I need some advice on how to take good pictures with a point-and-shoot camera?

I just recently took up photography as a hobby and I don't have any of the advanced, fancy equipment yet (such as a $1000 camera). I only have my little Kodak HD 12mp camera that I got as a Christmas gift from my husband :) I wanna get good at taking pictures with my regular camera before I invest in a ';super camera';. Anyone have any tips?I need some advice on how to take good pictures with a point-and-shoot camera?
First of all, you need to have an idea. The worst problem for most photographers is that they don't know what to shoot. Take a look around you - there's inspiration everywhere.





Second, when you take the photo, make sure you don't leave in anything that you don't want in the picture. Photos can look awkward if you crop things out on the computer so it's best to do it while taking the photo.





Third, you need good lighting. Flashes on cameras aren't great for taking natural looking photos and can make portraits look too harsh. Professional photographers usually use separate lighting for a nicer image. When you're just starting out and you don't have this kind of equipment, you can use natural daylight to take a good photo. The best natural light is early in the morning when the sun is coming up and late in the evening when it's setting. Of course, the kind of light you want depends on what you're shooting.





The best advice I can give you though, is to have fun. People get too caught up in the 'rules' of photography but that's not what makes a good photo. You can follow all the rules perfectly but if you're not creative, the photo won't look as good as it could be. Just play around with ideas and eventually you'll start to see what works and what doesn't. Try signing up to a site like deviantart . com. There are hundreds of photographers on there, amateur and professional, all willing to give friendly and helpful critique :)I need some advice on how to take good pictures with a point-and-shoot camera?
The beautiful thing about photography is great equipment does not make a great photographer. A point and shoot is a great way to hone skills that will help you further down the line.





Think about composition first and foremost. Where do you like the subject in the frame? Why? Experiment with this.


Also look the subject from different angles.


If you are thinking in terms of natural light, different times of the day have a great impact on the feeling of the shot.


Then after you have this sorted out, begin studying about the variables in photography... namely shutter speed and aperture. By this point you would know whether you are invested enough to purchase a professional camera.





Soon enough you will start seeing the world with a creative eye.





Good luck! :)
Do not use automatic settings on your camera. You have to take time to learn what setting does what.





In cinematography we have something called Golden Hour. This is the 2 hours after sunrise and the 2 hours before sunset. The light quality at this time of day is very beautiful and its a nice time to shoot anything, especially people.





When shooting a person stand as far away as you possibly can and zoom in. This bends the image in a convex manner which compliment the subject's face. You can also reach the shallowest depth of field (shallow focus means that only the subject is in focus) in this way. This makes your portrate look very professional.





You have to buy a tripod or your quality of your image will suffer.





In composition you can devide your screen into thirds compose subjects on these lines. This is a very good way to learn composition for a begginer.





I would also suggest you buy photoshop. You can get many video tutorials for this program on the net for free. This drasticly improves any picture.
Think about the composition of the shot before you press the shutter. IS there anything in it you don't want? If so, move so it is not in the frame and then look again.
point-and-shoot