Going on a cruise.. Need some advise

[shankar]

Hello..

I'll be on a cruise to Mexico next week and I'm looking for some tips on getting some great shots...

Equipment I have...

Fuji Finepix S700
A tripod
Hoya circular polarizer and a ND-4

I'm fairly experienced with the camera and the various "scene" modes that are preprogrammed. For exterior shots on the ship or on the Mayan ruins I may use mostly Auto / landscape / portrait modes. I plan to use the museum / indoor mode for interior shots.

I'm looking for tips on using the right settings for manual mode or the Aperture priority (Pick the aperture and camera picks the shutter spped) or the Sutter Priority ( reverse of the previous) for the outdoor and indoor shots. For example, what would be the bast F stop to use for capturing the entertainment shows ?

Thanks for your help

[toriaj]

The main thing you want to avoid is camera shake. That means that if your shutter speed is too long, the picture will be blurry just because your hands can't quite hold it still. Of course, if you use a tripod properly, that's not a problem. But if you are going to handhold your shots, make sure that your shutter speed is no slower than 1/focal length in 35mm terms. For example, if your focal length is 100 mm, you would need a shutter speed of no longer than 1/100 sec to get a clear shot. It looks like the mm on your S700 need to be multiplied by 5 to get the focal length in 35mm terms. (So if your S700 said it was at 50mm, you would need a shutter speed of 1/(50*4) or 1/200 sec.) Adjust aperture and ISO as needed for a good exposure, or use Shutter Priority.

Once you have the shutter speed handled, consider the aperture. You want a large aperture (smaller number, such as f/3.5) if you want the background to be blurred (although you need to be pretty close to the subject in order to get the blurred effect.) