taking great pictures with any camera

Many people's first question after seeing a great picture is, "what kind of camera took that?" I think there is a misconception that one needs an expensive camera to take great pictures. SLR's give the photographer a lot more control , but point and shoots can work great too. I have had a lot of fun with my point and shoot for years before I got my SLR. I want to show you some not-so-great pictures I have taken with my SLR:

Too dark:

red eye:

Too bright and washed out from flash:

lighting is off, and too bury:

cropping is off, and the picture just looks too messy:

Now, I want to show you some really nice pictures that I took with my regular Sony point and shoot which is like 6 years old, and only has 4.1 mega-pixels:




SO, my point is....a SLR can take good or bad pictures, and regular point and shoot can take good or bad pictures too. Many people dont think they can take great pictures with their "regular" camera, but you can. For me, there are a few things I consider before taking a picture. 1. Lighting...flashes often wash people out, so try not to use them if possible. Shade makes for the best lighting. 2. background...even when using a good camera, if the background is messy with toys and clutter, the picture is going to look messy too. The picture will look a lot more clean, even with a point and shoot, if the background is carefully considered. And 3...try different angles, and poses, and shoot away. Sometimes I have to take 100 pictures of Wesley before getting a good one. I am pretty new to photography, but I do know that great pictures can be taken with any camera if one carefully considers every shot.