Understanding The Basics Of Photography
As we have started a free and complete Beginner course for understanding the basics of Photography and this post is going to be the 3rd post in the series, so I liked to get this course done in steps and with very different topics related to camera and photography, so that our new beginner photographers get it all right.
Or if you are completely new to SIPTium, so you must check out the previous posts related to this course here:
A Guide To Understanding Camera Modes
To understand what those P, S, M, A, Sports, Portrait or Auto mode means on the dial on a camera, you must be needing a camera in this case to better experiment yourself and get the science behind those options.
Most of the time these dial options might be very confusing for a beginner photographer and I am saying this just because I have gone through this situation but you should not worry about it because I am gonna explain it fully, justifying the purpose of all of these options.So, let's start with
Auto Mode
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| Camera Modes Dial |
As obvious from its name, this is the setting where a camera does all of its work by itself.Cameras are programmed well to analyze everything in a situation and accordingly, it sets all the settings for you like the shutter speed or the ISO etc.This option gives the photographer no control over the camera and it is recommended for beginners to use this option rather than not getting anything out of the camera and throwing it out in junk.
Off-Flash Auto Mode
The above Auto mode only works with the in-camera Flash being ON.This option is also automatic but with the Flash being OFF.This is the option on the dial with the icon, a lightning bolt and a line over it showing no flash.
Scene Modes
The scene modes under the text SCENE are for a lot of different purposes.Yes, they are also automatically adjusted by the camera but they each give you a choice to select one of the options according to the scene situation in which you are going to take a picture.For example, you are shooting sports so you must turn the dial onto the Sports Mode, likewise for shooting people, you can choose the portrait mode and etcetera.
Here is the list of the scene modes and their uses:
1-The icon with a woman wearing a hat is the Portrait Mode and it is used to shoot portraits of people.
2-The icon with mountains is Landscape Mode which is used to shoot Landscapes or wide areas.
3-The icon with the child is for taking snaps of children, thereby it is called Child Mode.
4-The icon with the Sprinter is the Sports Mode which is better to take shots of fast moving objects,
5-The icon with the flower is Macro Mode which is used to take close up shots.
These can be very useful in terms of taking close-to-the-right shots with your camera if You are a beginner.
Effects Mode
This mode is actually a bit different from the others.There are a lot of effects options which can be used to give an effect of your choice to the shot.These effects include:
1-Selective Colour,
which allows you to select one color and only that color will be picked up by the camera while everything else in the image will be black and white.See it in the picture.
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| Selective Colour Photography |
2-The Miniature Effect makes a soft frame around the center which is sharply focused.
Well, there are a lot more than just the two above but those are not necessary but you are suggested to surely check them out and experiment with those to learn some of them by yourself.And, yes, you can take this task as your Homework.
Manual Modes
Manual Modes consist of 4 basic modes that give you fully, partially and partly control over your camera.So, let us get deep in these because I HIGHLY recommend you to switch from Auto to Manual mode because your camera is not smart like a human.Most of the times, it won't be able to get the right shot like it may take a photo with motion blur while you are shooting sports or may raise up the ISO in order to properly expose the image but at the end, you get an image with a lot of image noise.So for this purpose, you should consider switching to Manual Mode now.
The 4 basic Manual Modes are;
1-M mode(Manual Mode)
M mode or Manual Mode.It gives full control to the user allowing him/her to adjust the Shutter speed, the aperture or the ISO to take any kind of image he/her wants.Using this mode, you can do a number of photography tricks like Light Painting or High-Speed Photography.
2-A mode(Aperture Priority)
The aperture priority allows partly control.You will be able to adjust the aperture size or the f-numbers while the camera will automatically adjust the Shutter Speed to compensate the Exposure.It can be used to shoot Macro or Landscapes.
3-S mode(Shutter Priority)
The Shutter priority mode also gives partly control.You will only be able to adjust the Shutter Speed will the camera will automatically adjust the other two factors compensating the exposure.It can be great for shooting fast moving objects.
4-P mode(Program Mode)
The Program Mode gives very little control.It is more like an automatic mode but it is designed so that you can adjust either Shutter Speed or Aperture But only one at a time.It is great for taking sudden shots or a series of images.
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