Point-and-shoot can only take you so far. How about some tips for top-notch holiday pictures.

Here’s over to five golden rules of photog

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Automatic is OK
While you can get some great results by messing about with your camera’s settings, remember to
set it back to automatic mode when you’re done. Taking a great photograph is often about
capturing a moment, so don’t lose it!

Shutter speed and ISO on dull days

If you’re shooting on an overcast day or in low light, try setting the ISO and shutter speed a little
higher (400 ISO and 1/400 sec shutter to start with). Beware of a bit more noise though despite
the lack of blur in the pictures.

Spot metering for vivid backgrounds

If you’re shooting a person against a bright background (the sky, for instance), set your exposure
meter mode to “spot” and focus on the person. This prevents the subject being under exposed. If
the background is of particular interest, try using a standard metering mode and turning on the
flash to light up your subject.

Get closer
In photos of people, the subjects can often be lost amidst too much background. Get close to
your subject to make sure they are the focus of your shot, and position them to one side of the
frame, not dead centre. This will give your frame a non-amateur look.

Use the rule of thirds

For landscape shots, try to fill the frame with one third sky and two thirds land. Or if the sky is
really interesting, do it the other way. Half-and-half never looks quite right.

Here’s how to take a great holiday portrait with a DSLR

Step 1
Don’t shoot pictures with the sun directly behind you: first, you might cast a shadow across the
frame, and second, the person in the shot will probably be squinting.
If you have to shoot into the sun, put the flash on so you don’t get a dark subject – this is called
“fill flash.”

Step 2
It’s better to get a good shot of your subject than a bad shot of them with the scenery, so don’t
worry about cropping or letting the background go out of focus. If you really want the scenery in
all its glory, pick the smallest aperture you can to get everything in focus.

Step 3
If nothing else, the person’s eyes should be sharp, as they’re the first things we look at. If your
subject is off-centre, choose the focus point nearest their eyes. Blurry eyes don’t make for great
pics.
Here’s how to take a great action shot with a rugged camera

Step 1
Don’t be afraid to get in close. Of course, you don’t want to put yourself in any danger, but use
the zoom to crop in really close and fill the frame.

Step 2
Play around with shutter speeds. Anything slower than 1/60th of a second will give some blur
(depending on the speed of the action) -- and blur conveys a sense of movement. Try 1/30th to
capture the movement of car wheels.

Step 3
Try the burst mode. Taking a sequence of action shots using this function can not only give a
better chance of capturing the right moment, but you could end up with a cool sequence of shots
that tells the story. Don’t rely on it, though