Venturing beyond the automatic modes on your camera can be incredibly rewarding — whether it's achieving that beautiful background blur (bokeh), freezing a subject mid-air, or nailing the perfect exposure in a tricky lighting situation.
Looking down at the top of your camera, all those dials, switches, and buttons can feel overwhelming at first. This guide is here to demystify the main shooting modes and get your creative instincts firing.
On the mode dial located near the shutter release, you'll find a series of letters and icons. The three modes every photographer should become familiar with are the two assisted-manual modes — Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority — and Full Manual, which gives you complete control over shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.
Assisted Manual Modes
Aperture Priority Mode (A or Av)
Good for controlling depth of field in changing light conditions
Aperture Priority is a semi-automatic mode where you choose the aperture, and the camera automatically calculates the remaining settings — shutter speed, ISO, and so on — to achieve a correct exposure.
This mode is ideal when you want to control depth of field (the range of distance in front of and behind your subject that appears in focus). A large f-stop number like f/11 gives you a wide depth of field, great for landscapes, but lets in less light — so the camera will select a slower shutter speed to compensate. At the other end of the scale, a shallow depth of field at f/2.8 creates beautiful background separation and that sought-after blurred background look.
Tip: A good starting point for shallow depth of field portraits is f/5.6. Going below f/5.6 increases the risk of being too shallow — a slight mis-focus could leave parts of the face out of focus.
Shutter Priority Mode (S or Tv)
Good for capturing motion — fast or slow
Shutter Priority works similarly to Aperture Priority, but here you choose the shutter speed and the camera calculates the rest. This mode is particularly useful when photographing moving subjects. A shutter speed of 1/250s or faster will freeze a runner in motion, while a slow shutter speed of 1/3s will blur movement — perfect for silky smooth waterfalls or light trails in fireworks (use a tripod to avoid blurring the entire frame).
Tip: A useful rule of thumb for handholding a camera is to keep the shutter speed above 1/(focal length of the lens). For example, when shooting with a 50mm lens, aim for a shutter speed of at least 1/50s to avoid camera shake.
Full Manual Mode
Manual Mode (M)
Complete control of all exposure settings
In Manual mode, you have full control over shutter speed, aperture, and ISO — giving you complete creative authority over the final image. This is particularly useful when you want to deliberately over- or under-expose a scene. For example, brightening a portrait by one stop can make skin tones glow and appear more flattering. Manual mode can feel daunting at first, but your camera provides a very helpful tool to guide you: the light meter.
The Light Meter
The light meter is a small sensor that measures the light reflected back through the lens. It appears as a scale running from -2 to +2, with zero in the centre — this is your exposure bias indicator. It tells you whether your current settings will result in an under- or over-exposed image. Ideally, the indicator should rest at 0 when pointed at the area you want to correctly expose.
Tip: If you're photographing someone in front of a bright window, point the centre of the frame at your subject, adjust your settings until the meter reads 0, then reframe to include the window in your composition.
These are just some of the ways that moving beyond automatic can open up a world of creative possibilities. For a deeper dive into the fundamentals of exposure, explore more photography guides on the Ted's Cameras blog.