There will be endless controversy on this topic. I teach a relatively informal class to seniors using everything from basic cell phones to dslrs and all in between and the way I approach this topic is: First and foremost-Get the Shot!! Photography is forever about fleeting moments; think of how many times you are presented with an absolute stable scene that will not change significantly over many minutes-fairly rare occurrence. I advise shoot 1st on Auto or Program handheld and then if the opportunity still exists move to tripod or other contemplative approaches to refine focus, exposure, depth of focus, viewpoint, etc. If one knows the history of Ansel Adams and his famous Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico; he was traveling with a large station wagon with a platform on the roof to which he would mount his tripod and 8 X 10 view camera when he happened upon that scene. Without benefit of today's technology he scrambled to get everything set up and could not find his light meter. He knew the exposure of a rising moon, set for that, and hoped to get a chance to bracket. Facing east with the setting sun lighting the gravestones in the foreground he made an exposure and while turning the film holder to get a second the sun went below the horizon and the magic was gone. He processed the negative carefully and luckily he was only about one-stop underexposed which he supplemented by toning the negative to get a bit more density and you know the result. A split second delay and he would have missed it completely. The point is take what the scene gives you and go from there-embrace the technology and it may reward you when you least expect it.

Pat

Actually P makes learning very easy. First, using P leaves you in charge, just not in ways you are used to.

But picture this, using any camera with what Nikon calls flexible program. Turn the dial so you are at the widest aperture that mode allows for the scene and take a picture. Check the image and if necessary adjust the exposure compensation. Now take a picture, turn the wheel one click and take another. Keep going through the entire range. You will have a set of properly (to your taste) exposed pictures at a variety of F-stop and Shutter speed combinations. Pretty good learning tool considering you did it all by turning one dial.

The beauty of digital is you don't need a notepad to record all the combinations. All the learning material is right there in the file.

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I do forensic work and use P almost exclusively, and with the exception of bright outside shots, I always use flash (either built-in or flash unit). I have to cover a lot of ground in a short time, averaging about 70 images per investigation. Flash gives me consistent color representation and usually over-rides flourencent or other existing light. For extreme closeup without shake or blur, I use manual focus and usually macro lenses. Again, always flash. For my personal work, I mostly use manual exposure and focus, but then I have more time to fiddle.