Zenith PhotoCourse

Part 3: Mode Dial
Frank explains the Mode Dial on your DSLR in this third part of our Zenith PhotoCourse

Welcome back to Zenith PhotoCourse. We do apologise first and foremost for the “long pause” of our course, as Mark and I have been busy with our assignments over the past few weeks. But let’s not get into that, shall we?
Right… let’s get on with our course then...

THE MODE DIAL

A typical Mode Dial on a DSLR.

First-time DSLR users will naturally shoot using ‘Auto’ mode on the mode dial (for those who don’t know what a mode dial is, it’s the large circular dial at the top left or top right of a DSLR, depending on the model or make of course).
To be honest, when I first got my DSLR way back then, and didn’t know a thing about photography, I did the same too, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of.
The Mode Dial allows you to choose from a variety of shooting modes. Although there are instructions telling you to choose a certain mode for a particular situation, you can also choose a mode that suits your liking and get creative.
The common modes on a typical Mode Dial are:

1. ‘Portrait’ mode:

This mode makes for a soft-looking image and produces more natural-looking skin tones. The camera will select the focus areas automatically.
This mode uses a wide aperture setting for a shallow depth of field, creating a sense of depth and makes your subject stand out while the background is blurry. The on-camera flash will pop out to create fill light to light up the subject accordingly.

2. ‘Landscape’ mode:

In this mode, the camera will select from medium to small aperture (f8 and above for larger depth of field) and will focus automatically while also increasing the saturation to make your images appear more punchy.
Because the camera selects a smaller aperture, the shutter speed will also be slower, so it’s highly recommended that you use a tripod to support your DSLR to prevent motion blur in your images.

3. ‘Close-up’ mode:

On a DSLR, this mode isn’t that different from the close-up ability of the camera. It mainly depends on the lens attached to your camera. For example, a macro lens allows you to get really close and create a reproduction ration of 1:1 (This mode is used for close-up shots of flowers, insects or any other small object).
The camera will automatically focus on the subject in the centre focus area while the pop-up flash illuminates the subject.
The camera will shoot at a medium aperture from f8 to f11 to give maximum depth of field (again, it is better to shoot with a tripod to avoid camera shake and blurriness).

4. ‘Sports’ mode:

This mode sets the fastest shutter speed, depending on the light level, to freeze movement, thus helping you to capture moving subjects. The camera will select a continuous shooting mode to allow you to capture images in sequences, following the actions that are going on.

5. ‘Night’ landscape:

The camera will focus automatically and cut down the shutter speed to allow more light to be captured, thus helping to obtain a desired exposure so as to produce stunning night landscape shots. Again, the use of tripod is recommended to prevent blur.

6. ‘Night’ portrait:

This setting allows the camera to focus automatically on your subject and the built-in flash will pop up to light up the subject while also helping to achieve a natural balance between the main subject and the background in portraits taken in low light conditions.

7. ‘P’ (Programmed Auto):

The camera will choose the aperture and shutter speed for optimal exposure. However, you still have some control. This setting is recommended for fast snapshots or in situations where there’s little time to adjust camera settings.
If you only use ‘Auto’ or other scene modes, then the ‘P’ mode is the perfect “next step” for you. The aperture and shutter speed will determined by your camera, so you don't need to worry about overexposed or underexposed shots. However, you still have some control such as choosing your point of focus, or perhaps you want to shoot with wide a large small depth of field, or fast shutter speeds to freeze action.

Note: In this mode, when you choose your aperture, your camera will choose the shutter speed for optimal exposure, or vice versa.

8. ‘A’/’Av’ (Aperture Priority):

In Aperture Priority, you choose the aperture between the minimum and maximum (min and max values depend on the lens you have attached on your DSPR) while your camera will select the shutter speed that will produce the optimal exposure. Small aperture (bigger f/-numbers) increases depth of field, bringing the subject and background into focus whereas wide aperture (smaller f/-numbers) softens the background and makes your main subject stands out.

