Within the Basic Zone (and what used to be called the Image Zone) on Canon DSLRs are the ‘picture’ modes. These fully automatic modes are helpful for beginners, as your DSLR will take full control over the exposure, focus and other settings to help you get a good shot. However, you’ll be working within restricted parameters, with little control over your results: your camera will focus on what it wants (usually what’s closest in the scene), will expose averagely for the scene or subject, may not set the best aperture or shutter speed for a shot, and won’t know if you’re using a tripod, and so may set an unnecessarily high ISO, creating image noise; and, on some cameras, you’ll be restricted to shooting JPEGs rather than raw images. These…