Today’s advance digital cameras basically perform automatically many of the tasks necessary for capturing a photo. The Auto mode or the Programmed mode is always a good option for beginners to shoot any scene. However, these modes don’t always produce up to the mark results. If you really want to utilize the power of your DSLR, you must learn and practice all the available modes.
Before discussing any of the available modes, we should understand exposure. Exposure is basically amount of light allowed to fall on photographic film (in case of a film SLR) or on image sensor (in case of a DSLR). The amount of light in a camera is controlled by setting the combination of Aperture and Shutter.
Auto (Point-and-Shoot) Mode
In Auto mode, it’s the camera that makes decision on what amount of light is allowed to fall on the sensor. Today’s digital cameras are intelligent enough to run their own algorithms to attain a best calculated aperture and shutter speed combination based on the projected scene. You don’t have to do anything more than to press the shutter release button. This method is also referred to as the “Point-and-shoot mode”.
Programmed Mode
Some cameras let you preprogram a number of settings like ISO, quality, white balance, aperture or shutter. These settings can be saved in a programmed folder which can be used later. Today’s cameras have prebuilt programmed modes based on the situation, you just have to turn the mode dial to the programmed settings and that is it.
Why to use Auto or Programmed Mode?
Using these modes cut shorts the time it takes for you to set the camera’s settings. Based on the ideal situation and available auto/programmed modes, you just turn the dial and press the shutter release button.
I used these modes when I was a beginner because after shooting l could compare the EXIF data and learned what settings did camera chose based on the projected scene. So, go ahead with these modes only if you are a beginner and study each and every setting that camera opted for the scene. In my public gallery at www.tweakdynamix.com, you can view EXIF data for each of the photos that I took.
How to Use the Camera in Auto/ Programmed Mode?
Well; these are the quickest mode to shoot. Just turn the mode dial to Auto/ Programmed mode based on the scene and press the shutter release button. The camera will use its sensors to make its best guess at most suited f-stop and shutter speed required for a good exposure.
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Tags: Aperture, Aperture Priority, Auto Mode, Camera, Depth Of Field, DOF, DSLR, EXIF, Exposure, f-stops, f/11, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/8, Focal Length, Image Sensor, iris, ISO, Landsacpe, Lens, Macro, motion, Night, Photography, Point-and-shoot, Programmed Mode, Protrait, Shallow Depth-of-field, Shooting Modes, Shutter, Shutter Priority, sports, tripod
Posted in: Understanding Shooting Modes
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