Photography is a fun and gratifying hobby that can
make you very popular with the people in your pictures
— or very unpopular. To get the most of a point-and-
shoot camera, digital or not, the first skill to master is
locking the focus. You can fine-tune your photography
skills so that your photos come out sharp, colorful,
and more interesting. Occasionally, your camera may
not let you take a photo, and knowing what to do when
that happens can save time and frustration.
How to Lock the Focus on a Point-
and-Shoot Camera
If you’re taking up photography using a point-
and-shoot camera, the first skill you need to
master is getting the camera to focus on the
image you want. The only way to make sure that
an autofocus point-and-shoot focuses correctly
— especially if the main subject isn’t centered in
the frame — is to lock the focus before you take
a picture.
1. Look through the viewfinder — or at the
viewing screen on a digital point-and-shoot
— and place its focus point (the marks in
the middle) on the main subject.
Doing this centers the subject in the frame.
2. Press the shutter button halfway down to
lock the focus.
3. Holding the shutter button halfway down,
compose the shot the way you want.
4. Press the shutter button all the way to
take the picture.
What to Do If Your Point-and Shoot
Won’t Let You Take a Picture
You’re out being a photographer, snapping
pictures right and left, when all of a sudden the
camera won’t let you take a picture no matter
how hard you press on the shutter button. When
that happens, try these suggestions:
* Reload the film. The camera tells you it’s
having trouble engaging the film by
flashing an E (for empty) or 0 on its display
panel after you close the camera back.
Insert a memory card. If you’re using a
digital point-and-shoot, it won’t let you take
a picture unless it has a place to save it!
Your camera may also lock up if the
memory card is full, in which case you
need to replace it with an empty one or
erase pictures you’ve already taken to
make room for more.
Reinstall, replace, or recharge the battery
or batteries. You may have put the
batteries in backward; refer to diagrams or
symbols inside the battery compartment for
correct installation. If the battery is too
weak to power the camera, it alerts you to
this problem with a “low battery” symbol.
Wait until the red or orange flash-ready
lamp stops blinking and glows steadily.
The flash takes several seconds to charge
(when you turn the camera on) or recharge
(after you take a flash picture) — and it
won’t let you shoot while it’s charging.
Step back from the subject. An autofocus
lens can’t focus if you’re too close — and if
the lens can’t focus, the camera won’t let
you take a picture. The camera tells you
that you’re too close by rapidly blinking the
viewfinder’s focus-OK lamp, which is
usually green.
Wait for your digital point-and-shoot
camera to finish “saving” the picture to its
memory. This process can take as long as
ten seconds, during which the camera
won’t let you shoot.
How to Prevent Dull, Washed-out
Point-and-Shoot Photographs
Photography involves making adjustments to get
the perfect picture. Even if you’re a point-and-
shoot photographer, you can fine-tune things to
get more colors in your photos. The following list
contains two of the most common causes of dull
color, lack of detail, and flat gray or brown tones
and what to do about them:
Symptom: Can barely make out the main
subject in a flash picture taken at night or
by artificial light (such as in a sports
stadium).
Cause: Subject was too far away for
the flash to reach.
Solution: Get closer to the subject
(within 15 or 20 feet), if possible. If
not, turn off the flash and use a
faster film (ISO 800) or set a higher
ISO (if your digital point-and-shoot
allows this).
Symptom: Colors are washed out, tones
weak in a nonflash shot taken in dim light.
Cause: Film did not receive enough
exposure to light.
Solution: Use a faster film (ISO 800 or
1600). Or, if the subject is close
enough, set fill-flash or slow-sync
flash mode.
Other problems may be due to photofinishing
errors; you may have to ask the developer to
reprint the photo.
Tips for Taking Good Point-and-Shoot
Photographs
Photography is about capturing and preserving
images, and as a photographer, you want to take
the best pictures you can. If you’re using a
point-and-shoot camera, use these simple tricks
to help improve your photographs:
Always lock the focus before taking a
picture.
Frame, don’t aim. Use the whole
viewfinder or viewing screen to compose
your shot. With people pictures, place
heads near the top rather than dead-
center.
