Automatic mode
Auto mode tells your camera to use it’s best judgement to select shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, focus and flash to take the best shot that it can.
Portrait mode
Portrait mode works best when you’re photographing a single subject so get in close enough to your subject (either by zooming in or walking closer) so that your photographing the head and shoulders of them).
Macro mode
Macro mode lets you move your closer into your subject to take a close up picture.
Landscape mode
Macro mode lets you move your closer into your subject to take a close up picture.
Sports mode
It is ideal for photographing any moving objects including people playing sports, pets, cars, wildlife etc. Sports mode attempts to freeze the action by increasing the shutter speed.
Night mode
Night mode is for shooting in low light situations and sets your camera to use a longer shutter speed to help capture details of the background but it also fires off a flash to illuminate the foreground.
Movie mode
This mode extends your digital camera from just capturing still images to capturing moving ones.
Aperture Priority Mode
mode where you choose the aperture and where your camera chooses the other settings (shutter speed, white balance, ISO etc) so as to ensure you have a well balanced exposure.
Shutter Priority Mode
Shutter priority is very similar to aperture priority mode but is the mode where you select a shutter speed and the camera then chooses all of the other settings. You would use this mode where you want to control over shutter speed (obviously)
Program Mode
cameras that have both, Program mode is similar to Auto but gives you a little more control over some other features including flash, white balance, ISO etc.
Manual Mode
In this mode you have full control over your camera and need to think about all settings including shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, flash etc.