All cameras have a mode dial. On most cameras it is the main dial on top of your camera, probably on the opposite side of your shutter. It maybe a little intimidating at first but don’t let it intimidate you.
You can start with the P, which is Program. There are actually two places you can start. You can start full auto or P. They are very similar. P stands for Program and it’s going to give you automatic exposure. You can still be, somewhat, creative. We’ll go into more detail but to just start shooting pictures and experimenting, you start on P.
After P, there is TV mode on Canon or simply S on Nikon. This is your shutter priority. It can get a little confusing, but just think of it as control. You have control over your shutter speed and your camera is going to set the aperture for you and probably expose the photograph.
The next mode you might want to play with is AP on Canon or “A” on Nikon. This is the Aperture Priority mode. Now, you’re going to select the aperture, and the camera will select the shutter speed for you.
Aperture Priority will allow you to select the aperture, or the amount of light that you’re going to let in to expose the sensor. So think of it as a hole. The larger the hole, the smaller the number. If the hole is the size of a baseball, you have a large aperture, so your aperture may be a small number like 2.8. If you have a hole the size of a pin, you’re going to have a small aperture like f/22. You’ll let less light in.
So the value to that is, when you want to blur backgrounds out, you want to open the aperture. You want to open the aperture to blur the background. If you need to have multiple subjects in focus or in landscape photography and you want everything in focus, like a point-and-shoot, you’ll have a very small aperture.
A point and shoot camera, such as a disposable camera, has a fixed aperture of around f/32. It keeps everything in focus.
The next setting is “M” for manual exposure. Now, when you get to manual exposure, you can consider yourself an accomplished photographer. You’re going to adjust the shutter speed, the aperture and the exposure all by yourself. This is a fun setting for experimenting too.