Saturday, November 10, 2012

Sun Sets with Point and Shoot Camera

©JP Parmley
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


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