If you’ve got an old digicam, then you probably have a mode dial with tons of different options. These are designed for you to use when you encounter different situations. More importantly, they optimize the camera to do different things. Join me to take a quick look at what these options do for you when shooting.
For more useful photography tips, click here.
The information below was originally published in an article I wrote back in 2009. And it’s being slightly tweaked and reworked for this piece. You’ll find dials like this on cameras such as the S95.
Always remember to switch your modes. You may forget to do this but if you don’t like your results, program your brain to do something about it.
Portrait
This mode is best for taking a portrait of someone. What it will do is focus on the person’s face (sometimes via Face Detection) and make everything else in the photo blurry or out of focus. The symbol looks like a person’s head usually.
Macro
This setting is for those really, really close up shots of things. Use this when you want to take pictures of bugs, the insides of flowers, small objects, or even your dog’s nose. It’s identified with a flower, usually.
Snow
This setting is best used in winter time when you’re out in the snow and there is plenty of it around for you to just snap photos of. Essentially what it’s doing is its fixing the colors of the scene. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a snowman or a snowflake.
Sunset
You should switch to this setting during this time of day or when the lighting is similar. This is also going to make the colors more vivid so that they pop while also making the scene more orange. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a sun over lines, meaning water of some sort.
Landscape
Basically, if there’s a large and vast scene that you want to shoot, use the landscape mode. Think about the great outdoors of some sort or cities. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a mountain within a frame.
Sports
Use this mode for when you’re taking photos of your kid playing soccer. Note that the quality of your image may decrease slightly though because the camera needs to change its settings to capture faster movements. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a person running.
Nighttime Scene
Hold your camera very steady while using this mode because it will take a long time to shoot. Use this when you’re basically shooting a landscape but at night. The flash won’t fire for this scene at all. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a city with the moon up.
Night Portrait
Think nighttime scene combined with portrait. The different is that in this one the flash will fire. You still need to hold very still as it will try to capture the background as well as your subject. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a person with the night sky behind them.
Party
Switch to this mode when you’re at a party and the lighting is all weird. Combine it with face detection for best results. It’s easily identified by the symbol of a party hat with confetti coming out.
Fireworks
Use this during the 4th of July when you’re shooting the fireworks up above. It can also give you some cool and wacky colors when shooting with it otherwise. It’s easily identified by the symbol of something that looks like fireworks in the sky.
One more very common mode is Kids/Pets. It’s easily identified by the symbol of either a dog, cat or kids. Take a wild guess what this is for?
