Two weeks ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to take an
western Caribbean cruise. The minute we
decided to go, nearly 9 months prior, the dilemma started. Do I take my favorite 5D MII and my work
horse 24-70 2.8L? If you have ever been
on a cruise you know there is lots of three things: Sun, water, and sand (at
the beaches), none of which is terribly great for camera equipment.
After much thought, I decided to leave the pro gear at home,
find a decent point and shoot camera so I could enjoy the vacation and not
worry about my gear every minute of the day.
I landed on the Canon S100. I
chose this model because of three factors; 1) It can shoot in a RAW format. 2)
It has a 2.0 lens, and 3) It has a fully manual mode.
Now, the pictures I show below are in no way professional
quality, but I was quite happy with some of the results with the little $360
point and shoot. If you are looking to
get a better sunset picture with your point and shoot, follow these guidelines.
Take a look at the first picture. We have all seen someone's vacation picture
that looks like this. A typical result
from an automatic or program mode that utilize an evaluative metering mode. The pictures that follow leverage a fully
manual mode, exposing with spot metering
on the sun and then adjusting the shutter to underexpose from 1/3 to 1 1/3
stops. The color is brought out and
gives the picture some contrast and dimension.
The only post processing that was performed was to run these through
Lightroom 3.6 to reduce some of the noise that point and shoots typically have.
 |
| Program mode with evaluative metering.......Don't do this! |
 |
| Manual Mode with spot metering |
 |
| Manual Mode with spot metering |
 |
| Manual Mode with spot metering |
 |
| Manual Mode with spot metering |
 |
| Manual Mode with spot metering |
 |
| Manual Mode with spot metering |
Besides insuring your exposure is correct, think about the
rule of thirds. To add some additional
dimension, place the horizon on one of the two third's lines, depending on if
you want to highlight the sky or the ground.
If you have any questions about how to get the best out of
your point and shoots, let me know.
Enjoy,
JP
