Bracketing
Bracketing is a technique which is used for situations where the light situation is tricky. Basically, it involves taking three photos of same thing; one at the exposure the camera has set, then another photo slightly overexposed, then a final one that is underexposed. Most cameras have a setting that allows you to bracket automatically (check your manual for instructions on how to do this), although you may need to put the camera into burst mode (so it takes photos for as long as the shutter button is held down) for it to take the photos one after the other. However, you can also adjust the exposure manually, by taking a photo, then turning the dial to increase the shutter speed, and then turning it again to decrease the shutter speed. I find that the best results are from using the camera’s autobracket function, because this lets you choose exactly how much to over- and underexpose by, usually in increments of half a stop or a third of a stop, you can usually go as far as two or three stops on either side of the recommended exposure, and you don't need to change any settings between each exposure, the camera does it all.