA. poppies, mixed with some purple flowers. I realized there were some really pretty butterflies landing on the purple flowers, and would be a pretty fleeting moment. I was shooting auto focus, otherwise, full manual. I knew since I was shooting into the sun, my setting would blow the shot. So guess what I did? That's right, I know perfectly well where my little green square is, and on it, my camera knows exactly what to do. So I took a half a dozen shots on auto, and they where gone. I them but it back on manual, and went about composing my poppy shots, right where I had left of, thirty seconds earlier.
My point, practice mastering your manual shooting, it's a great skill to have. Your camera has a lot of capability, eventually you need to master them all, as they are all equally important in photography.
My advice is use the mode that works to YOUR advantage, and sometimes it's full Auto. No shame in using auto and getting a shot, as opposed to struggling with a shot on manual and blowing the shot, and it's gone, forever.
Not everything is landscape, and still life, those are easy on any mode, but to know what to use and when and land the shot.
I guess I didn't really give you any advice, but it's what I live by, photographically speaking. Good luck with your manual shooting. ;-)
SS

My goal when I started out in July was to be able to shoot in Manual Mode in order to have complete control over my D7100. Now that I understand, somewhat, I am finding myself switching to Aperture very often and even Shutter Speed once in a while but, never in Auto. There are many great photographers within UHH and I find myself wondering how each of you shoot or your mindset regarding Modes. I do use AFC mostly and back button focusing. It bothers me that, while I understand the triangle, I cannot seem to master only shooting in Manual. Please share your thoughts.

My goal when I started out in July was to be able to shoot in Manual Mode in order to have complete control over my D7100. Now that I understand, somewhat, I am finding myself switching to Aperture very often and even Shutter Speed once in a while but, never in Auto. There are many great photographers within UHH and I find myself wondering how each of you shoot or your mindset regarding Modes. I do use AFC mostly and back button focusing. It bothers me that, while I understand the triangle, I cannot seem to master only shooting in Manual. Please share your thoughts.

Why don't I shoot totally manual? I did shoot totally manual when I shot film. However, as I've said, I choose what mode is most important, shutter or aperture priority, plus I select the ISO that will choose the most appropriate all around "triangle." For instance, If I've selected a shutter speed and I don't like the aperture that is coming up, I can adjust the aperture by changing the ISO. However, I still like the choice of selecting the shutter speed that I want. I guess that I could do the same thing in manual mode, but I have actually found that my photos come out better my using the other modes.

My goal when I started out in July was to be able to shoot in Manual Mode in order to have complete control over my D7100. Now that I understand, somewhat, I am finding myself switching to Aperture very often and even Shutter Speed once in a while but, never in Auto. There are many great photographers within UHH and I find myself wondering how each of you shoot or your mindset regarding Modes. I do use AFC mostly and back button focusing. It bothers me that, while I understand the triangle, I cannot seem to master only shooting in Manual. Please share your thoughts.

My goal when I started out in July was to be able to shoot in Manual Mode in order to have complete control over my D7100. Now that I understand, somewhat, I am finding myself switching to Aperture very often and even Shutter Speed once in a while but, never in Auto. There are many great photographers within UHH and I find myself wondering how each of you shoot or your mindset regarding Modes. I do use AFC mostly and back button focusing. It bothers me that, while I understand the triangle, I cannot seem to master only shooting in Manual. Please share your thoughts.

I think there are two different factors: determining the EV and picking the settings to achieve that exposure.

Some photographers can look at a scene and know the EV, but I have not developed that skill, and I'm okay with that. I use the camera meter to determine the EV, and I have taken the time to learn its limitations, when to use the spot meter or exposure compensation instead of matrix metering. Others use a light meter. I don't think any of the three is better than the others, it only matters if it meets the photographer's needs accurately.

As for the settings, I set the ISO and use aperture priority more than 90% of the time, and manual the rest. That lets me set two of the three parameters on the exposure triangle, and I keep an eye on what the camera selects for the third. If I used auto ISO, I would probably use shutter priority or manual more, but I haven't trusted it, or understood how it could be used. Instead, I set the ISO based on the overall light, 100 if possible, 400-800 if I need a little more, and 1600-3200 if the situation needs it. Since I usually shoot with the aperture wide open or close to it, setting the aperture is more important to me than the shutter speed, even with action shots. If there is enough light, I may stop down based on the DoF goals. Then the camera sets the shutter speed, usually within a stop or two, based on the other settings, and I live with the results.