Photo help with a bridge camera

[Louis]

I have a nikon coolpix l340, and to be honest i'm struggling with taking good photos! What tips do you guys have which could help me?
I feel i'm not getting the depth and clarity as I would from a DSLR but I think it's mainly just me. With photoshop they can look OK, but still not amazing.

Any helps greatly appreciated! Are there settings I should play around with when taking photos?

 

[mattf4r]

"Depth" will because of the aperture on the point and shoot. Can't really do much about that.

You may just be expecting more than the camera can do, you don't have much scope apart from auto on such a camera. Photoshop will do little to enhance a photo's quality and is mainly used to make adjustments where needed.

If you are seriously interested in photography, you can pick up a used DSLR for little money on ebay and pick the basics up pretty quick!

 

[Louis]

"Depth" will because of the aperture on the point and shoot. Can't really do much about that.

You may just be expecting more than the camera can do, you don't have much scope apart from auto on such a camera. Photoshop will do little to enhance a photo's quality and is mainly used to make adjustments where needed.

If you are seriously interested in photography, you can pick up a used DSLR for little money on ebay and pick the basics up pretty quick!

Hoping to try get the best out of this camera first to be honest! I know a DSLR would be better, but i'd rather get better with this, than just splurge on something with more options than I know how to use.

 

[mattf4r]

Assuming its a basic bridge with just auto modes you can't really do much.
The camera will do all the metering and decide on exposure, iso and f stop for you.

The only thing you can do to visually improve your photos is work on composition, employ the rule of thirds etc.
I'd steer clear of PS, it's really not needed for basic photos.

People new to photography have a tendency to go OTT with PS and trust me when I say less is more.

If you're looking to improve on your photographs and have a desire to edit, lightroom is the place to look. It's simple to you and yields great results if you don't go full hero with all the sliders.

 

[chris_p]

Bridge cameras have come a long way, I completely dismissed my mum getting one as I've always been into DSLRs but I've been nothing but impressed. The same goes for my new compact, cannon G7x 2.

I don't know anything about the OPs camera, but my advise would be to have a look at photography websites and fully learn the basics of the art, then play with all the methods! Not a great deal of help I know, but a poor tradesman blames his tools.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

There will probably be a few good videos on YouTube which will show you how to get the most out of the camera tbh.

There will be better images taken with a shitty compact then there will be with a top of the range DSLR.

 

[McGherkin]

What modes are you shooting in? Any photos you can share?

Auto modes tend to bump up the ISO a lot, which kills quality. Also make sure of course that you're shooting in full resolution etc.

I don't really believe that bridge cameras can't take good pics, they're limited compared to DSLRs, but stick 'em in manual and if you know what you're doing they can take reasonable photos. This was taken using a years old Fuglyfilm Finepix S1600:

 

[White16valver]

+1 to Bridge cameras getting better pics than DSLRs in the hands of those with skills.

Bridge Cameras are very flexible - they are effectively DSLRs but without the changeable lenses, instead having a fixed-in-place lens that is usually designed to cover all the bases pretty well.

I would always recommend setting a camera up on a tripod or something that holds it in position, then taking the same photo over and over again while cycling through the different settings - e.g. going from F4 to F18, going from ISO 100 to ISO 3200, etc - and seeing how things change, such as picture quality, depth of field, speed of capture, etc. One can read a manual all the way through but it's only going out there and playing with it that the experience comes and things become second nature.

 

[Louis]

Thanks for all the replies.
Here are some of the photos i've taken with the camera in the past. I feel a lot of them would improve through a little editing. I do have lightroom, but have no idea how to use it properly so will follow some youtube videos.

DSCN0173 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0207 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0209 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0178 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0124 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0120 by Louis Walker, on Flickr


I was mainly struggling yesterday when trying to take some pictures in a dark environment (multi story carpark) so had issues with light and quality. All i've ever used so far is just auto everything. Here's some pics from yesterday.

DSCN0310 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0307 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

DSCN0303 by Louis Walker, on Flickr

 

[riz]

For thst environment either F1.8 or so or use a tripod..
In auto mode the camera probably sacrificed a little quality too stop the image from being blurry with a slow shutter speed.

The photo itself is fairly boring irrespective of your quality concerns.

Does your camera have a dial on to alter Aperture only?