I recently had a conversation with a a new mom that wanted to hire me but also wanted to be able to take good photos of her son on her own on a regular basis.  A completely understandable and simple request.  She was getting frustrated with all of the complicated options that her dSLR and was frustrated that she was missing out on some precious moments.  My recommendation to her was to put down the dSLR and pick up her point and shoot camera.

Sometimes all of that “new fangled technology” gets in the way.  New photographers just need to concentrate on getting the basics right first before they start tackling things like custom setting your shutter speed, ISO and aperture on the fly.  That takes years of practice and “schooling” to master.  So remove all of those barriers and go basic.  I recommend reading your manual and seeing what options your point and shoot provides.  It will help make decisions for you once you select some of the proper options.

I use a Nikon dSLR but a Canon Point and Shoot.  I love the canon point and shoots and highly recommend them.  Like most point and shoots, it has options for various scenes…for instance, beach mode, sunset mode, party mode, fireworks mode….you get the point.  The camera will modify its settings in order to provide the best image for the situation.

There are other factors that will obviously help make a better picture, like composition, setting, etc, but we will get to that later.  Please read the manual of your point and shoot and try to take some photos based on your new understanding of this simple little camera.

NOTE: The photos below were taken with my Canon Point and Shoot.  No, it is not technically perfect to my trained eye, but  I still think that it came out pretty darn good.  What do you think?