Get closer. In most photographs, the main
subject is too small — and getting closer
when you shoot is the best way to make
the subject bigger.
Use flash outdoors. Set your point-and-
shoot’s fill-flash mode whenever possible.
It softens the unflattering facial shadows
created by direct sunlight and brightens a
subject lit from behind without washing out
the background.
Use a fast film. ISO 400 print film should be
your standard film. If you like to zoom your
lens way in to make the subject bigger, use
ISO 800 film instead. These super-quality
films lessen picture-wrecking blur and
improve background detail in flash shots.
Shoot from a different angle. Eye level is
often not the best height from which to
take pictures. Try squatting for a low angle,
or standing on a chair for a high one.
Place the subject off-center. This is an
easy way to make your pictures more
interesting. But off-center composition
makes locking the focus all the more
imperative!
How to Take Sharp, Focused Point-
and-Shoot Photographs
If you’re an artiste and a photographer, you may
occasionally want a picture to be out of focus,
but in everyday photography, a fuzzy photo is a
no-no. Symptoms of this common photographic
affliction and how to diagnose and cure it appear
in the following list:
Symptom: Something other than the main
subject is sharp — usually the background.
Cause: Camera focused on the wrong
thing.
Solution: Lock the focus on the main
subject before shooting.
Symptom: Overall unsharpness, often with
a glowing quality or a slight halo around
light areas of the subject.
Cause: Smudge on the lens.
Solution: Clean the lens with lens
cleaning tissue and solution.
Symptom: Overall unsharpness in nonflash
pictures, sometimes with visible blur or
streakiness.
Cause: Involuntary camera shake.
Solution: Use a faster film (ISO 400 or
800) or set fill-flash mode to force
the flash to fire.
* Symptom: The main subject is unsharp,
but things right behind it are sharp.
Cause: Subject too close.
Solution: With autofocus models,
make sure that the viewfinder’s
focus-OK lamp glows steadily before
shooting — and back up a little if it’s
blinking. With non-autofocus (focus-
free) models, stay at least four feet
from the subject.
If none of these solutions helps, the problem
may be with your lens or focusing system — and
may require repair.
make you very popular with the people in your pictures
— or very unpopular. To get the most of a point-and-
shoot camera, digital or not, the first skill to master is
locking the focus. You can fine-tune your photography
skills so that your photos come out sharp, colorful,
and more interesting. Occasionally, your camera may
not let you take a photo, and knowing what to do when
that happens can save time and frustration.
How to Lock the Focus on a Point-
and-Shoot Camera
If you’re taking up photography using a point-
and-shoot camera, the first skill you need to
master is getting the camera to focus on the
image you want. The only way to make sure that
an autofocus point-and-shoot focuses correctly
— especially if the main subject isn’t centered in
the frame — is to lock the focus before you take
a picture.
1. Look through the viewfinder — or at the
viewing screen on a digital point-and-shoot
— and place its focus point (the marks in
the middle) on the main subject.
Doing this centers the subject in the frame.
2. Press the shutter button halfway down to
lock the focus.
3. Holding the shutter button halfway down,
compose the shot the way you want.
4. Press the shutter button all the way to
take the picture.
What to Do If Your Point-and Shoot
Won’t Let You Take a Picture
You’re out being a photographer, snapping
pictures right and left, when all of a sudden the
camera won’t let you take a picture no matter
how hard you press on the shutter button. When
that happens, try these suggestions:
* Reload the film. The camera tells you it’s
having trouble engaging the film by
flashing an E (for empty) or 0 on its display
panel after you close the camera back.
Insert a memory card. If you’re using a
digital point-and-shoot, it won’t let you take
a picture unless it has a place to save it!
Your camera may also lock up if the
memory card is full, in which case you
need to replace it with an empty one or
erase pictures you’ve already taken to
make room for more.
Reinstall, replace, or recharge the battery
or batteries. You may have put the
batteries in backward; refer to diagrams or
symbols inside the battery compartment for
correct installation. If the battery is too
weak to power the camera, it alerts you to
this problem with a “low battery” symbol.
Wait until the red or orange flash-ready
lamp stops blinking and glows steadily.
