All About Camera Modes for Beginner Food Photographers

All About Camera Modes for Beginner Food Photographers

It can be daunting! You have got a new camera that is not a point and shoot.

Or a smartphone.

And suddenly there are a few more modes in which you can use to capture your food with.

You have heard that manual is the way to go, but it’s a little scary.

And what about Auto, Av, and Tv? What does that even mean?

Let’s take a look at that now, as well as what mode you should use.

Don’t forget the recap at the end for a quick summary.

What Are The Camera Modes?

The modes that DSLR cameras come with are:

Auto Mode, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual Mode.

If you’re seeing other modes like ‘landscape’, ‘night-time’ or ‘portrait’, it’s because that camera isn’t a professional model.

Professional DSLR’s only come with these four modes mentioned.

These modes allow us as the photographer to control certain settings. Like shutter speed, aperture and ISO to get the exposure we want.

Let’s look into each mode.

Auto Mode Will Automatically Set Your Settings

Can also sometimes appear as ‘P’ or program mode.

It is labelled ‘auto mode’ as the camera will automatically choose your settings.

It is deciding what your shutter speed and aperture should be based on how much light is coming into the camera.

You will have noticed if you ever used this mode, that as you move the camera around, the settings change.

And this is due to the fact that there are different amounts of light as you move the camera.

The camera is trying to balance the settings to get what it thinks is the optimum exposure.

It is really telling you…what to do.