Point and shoot

I found out that my new to me little pocket camera actually does quite good macros. I can’t see a thing on the display outdoors though, so I’ve developed a new (to me) style of taking pictures. I simply wave it around, try to point it in the general direction of something and click. Play with over- and underexposures in the sun etc. The macro lens I have for my SLR is a 90 mm and gives a completely different perspective compared to the wide angle of a tiny camera.

For starters I’ve been doing garden walks since so many things are in bloom right now, but I’ll continue to explore this method time and again just to get out of my regular groove. How about deliberate out of focus for instance? The columbines are going now, so I promise next time it will be something else…

The photos are unprocessed apart from resizing – exposure and colour are all from fiddling with camera settings. No crops. Some have been more deliberately composed, most are randomly aimed at the target.

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27 thoughts on “Point and shoot

  1. I thought I was the only person who blindly shoots photos outside….. I can’t see the screen image when I am in bright sunshine either ; ) your pictures are lovely as always

  2. Q – I love my point and click. It zooms so much better than my SLR for catching butterflies across the yard. You pics are a nice way to start the day. Thanks!

    1. 🙂 You can actually “catch” butterflies? I find the reaction time of small cameras are a bit slow, although this one is slightly better than my last one (a Canon G2, long time ago)

      1. Q – I shot them when they land. In flight they’re too blurry, like hummingbird wings. At least in hummingbirds the body is stationary and focused. I try to take a pic of every butterfly I see. I’ve posted some in the blog.

  3. My little camera has the same ability. In fact it was the man selling cameras in the photo store who told me that you do not need to buy an expensive lens to take good macros – buy a little point and shoot – half the price but still a good alternative!

    And, it was true! Great gallery!

    1. Thanks – and “hello, nice to meet you”. I don’t think I could do entirely without my SLR, as I’m quite fond of using a shallow depth of field, in portraits for instance, but even landscape. That’s where the little ones don’t excel.

  4. Brilliant post, and I agree, a different camera is the perfect way to see the world afresh. I’ve temporarily ditched my two DSLRs in favour of getting to grips with the camera on my new iPhone (I’ve never had one before), and I’m still learning what my new Sony RX100 can do. Happy days 🙂

    1. I don’t have a smart phone or one with a good camera, but I’ve seen the fun that can be had with apps and filters and instagrams etc. Breaking away from Photoshop, levels and the perfect exposure and white balance is an excercise along the same lines as not framing the shot, just fun and relaxing.

    1. The good thing about digital is, you can make 90% crappy shots and just delete them at no cost. I did try some similar shots with different settings, keeping it on “manual” so I could change exposure. It also has the option of neutral colour, vivid and something called Positive film which I quite liked. So just keep at it and be playful. Keep the camera at bellybutton level and just turn it and click away. Look through them, maybe redo a couple where you try to frame it more deliberately. The columbines for instance were best when shot from groundlevel up, so you can see into them. I didn’t mean for our chimney to appear in the photo, but somehow it works anyway.

  5. The shot of inside the white flower is so unique! Pretty flower captures, they all look like their playing in the sun (:

  6. It’s lovely the freedom of a smaller camera and fun to experiment indifferent way shakes things up a bit 🙂 Lovely flower gallery Pia .

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