I think it’s important to state at the very outset of this blog that I am neither technically-minded nor particularly artistic. The main reasons for my current foray into basic photography are that I get bored quickly and that I enjoy taking ‘pretty’ pictures of things and embarrassing pictures of people. Therefore when my boyfriend very generously bought me a Canon EOS 400D Digital camera. I was (and remain) quite overwhelmed by the alarming array of possible settings on the camera. Whilst my boyfriend has a natural connection to all things technical (akin, perhaps, to a ‘computer whisperer’) and has demonstrated an uncanny ability to make the most of all that the camera has to offer, I have pretty much stuck to the ‘basic modes‘ on the camera. However, this highlights one of the great things about this camera; due to the presence of 6 ‘basic modes‘ anyone can pick up the camera and take some amazing quality photographs without having to think about the aperture and/or shutter speed etc.
What are the available basic modes?
These are the 6 basic modes.
Fully automatic shooting (green rectangle symbol on dial)
This is probably the mode to start off with if you are a beginner like me - the camera does all the thinking for you. You cannot change any settings - the only form of extra control you can exert in this setting is if you turn the camera to manual focusing, which means you can adjust the lens to get the image into focus as you want it. If a flash is needed it always seems to fire in this mode - I haven’t found a way to turn it off in fully automatic.
Portrait mode (head symbol on dial)
As the name implies this mode is intended to be used to shoot portraits of people. I haven’t really used this mode yet, but according to the Canon manual it “blurs the background to make the human subject stand out. It also makes flesh tones and the hair look softer than with the full auto mode”. I thought I’d try this out this afternoon - below is a comparison:
Portrait Mode Portrait
Fully Automatic Mode Portrait
Hmm… it’s all down to personal preference of course, but I definitely prefer the portrait taken in fully automatic mode - the skin tones are much warmer. The background didn’t blur very much in Portrait Mode because I didn’t position the subject far enough away from it; I will try out that full effect another time, but you can see the difference if you look carefully at the fencing and the back branches of the tree.
Landscape Mode (mountain symbol on dial)
This mode can be used to take photographs of wide scenery. I recently went on holiday to Scotland where there were breathtaking views around every corner and I found this mode to be very useful. According to the Canon manual “greens and blues become more vivid and sharp than with full auto mode”; I can’t say I noticed this, but we did take some spectacular photos using this mode (though of course due largely to nature itself rather than our camera skills!). The feature I most like about this setting is that the flash never fires and everything in the photo will be in focus whether near or far. An example of a photo I took using this mode:
Macro/Close-Up Mode (flower symbol on dial)
This is used to take close-up photos of flowers and other small things. It is the setting I have probably used most so far since I live on the outskirts of London, which is somewhat lacking in the dramatic natural landscapes department. Plus I really enjoy going out into my garden or to a park and focussing on the little things that interest me that I would probably have completely overlooked before I started photographing more regularly. I do not have a specific macro lens, but still really like some of the photos I have taken on this setting, for example:
Sports Mode (running man symbol on dial)
This mode sets up the camera to capture action shots without blur. Recently the Tour de France came through my home town and I used this setting and was thrilled with the results:
These cyclists were obviously going very very fast - all of them passed within about 15-20seconds, but in that time I managed to take 4 decent photos of them using Sports mode! In this particular photo the camera’s Sports Mode selected a fast shutter speed (1/800th second) and a relatively wide aperture (F-number 5).
My mother also took photos as the Tour de France cylists passed, but she did so using her Olympus Superzoom 120 - a point-and-click non-digital camera. The difference in the photo quality is startling and really illustrates just how good the Canon EOS 400D Sports Mode really is. Here are a couple of the photos taken using the Olympus Superzoom 120:
Night Portrait Mode (person with star symbol on dial)
This is apparently for shooting portraits of people at night. I’ve not used it yet.
No-Flash Mode (flash symbol with line through it on dial)
Selecting this mode means that the flash will never fire. This is really good if you are visiting somewhere where they don’t allow flash photography.
Note: If you liked the look of any of these photos there are plenty more on my flickr photo page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateharris
