The most common problem that point-and-shoot camera users face is the control over exposure. Under-exposed is when the image appears too dark with the white elements appearing gray, while over-exposure is when image appear too bright with the white elements often looking washed out. Strong lighting, such as sun positioned behind your subject, is often a cause of problems. To counter this, try to move you’re subject to other positions whenever possible to offset the lighting. However, if this is not possible, there are other methods you can try.

1. This is particularly useful in situations of strong contrast between subject and background, and backlighting. Usually, the lights meter of your camera would want to make everything look medium grey, so you may find your white element in the picture looking grey, instead of its actual color. Exposure – lock and pre - focus are typically in effect at the same time for most cameras. For the IXUS 500, you can set exposure and focus separately under Manual mode. To use this feature, focus on the subject where you want to lock the exposure, then half- press the shutter button and press the AE(auto exposure) lock button. You can recompose the shots as desired and release the shutter. If you’re not setting the AE lock separately, make sure the subject you select to expose – lock has about the same distance as your target subject.

2. Changed your meter settings- Many cameras come with more than one light metering mode. For the IXUS 500, we have Evaluative, Center-Weighted Average and Spot. Change your meter to Spot metering which meter the area without the spot AE point at the center of the LCD monitor. This is useful for macro and astrology shots.

3. Exposure Compensation-Exposure compensation is also being used to prevent the subject from turning out too dark in a backlit situation or lights appearing too bright in your night shots. Usually, settings can be adjusted in 1/3 increments in the range of -2 to +2, like the IXUS 500. Setting a positive figure would brighten the image, while a negative number would darken it. Remember to return the setting to 0 to reset the compensation.

The ISO equivalent to a digital camera is an indication of its level of sensitivity to light. When sensitivity is increased, output of the sensor is amplified, much like turning up the gain on a radio. The result is that less light is required, which is a bonus for handheld photography under dim lighting conditions, such as during a concert. Most cameras would have its default at Auto with ISO 100 being the most “common” pre-set value in most cameras. Our example, the IXUS 500 has a value as low as ISO 50 as well as ISO 100, 200 and 400 equivalents. Some professional digital SLRs can go as high as ISO 1600 or even 3200.

The problem of bumping up ISO levels is noise, which is grainy or colored dots and speckles you see littered thought out the image. However, improvements in sensor technology in recent times have reduced noise to a minimum. The IXUS 500 with its DIGIC engine is one example of digicam which is able to handle noise at high ISO levels superbly. The general rule of thumb is keep ISO levels as low as possible, especially if you have a tripod (since there is no need for handholding), and only bump up the ISO level when absolutely necessary.

Contrary to popular belief, flash can be used in brightly lit situations. Many users turn on the flash as they assume there is enough ambient light. We recommend using the flash even then, as it can reduce harsh shadow that sometimes appears. Of course, this assumes that you are taking shots within the range of your flash. The result is often more natural looking, sometimes even more colorful. In backlit photos, you can now see your subject clearly, rather than  you turn off the flash for nights landscape shots; most likely, it will not be strong enough to illuminate the entire shot.

This Slow Syncho Mode is found in many point-and-shoot cameras in the market. This mode is often represented by an icon that shows a star and a person beside it. In our IXUS 500 , this mode is available under the manual shooting mode and easily accessible by pressing the flash button a few times. This mode is best used if you want to take a shot of your subject with bright lights behind him. Basically, under this Slow Syncho mode, you are telling the camera that you want the flash to fire, but you also want the lens to stay open long enough to capture the lights in the background. The flash would end up lightning your subjects, while the long exposure records the background lights. However, there are some points to take note of when using this mode. First, since there is prolonged exposure, they may be need for a tripod, or to adopt proper camera holding technique. Second, your subject should be relatively still. You cannot freeze moving things under this mode. If your subjects is moving, you will get blurred trails around him, which maybe is a problem, but it can also turnout to be interesting depending on what you are trying to achieve.

To achieve silky water or trailing vehicle lights, you need to use the slow shutter speeds. 1/8^th of second usually enough to give a nice blur and any shutter speed slower than that would obviously give you “silkier” water. But to achieve a fog effect, it may take several seconds or even minutes. While this may be easy for prosumer and high-end digital cameras, a slow shutter speed setting is not always available on a compact or ultra compact camera. If you want to take such pictures, check to see if your point-and-shoot allows for slow shutter speeds. The IXUS 500 is capable of achieving slow shutter speeds of up to 15 seconds in the Long Shutter Mode, which gives the user a lot of room to maneuver and choose a shutter speed to his liking. Do note that the problem of noise surfaces again with long exposures. Many cameras have noise reduction that kicks in for slow shutter speeds. The IXUS 500 for example has its noise reduction feature activated with shutter speeds 1.3 seconds or slower.

This phenomenon is what we call “red-eye”. This is often caused by the firing of the flash (especially if it is close to the lens) straight into the eyes. It is red in color because the light reflects off the blood vessels at the back of the retinas. The best way to reduce this red-eye effect is to move the flash away from the lens. However, in the case of a point-and-shoot camera, this method may not be possible due to the absence of a flash hotshoe. This is where the Red-eye reduction mode comes in handy. This setting is often represented by an icon of an eye. It works by triggering a few pre-flashes before the main flash goes off. The pre-flashes help to contract your subjects pupil and thus minimizing the amount of light reflected from the retinas.

Other than reading your camera’s manual thoroughly so that you know your equipment well, our other suggestion is to keep on taking pictures. The latter is the best way to hone your skills and learn from mistakes. Do not let others belittle your camera just because it is a simple point-and-shoot You would be surprised by some of the pictures that can be taken with a simple compact camera even if it is in the auto mode.