Now, let us go deeper about depth of field (some people call it DOF). Depth of field is the distance to which the objects behind and in front of the focus point appear to be in focus.

- Large aperture (small f/-numbers) reduces depth of field (shallow depth of field), blurring objects behind and in front of the main subject.

Large aperture highlights the main subject while blurring the background.

- Small aperture (big f/-numbers) increase depth of field (large depth of field), bringing out details in the background and the foreground.

Small aperture brings out details of both the subject and the background and is perfect for landscape shots like this one of the Yosemite Park in the US.

So normally, shallow depth of field is generally used in portraits to blur out background details while large depth of field is used in landscape shots to bring the background and foreground into focus.

Note: Depth of field is also influenced by other factors such as the focal length of your lens and the focus distance.

Try it out:
Turn the Mode Dial to select A or Av, find a subject you want to shoot, then press the shutter release button half way until the focus point lights (and there’s a “beep” that comes along with it) up, and the autofocus function brings the subject into pin sharp focus and locks on the subject.
Next, turn your aperture dial (usually at the front of your right hand grip, depending on your camera model and make - some cameras have only one main command dial), press the exposure compensation button, usually the +/- icon near the shutter release button, and turn the main command dial at the same time while pressing that +/- button. While doing that, look through the view finder and you’ll notice that the number next to the "f" in the viewfinder changes. These are your aperture settings.
In this mode, the shutter speed is automatically selected by your camera, according to the aperture you selected. You'll notice that when the f/-number changes, the shutter speed changes accordingly as well.
This is a semi-auto mode, so don't worry bout over- or under- exposing (too bright or too dark) your shots. Bring out your camera, try shooting and experimenting using aperture values from f3.5 to f22, then compare the results. :)

9. ‘S’ or ‘Tv’ (Shutter Priority)

After experimenting with Aperture Priority mode, you'll find that Shutter Priority works in a somewhat similar way. The difference here is that when you choose a shutter speed of between 1/4000 s to 30 s, the camera will select the appropriate aperture to produce that perfect exposure for that perfect shot.
Remember though that shutter speed also determines whether you are able to hold the camera steady enough to get a sharp image or not. If the shutter speed is too slow that you can’t get the camera steady enough to take a shake-free shot, you’ll need to use a tripod. A fast enough shutter speed will help you freeze actions but slow shutter speeds will result in blurry images, especially if the subject is moving.

Slow shutter creates nice light trail effects such as the ones in the shots of the Eye On Malaysia (above) and cars zooming past near the overhead bridge outside Pavilion Kuala Lumpur (below).

Try it out:
Turn the mode dial to S or Tv, then turn the main command dial (You'll see that some numbers are changing in fractions of seconds and in seconds, that's the shutter speed). As you change the shutter speed, you'll also see that the aperture will be set automatically by the camera.
When you adjust the shutter speed, you'll see that aperture will change as well. At faster or slower shutter speeds, the aperture value indicated on the screen of your DSLR will either read HI or LO. This happens because the range of the shutter speed chosen is much greater that the number of aperture on most lenses. HI simply indicates that the image might be overexposed, and LO means that it’s underexposed. So when this happens, you'll need to select a faster or slower shutter speed to accommodate the lens aperture.

10. ‘M’ (Manual mode)

Just as its name is, this mode lets you set both the shutter speed and aperture manually, avoiding over- or under- exposure if you get it right. This mode allows you to be more creative when taking pictures compared to using the other modes. Most experienced photographers will stick to this mode for whatever it is that they are shooting.
You needn’t worry about this mode first. Learn how to master Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority and slowly but surely you’ll understand how to use this mode. :)

I guess that’s all I have to say about Mode Dial. Of course, if you do have any questions you’d like to ask about Mode Dial and other photography-related stuff, you’re welcome to email me at zenithenquiry@yahoo.com
Check back for some more Zenith PhotoCourse. Till then, cheers! - Frank