Point and Shoot Month Round 2 - Tricky Lighting by Russ Burden Since it went so well last time in July, Russ Burden is back with a month's worth of tips for point and shoot cameras Article rating: 9.21

For those of you who are regular readers of my weekly photo tips, you know the vast majority are written for users of 35mm SLR’s.  Last July I deviated from this trend and presented a month’s worth of tips for all you point and shooters. It was so well received, I’m doing Round 2 for the month of October. Now before all you regular readers grab the mouse and click on another link, read on. Isn’t it about time you had some fun with a point and shoot? Wouldn’t it be nice to get some great shots and not have to lug around your 35mm equipment? Haven’t you thought about getting one or using the one you already bought that is reserved for the others in the family?  So spread the word to your point and shoot friends, spouses, and significant others to read the tips each week in October. I also encourage you to look into classes sponsored by the Panasonic Digital Photo Academy. They offer an array for all levels, including one solely dedicated to teaching students how to use their digital point and shoots. Check out   digitalphotoacademy.com   for more information.

Depending on the lighting conditions under which an image is made, it may be necessary to make some adjustments to your point and shoot to optimize the exposure. Some of these conditions include backlit subjects, scenes shot at night,  situations of strong contrast, mixed type of light, and photographing indoors to name just a few. Thankfully, the level of sophistication in today’s P&S cameras allows you to take control to make the most of these tricky conditions.

Night: To make the most of photographing at night, look for scenes that are as evenly lit as possible. It will result in an image with a more even distribution of tones over the entire composition. Have a look at the first picture that accompanies this article. I chose a composition where light fell on every part. But the key to making the picture even more successful was the use of flash on the foreground fountain to prevent it from going too dark. I had the flash set to Auto. Because the light level was low, the camera fired it automatically. If I had a person standing next to the fountain, I would have set the flash to Auto with Red Eye. If the ambient night light was very bright, the flash may not have fired. Knowing it was necessary, I would have set it to the Forced On position. Learn to use the different flash modes to create the best possible images. One other thing about shooting at night. Make sure you steady the camera by supporting it against something sturdy to prevent camera movement.

Backlit Subjects: If a subject is backlit, the side facing the camera receives less light than the light striking it from behind. If the goal is to show detail on the side facing the camera, light needs to be added to its surface. Reflectors are often used by professional photographers to bounce light onto the dark side of the subject. While they work great, they can be cumbersome. The most convenient solution comes in the form of the built in flash. Set the flash to the Forced On position. Even though the conditions may be bright, the flash will still fire. The idea is to have the flash throw light onto the dark side of the subject to illuminate it. An important aspect to realize is to work within the limitations of the flash. Make sure the subject is close enough, no farther than ten to fifteen feet, and has a small enough surface area to be illuminated.

Contrasty Light: Image number three that accompanies this article exemplifies a situation with a difficult exposure condition. The background sky is bright and there’s a dark overhang of the arch. The arch causes the meter to create a longer exposure than necessary thinking the conditions are dark. The problem is the sky will be overexposed. Thankfully, most point and shoot cameras have an Exposure Compensation feature. Once it’s activated, moving the cursor to the PLUS side makes the exposure brighter and conversely, moving it to the MINUS side makes it darker. For the picture with the arch, I moved it two lines to the MINUS side so detail in the sky would be recorded. What this accomplished was to darken the overall image by two thirds of an f stop. Be sure to reset the Exposure Compensation back to zero once you’re done.

To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my new book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at www.rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.