Outdoor Photography

You Are A Camera Setting Away
From Taking Great Photos

Today's digital cameras (called Point and Shoot) are fairly simple to operate but most of us are on overload already and do not wish to take the time to learn how to get the most out of our investment. If you have learned to turn it ON and figured out how to press the shutter, outdoor photography is a snap.

Here is a picture taken at Big Sur on the California Coast. My Canon Digital SD870 IS has a simple slide switch on the top of the camera where you see a "movie mode" or "SCN" (the special scene mode) or a "camera icon" to leave it to the camera to make the settings or manually set each function yourself. The "sunset" setting really impressed me here.

Take the time to find the equivalent "scene mode" on your camera and you will love the special results as it adapts your photos for you.



Here is a photo taken of the Sacramento River just north of downtown Sacramento looking east on a turn of the river flowing south with the camera's "tungsten" setting.

Experiment Today!

See? This photo taken of these ferns with the same "tungsten" setting as the river wouldn't work. (Try "foliage" on a Canon, and the greens and yellows are really vivid.) Before you start snapping photos of the kids and family, experiment with some settings and find out which will help you out the most.

Another example is the "beach" setting on most cameras that makes the flash go off even when the camera thinks it has too much light. Normally, it would over correct for the over all brightness and make the faces of your subjects go dark.

Most "portrait" settings produce a soft effect when photographing loved ones.

You can see how you can start with outdoor photography and make use of your "automatic" settings that are only one more easy step before snapping the photo. Make it fun to smile for the camera and click away!

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