Using a digital camera nowadays is considered to be very difficult, with the general perception being that only those who have the right knowledge will be able to produce professional quality images. Many users start with photography with the thought of just exploiting their interest whereas others invest time and money to make a passion out of it.

If by now, you are wondering why half way people lose interest in what could have potentially been a new passion for them, the basic problem is that most users usually don’t bring together the features of their camera to explore the options available for taking a great photo. Understanding the functions of your digital camera and exploring the beautiful possibilities using the right kind of settings will give your creativity and imagination free rein.

Allow us to introduce certain basic camera settings and composition that should help you enhance your skills.

Simple Compositions
As a beginner, we’d advise you to shoot straight, level shots, before attempting dramatic angles.
Don’t just keep your subject in mind when taking a picture – assess exactly how the background is, and the foreground, so that you ensure a non-messy, or cluttered photograph where the subject becomes partially obscured, or lost in the contrasting detail.

Sometimes you can’t help if the background is cluttered (supposed you are taking a picture in a crowded place). Try and see if you can switch locations to a clutter-free environment, though if this is not possible, the simplest method would be to ensure you minimize distractions that take the focus away from the subject. You can do this by either zooming in, or actually moving closer to the subject, so that frame contains not much more.

Be careful when zooming in – most cameras run out of optical zoom after a certain level of magnification, and then switch to digital zoom – an algorithm based zoom method that inevitable introduced graininess and loses image quality.

Try to avoid taking images in bright sunlight – try to move your subject indoors, or into the shade, reducing the chance of overexposure, underexposure, lens flares, or the image becoming “blown away,” where the sunlight behind the subject is so bright, your foreground becomes dark because of compensation.

While we all try to take candid shots, the subject usually knows they are being photographed – therefore, rather than allowing them to be stiff, and ready to be clicked – make them pose a little to get them comfortable. It’ll make for a more interesting picture regardless.

Choosing the Right Shooting Mode
Use different shooting modes, depending on the type of photo you are taking. While auto is acceptable in most conditions, you can get better quality images if you set the camera to 'P' or Program Mode, and adjust various white balances, exposure rates, contrast, flash intensity to get the perfect picture.

Try and experiment with your Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes before taking images, practicing with them can give you a good idea of what the camera is doing in each case, allowing you to fine tune your own selection of settings each time. Remember to also adjust ISO settings, exposure, and contrast at each remove, further fine tuning your selection.

Use the Portrait Mode when capturing a subject in the center of the screen. This mode gives priority to the foreground, or, puts the background slightly out of focus to truly set of the subject’s qualities. You could also set the camera to Aperture Priority mode (using called called ‘A’ or ‘Av’), and then select a smaller aperture (meaning larger f number) to limit amount of light entering.
Luckily, most modern compact point and shoot cameras come with a variety of other modes – use Landscapes/Mountain mode for distant subjects, use Macro/Rose mode for close-up subjects, Sports/Action mode for fast moving objects (or Shutter priority with at least 1/500s).

Finally, there is a Manual mode for most compact cameras nowadays – allowing for even more setting changes – it’s perfect for adverse lighting conditions, difficult to capture objects.

Avoid Shooting on Full Auto Mode
As we explained above, shooting on full auto is useful, sure, but it will also make most of your image look very similar, and will not help you highlight the specialness of each subject, image.

While Point and Shoot cameras are named in a way that implies you don’t really need to be looking through a viewfinder to take an image, we’d suggest you concentrate closely on the image on the LCD screen for the best framing possible – don’t just point and shoot! Note: excessive use of the LCD screen reduces battery life significantly.

Control Your Flash Output
Flash intensity or output is a detail that can change a dull image to sharp one, an overbright one to perfectly highlighted. Try reducing your flash output, by setting it as a minus output value in Flash Exposure Compensation menu, and you might be surprised.

Remember, using flash usually puts a whitish glare onto the image, and so, when the lighting is good enough, make sure flash is off – you’ll get more naturally coloured images, as well as less red-eyes with subjects, and less reflected light of shiny surfaces. This does mean you’ll need to be especially steady holding the camera however – a shake can become noticeable very easily without flash.
Even if the lighting is on the lower side, try fiddling with ISO settings (making it more sensitive), aperture settings (making it smaller, to let in more light), as well as shutter speed (the slower, the more light enters) to get more light into the image, with out washing it out with your flash.