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Point and Shoot Month - Use the Scene Modes by Russ Burden Utilizing your camera's scene modes allows your camera to do a lot of the setup actions necessary to get the right shot Article rating: 9.00

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.  With this in mind, it’s time I give some props to all the point and shooters of the world. 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? I’m dedicating the entire month of July’s tips to those who sport and take pride in their digital point and shoots. So spread the word to your point and shoot friends, spouses, and significant others to read the tips each week in July. 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 www.digitalphotoacademy.com for more information.

Scene modes are wonderful gems that are built into many point and shoot cameras. What they do is perform “behind the scenes” actions that tell the camera to fire with specific settings in mind. The same settings a professional photographer would use on a high end 35mm camera to photograph a scenic, the Landscape Scene Mode sets the point and shoot to do the same without having to go through all the steps. It doesn’t get any simpler. Some of the more popular scene modes are portrait, action, landscape, night scenery, candle light, sunset and snow.  By setting the camera to fire in any one of them, the computer takes over and makes the adjustments automatically. While they’re not foolproof, they certainly make the decision making much easier.

© Russ Burden

The first image that accompanies this article was made with my Panasonic point and shoot set to the SCENERY  mode. This mode has an icon of a mountain which has become standardized regardless of the camera with which you shoot. Based on the lighting conditions, the camera automatically sets itself to a low number ISO. The reason for this is the lower the ISO, the less digital noise that’s imparted to the image. The less noise, the better quality the photo if you try to make an enlargement. It also sets the camera to take advantage of getting everything in focus from the foreground to the background. The reason for this is when photographing scenery, it’s good to include a foreground object and have both it and the background in focus. The settings the camera chooses allows this to occur. It also tells the flash to not fire. While all of these functions can be set manually, using the Scenery Mode makes the process automatic.

The second image was made with the scene mode set to Night Portrait. The main piece of information that’s imparted to the camera is to tell the flash to fire. This will illuminate the foreground subject. Additionally, it tells the camera to fire using a slow shutter speed. The reason for this is the longer the shutter stays open, more background light will be recorded on the sensor. In that it’s dark, the more time the shutter stays open the better. If it quickly closed, the subject would look as if he’s floating in a sea of darkness. The last key piece is the camera automatically sets itself to a higher ISO. The higher the ISO, the less light that’s needed to make a photo. The main precaution when using the Night Portrait scene mode is to make sure the camera is stabilized to prevent it from moving while the shutter stays open. A tripod or other stabilizing technique such as resting the camera on a steady platform is highly recommended.

The final image was shot using the Night Scenery mode. Many of the same aspects of the Night Portrait mode are incorporated into this but there’s a key one that separates the two. Think about what that may be.......  When you’re making a portrait, it’s important the subject is illuminated. In the Night Portrait mode the flash is set to always fire. When making a landscape or cityscape at night, there is no person in the foreground in that you’re just photographing the scenery. Have you figured out the difference...........  The key that separates the Night Scenery mode is the flash is set to the Forced Off position. The reason is you don’t want the light from the flash to interfere with the scenery. But what if there is something in the foreground that you want illuminated but it’s not a person. Then go ahead and set the camera to Night Portrait even though you’re making a cityscape. Try to outsmart the camera. The more you can do this, the better you’ll become at making photos. Read the pages in the manual that give more information about the Scene Modes so you’ll be  able to take advantage of all their capabilities. If you really want to learn the ins and outs of your digital point and shoot, look into the class offered by the Panasonic Digital Photo Academy called the Ins and Outs of Your Digital Point and Shoot. It’s a three hour class teaching you about all the features of a digital point and shoot camera.

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 rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.

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