This weekend in Nashville I gave my mother a 101 lesson on her point-and-shoot, and decided much of this information could be useful to others... as I've said in my other two P&S101 posts (1) (2), most people don't have time to read their entire camera manual, especially when the device works just fine with Power, Autoflash, and the Automatic setting. But the auto setting isn't going to let you learn, in fact sometimes it will just frustrate you into thinking your camera isn't as good as your friend's camera because her pictures come out way better. Perhaps, or perhaps you just aren't using your camera to its fullest capacity.
Here are the points we went over this weekend together, and what mom learned...
1)The basic settings: Use the dial and alternate settings (under "menu" or "function") as your primary tools:
a) the face is for portraits (usually focusing on just the image in front of you, blurring out the background)
b) the mountain is for landscapes (focusing on everything, whether it's landscapes or not!)
c) the flower (which might not be on your dial but a button somewhere else on the back or side of the camera) is for shooting macro- SUPER up close pictures NEED this setting or they will be blurry
d) the running man or kids/pets setting is for quick action (look for a layered square as well, which will allow you to shoot many images while holding the shutter, so far I haven't found this to be an automatic for the running or action settings, but it should be!)
e) night image (a function on my dial, but in "SCN" or scene on some cameras) will bring out the colors and balance the flash in a night setting
f) indoor (also under SCN on many PnS's, sometimes called "party") is a huge helper for balancing the lighting inside- sometimes called Tungsten, this is the orangy light we get from light bulbs, which the indoor setting automatically switches to
g) other SCN settings are beach/snow- balances out the white of the snow and sand, fireworks- which operates way better for fireworks than that night setting will, and foliage- which will make the colors of trees and other foliage much brighter by strengthening the "contrast."
h) timer and speed shutter - these are on the same button for mine, and are for most Canons. New PnS's have custom timers, where you can set it to 2 or 10 or 20 seconds while you're running out to the rocks above the waterfall to get the "self". The speed shutter is also a huge helper for sports, it's the layered-box icon I mentioned above, and will allow you to hold the shutter and snap 5-to-infinity pictures (depending on your model) while the runner or skier or child is zooming past you.
2. Advanced Settings
Under P, TV, AV, M, and C settings on your dial, you can adjust...
a) the aperature- this fraction number is for how long the shutter stays open and signifies a fraction of a second. The smaller the fraction, the faster the shutter speed, meaning i) the less light you let in and ii) the less blurry the photo
b) the f-stop- this is the number with the f before it, signifying the size of the hole that the shutter opens to. Adversely, the smaller the number, the larger the hole, and the smaller the number, the larger the hole. Small holes make everything in focus- Landscape is shot in f12-20 or so. Large holes make only the focal point of your image in focus- Portraits are shot in f4-f10.
c) the white balance- choose from sun, shade, clouds, tungsten, white fluorescent, flash, or auto to shoot under these circumstances. If you don't, your picture will likely be off when it comes to light.
d) the color/contrast- choose from monochrome (black and white), sepia (old western brown), neutral, vivid, portrait/skin tone, or a variety of others for these circumstances to enhance the photos even more.
e) the ISO- this is the film speed, a setting carried over from the 35mm days, and quite useful in shooting indoors or under low lighting. Use 100 for full sun, 200 for clouds, 400 for bright action, 800 for low light or low light action, and 1600 only if you absolutely need it, as the higher the number, the more pixelated your image will be.
f) the focal point- choose evaluative, partial, center, or spot to have the camera help decide what should be in focus. In a PnS, if your camera seems to be taking control of your image or flipping back and forth too much between subjects of different distances, change this setting to spot or center so that when you push the shutter down half way to focus on the humans or subject matter, the camera won't fluctuate when you snap the shot.
g) the lighting/AV balance- on some cameras this is a +/- icon, and if you hold that down while turning a control dial, you will make the image lighter or darker. I use this setting inside, in shady situations, and on black animals.
Hope this helps you make the most of your camera without reading the manual! I know mom's pictures already look better because she's no longer afraid to screw around with the buttons!
Good luck, and happy shooting!
Here are the points we went over this weekend together, and what mom learned...
1)The basic settings: Use the dial and alternate settings (under "menu" or "function") as your primary tools:
a) the face is for portraits (usually focusing on just the image in front of you, blurring out the background)
b) the mountain is for landscapes (focusing on everything, whether it's landscapes or not!)
c) the flower (which might not be on your dial but a button somewhere else on the back or side of the camera) is for shooting macro- SUPER up close pictures NEED this setting or they will be blurry
d) the running man or kids/pets setting is for quick action (look for a layered square as well, which will allow you to shoot many images while holding the shutter, so far I haven't found this to be an automatic for the running or action settings, but it should be!)
e) night image (a function on my dial, but in "SCN" or scene on some cameras) will bring out the colors and balance the flash in a night setting
f) indoor (also under SCN on many PnS's, sometimes called "party") is a huge helper for balancing the lighting inside- sometimes called Tungsten, this is the orangy light we get from light bulbs, which the indoor setting automatically switches to
g) other SCN settings are beach/snow- balances out the white of the snow and sand, fireworks- which operates way better for fireworks than that night setting will, and foliage- which will make the colors of trees and other foliage much brighter by strengthening the "contrast."
h) timer and speed shutter - these are on the same button for mine, and are for most Canons. New PnS's have custom timers, where you can set it to 2 or 10 or 20 seconds while you're running out to the rocks above the waterfall to get the "self". The speed shutter is also a huge helper for sports, it's the layered-box icon I mentioned above, and will allow you to hold the shutter and snap 5-to-infinity pictures (depending on your model) while the runner or skier or child is zooming past you.
2. Advanced Settings
Under P, TV, AV, M, and C settings on your dial, you can adjust...
a) the aperature- this fraction number is for how long the shutter stays open and signifies a fraction of a second. The smaller the fraction, the faster the shutter speed, meaning i) the less light you let in and ii) the less blurry the photo
b) the f-stop- this is the number with the f before it, signifying the size of the hole that the shutter opens to. Adversely, the smaller the number, the larger the hole, and the smaller the number, the larger the hole. Small holes make everything in focus- Landscape is shot in f12-20 or so. Large holes make only the focal point of your image in focus- Portraits are shot in f4-f10.
c) the white balance- choose from sun, shade, clouds, tungsten, white fluorescent, flash, or auto to shoot under these circumstances. If you don't, your picture will likely be off when it comes to light.
d) the color/contrast- choose from monochrome (black and white), sepia (old western brown), neutral, vivid, portrait/skin tone, or a variety of others for these circumstances to enhance the photos even more.
e) the ISO- this is the film speed, a setting carried over from the 35mm days, and quite useful in shooting indoors or under low lighting. Use 100 for full sun, 200 for clouds, 400 for bright action, 800 for low light or low light action, and 1600 only if you absolutely need it, as the higher the number, the more pixelated your image will be.
f) the focal point- choose evaluative, partial, center, or spot to have the camera help decide what should be in focus. In a PnS, if your camera seems to be taking control of your image or flipping back and forth too much between subjects of different distances, change this setting to spot or center so that when you push the shutter down half way to focus on the humans or subject matter, the camera won't fluctuate when you snap the shot.
g) the lighting/AV balance- on some cameras this is a +/- icon, and if you hold that down while turning a control dial, you will make the image lighter or darker. I use this setting inside, in shady situations, and on black animals.
Hope this helps you make the most of your camera without reading the manual! I know mom's pictures already look better because she's no longer afraid to screw around with the buttons!
Good luck, and happy shooting!
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