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Point-and-Shoot Techniques
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 1) Read the Manual.
Don't be afraid or aloof. The manual is your friend. Take a little bit of time and find out how the manufacturer intended your camera to be used. Identify what all the buttons do. Find out what not to do. Finally, feel free to experiment-after you read the manual.
Read the Manual! This manual goes everywhere with my P&S. It travels in the bag with the camera.
2) Pre-focus/Exposure Lock.
Most P&S cameras have these functions. Check your manual to see if yours does. They allow you a tiny but critical amount of control and can be the difference between worthless and great pictures. |
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| In this image the camera was pre-focused on the flag to ensure detail and sharpness in the main subject of the picture. |
Pre-Focus:
Usually, to access these functions, depress the exposure release button halfway. Aim the focus point at an object the same distance as the subject of your exposure. Now hold the shutter release button until you want to take the picture. This will keep the camera focussed at that distance. Why would you want to do this? Suppose you are taking a picture of a moving object (such as a child at a soccer game). You can't focus on your subject because your subject isn't where you want them to be. So you pre-focus on the spot where you will take the picture. You don't have to wait for the camera to focus or wonder if it focused, because it's already done.
Exposure-Lock:
The same action controls the exposure lock. In fact exposure-lock and pre-focus are in effect at the same time. Examples of situations where exposure-lock might be useful are: backlighting, contrasty light, and snowy scenes. The light meter in your P&S (and all other cameras) wants to make everything look medium gray. It will make snow gray and black rocks gray. Sometimes you don't want things to be gray. These are instances when you would use the exposure-lock feature. In order to use the exposure-lock feature aim the focus point at a medium gray object or scene. Green leaves look gray to the camera's meter. Asphalt pavement is close to medium gray as is some tree bark. Try to see things in black and white and average out the values in your head. Once you've found a suitable subject, at the correct distance (because the pre-focus will be triggered at the same time), depress the shutter release halfway, point the camera at your actual subject, and release the shutter.
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| In these two pictures, the camera was pre-focused, activating the exposure lock, on the areas indicated. Notice that when the camera is focused in the shadow area (image 2) the whole picture is lighter. When the exposure is locked on a lighter area the whole picture is darker. You can pre-focus and reframe any way you want. |
This (image 3) is an example of a bad P&S image. The camera was focused on , and exposed for, the sky. The cyclist ended up much too dark because of the amount of sky in the viewfinder. This picture needed more accurate framing and/or exposure lock. |
Point and Shoot Techniques: Go to Page 2>> |
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