By John Tan

BRILLIANCE was what a friend Karry wanted in his pictures of the snow slopes of Rovaniemi, the home of Santa Claus.

Instead his snaps turned out dull and the snow looked grey at best.

I was tempted to give him the spiel about shutter speeds and aperture settings but I decided to spare him the details that enthusiasts take years to master.

Instead, I took him on a simpler tack, pointing him to the Scene or Subject Modes.

These pre-programmed modes in a digital camera are made for specific photographic circumstances - from portraits and landscapes to sunset and macro.

Based on the mode selected, the camera automatically sets the most suitable shutter speed and aperture setting, sometimes even the ISO and white balance.

Some may even activate the built-in flash.

Different models come with their own list of scene modes.

Some like the Olympus Stylus 720SW has 25 scene modes.

Check your camera to see if the modes are on the main mode dial or inside a Scene Mode menu.

Here is how to use the most common scene variations.

Note that many of them require the use of a tripod to avoid camera shake.

Sunset

The camera uses a white balance setting so that the camera does not think there is a red cast in the sky and instead preserves the rich colours of the sunrise or sunset.

Portrait

The most common mode for people and pets.

This makes the subject stand out by keeping the background out of focus.

To make the background more blurred, zoom in as much as possible to the subject.

The further away the background from the subject, the better.

Snow

Good to use at ski resorts and snowy mountains.

The camera adjusts the exposure and white balance to retain the brilliant whiteness of the snow.

Landscape / Scenery

This mode takes pictures of a wide landscape.

Using a small aperture setting, the camera will try to keep the most of the landscape sharp.

Night Scenery / Portrait

An extremely slow shutter speed means that you can make out the city skyline clearly against the night sky.

For night portraits, the camera uses flash to get a sharp and well-lit shot of the person in the foreground and a slow shutter speed to capture the nightscape in the background.

Make sure the person is within the flash range of 3m to 5m.

Action / Sports

Use it for fast-moving subjects.

The camera uses a fast shutter speed to freeze action so it is best taken in bright light.

If the subject is a water skier, chances are he will whizz by before you can get a good shot.

So decide where you want him shot and half press the shutter on a fixture like the ramp to pre-focus.

Press fully when the skier is in the frame.

Macro

Use it for taking close-up shots of small objects such as coins, flowers and insects.

Depending on the camera model, the lens can be brought very close to the subject.

Canon's SX10IS can go smack onto the subject itself.

The subject comes out sharp against a blurred background.

A tripod is a must.

This is the sixth of an eight-part series on digital photo-taking for newbies.

John Tan is a freelance writer

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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