What is my digital camera's "program mode"?

What is my digital camera's "program mode"?

Mark Comon (Vice President, Paul's Photo, Torrance, CA) gives expert video advice on: What does my digital camera's "manual exposure" mode allow me to do?; How do I change the shutter speed on my digital camera?; Which is worse to overexpose or underexpose pictures on my digital camera? and more...

The exposure modes on your camera allow us to control how we set the light. The basic mode is the “p” mode (program mode) and what I tell people is if in doubt “pm” the camera. Which means use the p-mode; fully program, the camera sets the f-stop and shutter speed in determining the exposure. The advantage of p-mode is you don't need to know anything. It's just a little bit above the green auto or “idiot proof” mode. In p-mode, the camera sets stop and shutter speed and you as the photographer have no control of the action stopping ability or depth of field of the picture you create.