Here Are Some Tips
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So, if everybody's doing it, it must be right, right?
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
There's another little window near the top of your camera called the Viewfinder. And you look through it just the way you always have with film cameras. You remember - Don't you? - hold the camera up to your eye, compose the shot ... and shoot.
Tip #2 - "Pre-set" the camera by pressing the trigger button HALF WAY DOWN, and - when you're ready to actually take the picture - SQUEEZE the button. DON'T slam or punch it.
That's how I got the rather spectacular image you see here. I was actually on board another plane, as we taxied out to take off. The Delta plane was in line a couple of planes ahead of us. The FedEx plane was actually coming in for a landing on another runway. And since I had already preset my Compact Digital camera, anticipating the moment, all I had to do was apply the slightest pressure on the button at the exact moment. And - TAA! DAA! - a great shot. (At least I think so) 
A Typical Day at the Atlanta Airport (Nikon Coolpix 5700)
SIDEBAR
True Story: I've worked for several years in a camera store in Pensacola, Florida (Pensacola Photo Supply). A year or so ago I helped a woman choose a Compact Digital camera because she told me that her children were insisting that she "needed" a digital camera to take pictures of her grandchildren and occasional shots on vacation.
I showed her several possible choices and demonstrated each one. She finally picked one and left the store, apparently happy. But a couple of weeks later she came back ... and she was NOT happy. She said there must be something wrong with the camera I'd sold her and she wanted it FIXED, or she wanted her money back.
I checked out the camera and it was working perfectly. Finally, unable to figure out the problem, I handed the camera back to her and asked her to show me how she took pictures. (I should mention here that she was a diminutive woman of perhaps 50 or so.)
Immediately she took the camera in her right hand and extended her arm out as far as possible, squinting toward the tiny screen. Then she "punched" the button, trying to take a picture.
Suddenly it all became very clear to me. I had forgotten to share these tips with her!
- I hadn't made sure that she knew there was a viewfinder she should use while composing a shot, and
- I hadn't taught her how to "pre-set" the camera before taking the actual shot.
Why are these two tips so important?
Simple (but sad): For many of us who have passed the age of 40 or so, our close up vision has gotten worse. When was it you realized you needed either reading glasses or longer arms? It hit me around the age of 42.
My customer was simply doing her best to focus on the tiny LCD screen on the back of the camera by extending her camera as far as possible away from her eyes.
After all, it seems silly that you might put on your reading glasses in order to see an image of something that's across the room. Right?
To test this yourself - even if you're a lot younger than 40 - pick up a credit card or your driver's license. They're both more than TWICE the size of most Compact Digital camera LCD screens. Hold the card at arm's length - Don't cheat and use your reading glasses!
See what I mean?
Now, imagine it's the face of your beautiful grandchild you're trying to focus on just at the moment she's smiling and drooling ... or getting ready to take a bite out of the cat's tail.
Another perfect, never-to-be-seen-again moment, spoiled!
So ... TIP #1 - ALWAYS use the viewfinder to compose a shot ...
Unless ... 1. You need to shoot over the heads of people in front of you (say, at a parade or in a crowded room), or 2. You want to take a picture of something low on the ground and would just a soon NOT get down on your belly in the dirt to shoot it. (I do this a lot because I love taking pictures of tiny flowers in my yard or lizards or ants. Works great with little kids playing on the floor too!)
In both these cases, having one of the swiveling LCD screens on the back of your camera is a really nice feature. Some compact digitals have swiveling screens, some don't. And I don't know of a single full-sized digital SLR that has one. So this is a feature you might want to check out when you go shopping for your perfect digital camera.
Now - Tip #2 - "pre-set" THE CAMERA
It's a technological fact (I promise not to use technological facts any more than is absolutely necessary!) that ALL digital cameras have to preset themselves before the actual picture can be recorded. (Yes, this is also true for those full-size Digital SLRs I'll discuss on another page. But frankly, they do it so fast that there is no perceptible delay most of the time.)
That means:
... They have to focus on the subject
... They have to make a decision about proper exposure and adjust for the light
... And they have to "charge" themselves electronically, especially if you're using flash.
This is why so many new Point & Shoot (Compact) owners get so frustrated. (See, you KNEW it wasn't your fault, didn't you? It's just all that darned technology that's driving us crazy here!) They see the perfect shot, hold the camera out at arm's length, squint to see the image on the tiny screen, and then ... press the button, and then ... scream in anger and frustration when the stupid camera goes off two or three seconds later.
This was a real problem for a lot of early Compact Digital users, and continues today for many. And, even though most cameras are getting better and faster, it's still an issue ... especially with the smaller (less expensive) compacts.
UNLESS you know the secret of Tip #2.
And here it is: When you see a great picture, and you're positioning yourself to get in the right place to take it, go ahead and press the trigger button HALF WAY DOWN, as you're raising the camera to your eye. And HOLD it down, gently, until the moment you want the camera to fire.
By doing this one simple step you're allowing the camera to do those critical technological steps mentioned above BEFORE you're ready to take the picture.
Simple, huh? And if you'll develop the habit of following these two tips, I can just about promise that you'll take better pictures, and be a lot less frustrated in the process.
And finally, here's one extra bit of advice (Let's call it "Jim's Secret Tip #3") that I've made such a constant habit in my own picture taking that it's become completely automatic. (In this case, it applies to both Compacts and Digital SLRs.)
As soon as you turn the camera on (and, of course, check to make sure it's working, and that it has a media card in it, and that it's set in the correct "mode") do this!
Begin pressing the trigger button half way down. Then, as you get close to your subject - or while you're watching for that perfect photo moment to unfold - point the camera in the general direction of your subject and just touch the button lightly as you get closer to the perfect shot.
Touch and release, touch and release ... until ... Then raise the camera to your eye, compose the shot - while holding that final setting gently beneath your fingertip, and ...
...Complete the downstroke and - WOW! - you got that once-in-a-lifetime shot.
Your friends and family will be amazed at what a great photographer you've become.
And you can be proud, too! Because once you've mastered this little three-step process of mine, you're going to be one happy Compact Digital photographer!
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