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Is there a website that explains what camera settings to set for different types of pictures?

I just bought a Canon SX20IS and I’m really excited for it to be delivered today. I’m really new into photography and while I know that the SX20 is not a DSLR, there are a ton of customizable settings for the camera and from what I’ve heard, it’s best to take custom pictures than use the auto settings. So, does anyone know if there’s a website that shows different scenarios? Such as, I want to take a picture outside on a cloudy day of a dark building, or I want to take a picture of the moon, I’m surround by light. I’d like something that lays out a bunch of scenarios and describes what settings to set such as ISO, aperture, etc. Thanks for your help!

I wouldn’t know any direct clear websites, but I got most of what I know from the net, so I’ll just give you a short summary. I know by experience that if you go search the net, it mostly won’t be the basics and therefore hard to understand for a beginner.

Settings focus around Exposure. Exposure is the amount of light the camera is ‘exposed’ to when taking a picture. Basically, that must be enough to get a clear shot. Too much (overexposed) will result in very, very light pictures and too little (underexposed) will result in very dark pictures.

Exposure mainly depends on three things; aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. There must be a neat balance between those three to get a well exposed picture, but they’ve all got their advantages and disadvantages so each different situation you must judge what settings to use again. What automatic does, is let the camera judge what settings to use. That’s why manual is better.

ISO: how sensitive the ‘film’ of the camera is to light. You can imagine that when it’s very sensitive to light, less light is needed to get a well exposed picture. The downside of a high ISO value (400 and up) is that there’s also a high so-called ‘noise’ level. Basically, the picture looks very pixelated and less sharp and detailed. The difference:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Dynax_7D_iso100.jpg ISO100
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Dynax_7D_iso3200.jpg ISO3200

Shutter Speed; probably the easiest to understand. If the shutter closes fast, not a lot of light is able to come in. But, for example in sport photography, when the shutter is open a long time while a car or sportsman moves, you’ll get double images. If you take a picture of a hand which is waving, and the shutter speed is too low (it takes a longer time for the shutter to close), you’ll probably get two or three hands in the picture, all very ghost like. If the shutter speed is high though, the hand ‘freezes’ somewhere in the air.

Aperture; how big the lensopening is. The bigger the lensopening, the more light it let’s through in the same about of time. Compare it to water through a funnel, if you will. It’s measured in f-stops, and each stop higher let’s through half the amount of light. The reason this is important, is that the size of the lensopening also effects the angle in which a picture can be taken = effects on the depth of the picture. The lower the f-stop, the bigger the opening, the more light it lets through, but also how less sharp the photograph in the background is.
Compare:

http://www.hp.com/canada/portal/hho/digital_photography/take_better_photos/tips/images/depth_5_275.jpg

http://www.hp.com/canada/portal/hho/digital_photography/take_better_photos/tips/images/depth_4_275.jpg

So basically, when you want a vague background and sharp object: low aperture.
When you go out on a cloudy day, that means there’s less available light = light sensitivity higher (ISO higher).
The moon would just be zooming in, and good lighting. Zooming in reduces the sharpness, so to not further reduce the sharpness of the picture: low ISO. You need to compensate for the exposure though, and the moon’s not going to move, so if you can keep your hands steady use a low shutter speed.

It’s all thinking and compensating. If there’s a lot of light available, it’s easier to choose what kind of settings you want, but if you’re photographing under dark circumstances, make sure the pictures aren’t underexposed.

Digital Camera Tips : What is ISO in Cameras?