There are two zones on the mode dial, the basic zone and the creative zone. Here is a picture of the mode dial on the camera I use.
The basic zone is made up of seven options of scene modes, Green Program/Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, Night/Party, and No Flash.
The first is Green Program/Auto and the camera controls everything and is known as the “mindless” mode.
Portrait is another mode in the basic zone, in this mode the camera chooses a large aperture to create a blurry background.
If you want a sharp foreground and background you can choose the Landscape mode and the camera will choose a smaller aperture.
The Macro mode emphasizes a faster shutter speed, similar to the portrait mode and is good for close-ups. This mode felt the most natural for me to use.
In the Sports mode the camera picks a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.
For dark scenes the Night/Party mode uses flash and allows a slow shutter-wan about camera shaking.
The last basic mode is No Flash which is basically Auto mode but can be used in places that do not allow flash.
The other part of the mode dial is the creative zone or the “big four”. In these modes you make some key decisions and the camera helps with the rest. This zone is where you take control and creative photography begins. There are four modes in this zone, Program shift mode (P), Time Value/Shutter Priority (Tv), Aperture Value/Aperture Priority (Av), and Manual (M). Sometimes the basic modes don’t get the picture exactly how you want it or you can use them if you just want to be more creative.
The “training wheels” of the creative zone is the Program shift mode. In this mode you can turn the main dial to shift the combination auto with a suggestion and the camera picks the shutter and aperture for you.
In the Time value or Shutter priority mode yous can set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture. This made is good for taking action pictures when you want to freeze motion or blur motion
The mode that you can use to chose the aperture while the camera sets the shutter speed is Aperture value or Aperture priority mode. You can use this mode if controlling the depth of field of field, or how blurred the backgroung is, is what you are focusing on. This mode is good for portraits.
The final mode in the creative zone is Manual mode. In this mode you are in control of everything. You need to set the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.