S2IS - help for a newbie! Getting clear, razor sharp, colorful shots?

Okay, so I've had this S2IS camera for almost a year and I can't get it right. My shots are blurry, dull,either washed out with too much light or dark with not enough light. I switch between P mode, SCN mode, and Av and Tv modes....I don't know what works right, they all turn out bad. I am trying to take pics of the kids outside, daylight as well as sunset shots (to capture a "glow" in their faces), not too high action shots here- just capturing their faces sharply, including the colors around them. Can anyone give me some settings to put the camera at all the time in order to get this right? I need help understaning the metering function (which one to use? The one with the box with the dot in the middle, or just the plain empty box?) and slow synchro. How does one "open up the lens"? Any suggestions would be really appreciated!!

what's the exif data for this picture?

IS) 200
Pmode, 1/20 F3.2 No flash, cloudy

1/20th sec shutter speed? Well, there you go. That explains your blurry image; motion blur. If you're going to be using such a slow shutter speed, you should have the camera on a tripod. And your subject should be motionless since even a tripod will not help if the subject moves. You should try to increase your availabe light or use a flash so that you can use a faster shutter speed.

Try setting the camera to 1/100 shutter, ISO 100, 3.2F stand back 8ft, zoom in and use a fill flash.

Thanks....Okay now my issue isfinding which mode will let me adjust all those....in some modes, f-stop is not available to adjust. Thanks for the help...I will try this

My shutter speed is automatically changing when I hold down the shutter...I set it to 1/100 and it goes to 1/6 ??

Use Manual mode and increase your ISO if you need to. Auto won't cut it.

check and see if 'safety shift' is enabled. if so, then disable it.