Articles
Take Great Photos With Your Digital Point and Shoot Camera
By Burt Cunningham
Digital point and shoot cameras on the market today are very sophisticated and capable of taking really nice pictures. We can make nice photographs for our families with a minimum of effort. It just takes a little thought and some testing.
• First take a look at your owner’s manual. It tells you what the different modes and functions of your camera are and how to use them.
• Next, take some pictures using your program or auto mode and trying different ISO speed settings and write down which were taken at what speed. Most small cameras will take good pictures with settings up to ISO 400. Do your own testing though. If you like pictures taken at a higher ISO, that’s fine. Some cameras can do well at a higher setting.
• What are the lighting conditions? Use a lower ISO for brightly lit subjects and a higher ISO for pictures taken indoors or in dimmer light. Use flash if you need to. Be aware that you may get red eye or pet eye. Fill flash works great if it is bright behind your subject.
• Look at the pictures on your computer, at full size or 100%. Are they sharp? Which one looks the sharpest to you? This should be the speed that you use in that particular lighting. Many pictures taken with these small cameras are not sharp, because people just pick up the camera and start shooting without thinking about the light. Higher ISO speeds allow the shutter to work at a higher speed and eliminate camera shake.
• What is the subject of the picture? If it is a child or a pet – get down on its level. Pictures taken on their level are often more interesting than those taken looking down at them.
• Get close to your subject and fill the frame. Many snapshots have a lot of things in the background that draw your eye away from the subject.
• Focus on the eyes. The eyes are the soul of the picture. If they are sharp and clear, then you’ve gone a long way toward a good photograph.
• Finally, have fun and take a lot of pictures. Make note of the ones you like and learn from them. Try to repeat your successes and not to repeat your failures.