Im leaving for Belize in less then 48 hours. Whats your top 15 photo tips for me and my point and shoot camera?

make sure the cap is off on the camera......

Focus before taking the shot. On most cameras you can half press the button and it will focus.

Hmmmm.
You know how Steven King always writes that he feels like a fraud when writing, because to him it seems like stories already exist, anyone could write them down?
Not to put myself anywhere near the keel of someone great, but I kinda feel that way about photos.

I have been reading a book on the matter, so lets test my recolections.

Make sure your white balance reflects the light you are shooting in.
AWB at morn and mid day, Cloudy at sunset or overcast.
Try not to centralize your pics. Press the shutter halfway down on your focal point, then adjust the scene off center and click.
Outdoor pics, predomenantly trees and water, shoot on landscape b/c it enhances the blues and greens.
For landscape shots, focus 1/3 into you picture.
Framing works good, so look for something to use as a "border" on one or two edges.
I've read, treat your viewfinder like a tic-tac-toe grid. Never center on things. Put the horizon on one of the lines dividing the thirds, not in the middle. Use those lines to place your photo features.
Focus on a subject's eyes.
Otherwise you have to just be creative, try new angles. I've figured out what angles work for Jeeps don't work for Xterra's, etc.
Don't always try to zoom in on one thing unless you are going to take a duplicate pic unzoomed. You can always crop in later, but you can never add that background info back.
Digital photgraphy doesn't even pretend to be a science. All digital photogs say take too many photos so you can make sure you get a few good ones. You may notice I do that anyway on our trips. :)
Try to get a reference point in a far away shot for scaling too.
You're not just capturing an image, but a moment that people can relate to and feel so don't just snapshots of static things, but include something people can relate or take from.
Take shots in the highest res. Get a 2nd card if necessary. If you want to print anything larger than a postcard or crop anythin, you'll need it.
Use a tripod if it is low light or dark. Boost you ISO higher if necessary to speed up the shutterspeed, but remember too much and you'll notice the grain of digital noise.

And remember most of the pics we've taken thus far have been P&C so I'm sure you'll get great shots with that Stlylus.

I get a pm'd question about camera info about every other time I post in another forum.

I added a lot of info to this one so figured I'd repost it here.

Skatch....Question for ya, the cacti and stars pics from you run up AA, Amazing.....what settings and camera are you using. I just picked up a Canon Eos 1000D and am slowly figuring it out......Those pics are sweet and would like to try and duplicate on my own.
Thanks

.


Thanks man. I hurried up to take those before they got the fire started so I didn't have any orange glow, just the moon light.

The easiest way to see people's detailed settings on posted pics is to download Opanda IExif. You can then simply R-click on people's shots and see the entire sheet of camera settings.

I set the camera to Manual to be able to control the settings.

On the star pics, if you go over 15sec, you're going to get blurring on them as they move pretty quick. I use a cheapo remote shutter control switch to keep from moving the camera when shooting.

You'll need to set the focus somehow too. The regular auto focus is out because your subject won't be lit up enough for it to find. I keep a bright flashlight in my bag to light the subject, then press the shutter button halfway in to AF, then while holding that awkward pose, switch the lens to Manual Focus and release. Now you're dialed in. On some night shots without too much foreground , you can just set the lens to infinity.

It's a digital camera so don't worry about wasting a few shots to figure out where you like your settings. I didn't need a large focal area so I picked the main cactus and set the Aperture at f2.8 (lowest I could) which allowed more light anyway at 15secs. I adjusted the ISO last to allow enough detailed light without losing the stars or feel of the shot.
The first shot had an ISO of 800
The second shot was directed towards city glow so it needed less at 400.
There's some math out there you can use for night shot settings using ISO but I suck at that. I prefer the shoot till you get it right method.

Then I brought them into Photoshop and tweaked a few things and sharpened them for a web size.
I also straightened a cactus in the second shot because I obviously hate myself.

There you go. Usually a good recipe for me. Good luck with yours :)

You can find more of my pics here along with some other night shots I particularly like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28221672@N08/sets/