The flash takes several seconds to charge
(when you turn the camera on) or recharge
(after you take a flash picture) — and it
won’t let you shoot while it’s charging.
Step back from the subject. An autofocus
lens can’t focus if you’re too close — and if
the lens can’t focus, the camera won’t let
you take a picture. The camera tells you
that you’re too close by rapidly blinking the
viewfinder’s focus-OK lamp, which is
usually green.
Wait for your digital point-and-shoot
camera to finish “saving” the picture to its
memory. This process can take as long as
ten seconds, during which the camera
won’t let you shoot.
How to Prevent Dull, Washed-out
Point-and-Shoot Photographs
Photography involves making adjustments to get
the perfect picture. Even if you’re a point-and-
shoot photographer, you can fine-tune things to
get more colors in your photos. The following list
contains two of the most common causes of dull
color, lack of detail, and flat gray or brown tones
and what to do about them:
Symptom: Can barely make out the main
subject in a flash picture taken at night or
by artificial light (such as in a sports
stadium).
Cause: Subject was too far away for
the flash to reach.
Solution: Get closer to the subject
(within 15 or 20 feet), if possible. If
not, turn off the flash and use a
faster film (ISO 800) or set a higher
ISO (if your digital point-and-shoot
allows this).
Symptom: Colors are washed out, tones
weak in a nonflash shot taken in dim light.
Cause: Film did not receive enough
exposure to light.
Solution: Use a faster film (ISO 800 or
1600). Or, if the subject is close
enough, set fill-flash or slow-sync
flash mode.
Other problems may be due to photofinishing
errors; you may have to ask the developer to
reprint the photo.
Tips for Taking Good Point-and-Shoot
Photographs
Photography is about capturing and preserving
images, and as a photographer, you want to take
the best pictures you can. If you’re using a
point-and-shoot camera, use these simple tricks
to help improve your photographs:
Always lock the focus before taking a
picture.
Frame, don’t aim. Use the whole
viewfinder or viewing screen to compose
your shot. With people pictures, place
heads near the top rather than dead-
center.
Get closer. In most photographs, the main
subject is too small — and getting closer
when you shoot is the best way to make
the subject bigger.
Use flash outdoors. Set your point-and-
shoot’s fill-flash mode whenever possible.
It softens the unflattering facial shadows
created by direct sunlight and brightens a
subject lit from behind without washing out
the background.
Use a fast film. ISO 400 print film should be
your standard film. If you like to zoom your
lens way in to make the subject bigger, use
ISO 800 film instead. These super-quality
films lessen picture-wrecking blur and
improve background detail in flash shots.
Shoot from a different angle. Eye level is
often not the best height from which to
take pictures. Try squatting for a low angle,
or standing on a chair for a high one.
Place the subject off-center. This is an
easy way to make your pictures more
interesting. But off-center composition
makes locking the focus all the more
imperative!
How to Take Sharp, Focused Point-
and-Shoot Photographs
If you’re an artiste and a photographer, you may
occasionally want a picture to be out of focus,
but in everyday photography, a fuzzy photo is a
no-no. Symptoms of this common photographic
affliction and how to diagnose and cure it appear
in the following list:
Symptom: Something other than the main
subject is sharp — usually the background.
Cause: Camera focused on the wrong
thing.
Solution: Lock the focus on the main
subject before shooting.
Symptom: Overall unsharpness, often with
a glowing quality or a slight halo around
light areas of the subject.
Cause: Smudge on the lens.
Solution: Clean the lens with lens
cleaning tissue and solution.
Symptom: Overall unsharpness in nonflash
pictures, sometimes with visible blur or
streakiness.
Cause: Involuntary camera shake.
Solution: Use a faster film (ISO 400 or
800) or set fill-flash mode to force
the flash to fire.
* Symptom: The main subject is unsharp,
but things right behind it are sharp.
Cause: Subject too close.
Solution: With autofocus models,
make sure that the viewfinder’s
focus-OK lamp glows steadily before
shooting — and back up a little if it’s
blinking. With non-autofocus (focus-
free) models, stay at least four feet
from the subject.
If none of these solutions helps, the problem
may be with your lens or focusing system — and
may require repair.
