Big Shots with Small Cameras

How to get great photos with point-and-shoot compacts

Dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, Singapore commercial and industrial photographer Tan Chung goes to work carrying his favourite Canon single lens reflex (SLR) camera and an array of accessories, together valued at more than $15,000. But for taking pictures of people and places in his everyday life, Tan favours a second-hand compact camera he bought for $30.

"I carry my compact all the time because it's so much easier to use than my SLR," says Tan. "I can shoot anything with it — birthday parties, friends I'm having a beer with, people on the street or a beautiful sunset." Unlike Tan, I'd long dismissed compact cameras as toys. For 20 years, I took all my pictures on my Olympus and Nikon SLR cameras, proud of my ability to switch lenses and adjust the shutter speed, aperture and other complicated settings.

But I occasionally took shots on compacts owned by family and friends, and many of them turned out very well. I eventually bought a compact of my own, and it's transformed me into a firm fan of these pocket-size cameras where all you need do is load, aim and click, with electronics taking care of everything else.

1. Introduction

This introduction includes personal observations – drawing on my own experience – as well as radvice gleaned from other photographers (especially Michael Freeman, from his excellent book The Image).

Though most cameras now have automatic features that make the technical aspects of photography relatively easy, it’s not enough to rely on automation. If you want to take really good photos, you should know how to use and over-ride the automatic features. For instance, learn how to turn off your flash, or how to make sure the flash fires.

Photography is not a technical subject. Here, I only briefly cover the technical aspects, and instead mainly look at how to make good or even outstanding images.

Originally from Yorkshire, UK, and based in Hong Kong since 1987, I'm a writer and photographer, also nature tour leader and ecological consultant, with a strong interest in wildlife and conservation issues including global warming.

Writing and photography for books and magazines

I've written numerous articles for magazines including BBC Wildlife, National Wildlife and Reader's Digest, and written and contributed to books including Hong Kong Pathfinder: 23 day-walks in Hong Kong. (You can find various articles and photos, plus info on Pathfinder, on this site.)

I contributed to 1001 Natural Wonders: You Must See Before You Die [Amazon UK; for Amazon US: 1001 Natural Wonders : Places You Must See in Your Lifetime], and was a major author of Central Ridge and West (covers HK country parks from Ma On Shan west to Tai Lam, published by Friends of the Country Parks, 2006). Also main writer of a Hong Kong Tourism Board booklet, Discover Hong Kong Nature, published in late 2006; several of the photos are mine, and I gave advice during production.