Starting with View Modes I have done a drupal theme and as of right now am only working with teaser and full view modes.  Both of which I have themed in the node--product.tpl.php file
I am interested in learning view modes to create different,  fully customizable layouts for different pages and products. 

How and where to create a new view mode for a paticular node type ie. Node--product.tpl.php before themeing.  Is there a preferred module for this which doesn't limit themeing.
How and where to tell a given page ie. Page--front.tpl.php which view mode of a paticular node type to use.  Is there a module for this. As of now the product nodes appear under the content region. 

How and where to theme the html of a view mode. Even if it's a template override. Right now I have the two view modes themed in a photo if else statement. The "if" being the teaser and the "else" being the full node.
Any tutorials or videos that stand out for this?
You should take a look at Display Suite.  It makes easy work of most template modifications without having to create .tpl.php files.  It has an easy to understand method of managing View Modes.

From the above link:

Use custom view mode


Enable DS UI module.
Go to Administration > Structure > Display Suite > View modes (admin/structure/ds/view_modes)
Click "Add a view mode"
Enter a label &amp; define to which entities the mode will be made available
Click "Save"
Go to Administration > Structure > Display Suite (admin/structure/ds)
Click "Manage display" for the entity (e.g., "User") whose display you like to change
Choose the vertical tab "Custom display settings"
Enable the new view modes
Click "Save"
Flush all caches
Choose the custom view mode from the secondary tabs in the top of the page.