Taking Better Pictures with My Compact

Kintarō Hattori

First off I know it's just a compact and I do plan on upgrading to something better later in the year.

I take pictures here and there with my camera and while they are nothing special I'm happy enough with them. I want to take better pictures which is why I'll upgrade later but for the moment I want to get the most out of my little digital camera.
When I look on flickr I'm amazed at some of the pictures people take with the same camera as myself, a Sony DSC-P200. Pictures such as the following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabiomiola/2256821091/`

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93402127@N00/274913304/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/idogu/1449964756/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinyfroglet/1797793286/

Surely these aren't just taken as is, I'm guessing that they undergo some processing?

Turbulent Bill

I'm in the same boat, just bought an Ixus 70 and am looking for some sort of basic photography guide. Can anyone recommend a book/online source?

As I see it, good photographs have to show an interesting image and be well executed technically. The first part depends on the circumstances, luck, photographer's skill in visualising a shot etc. - I presume that this comes with experience. The technical part, i.e., correctly capturing what you see, should be easier to teach/learn.

Beef

In order to get the best use of your camera, you'll need to understand the basic principles of aperture and shutter speed and the affects they have on the resulting image. Your camera will also need to have a manual function - which means you then control the aperture (amount of light being left into the camera) and the shutter speed (duration the light the film/sensor is exposed to light). You will also need to understand the rules and principles associated with composition (that's a whole different story!). Here is a good starting point...

morguefile

cheers,
beef

challengemaster

get the book Understanding Exposure. I've still to read it but from what i hear, it's very simple to understand, and has good explainations

Glowing

challengemaster wrote: »

get the book Understanding Exposure. I've still to read it but from what i hear, it's very simple to understand, and has good explainations

Excellent book, in every way!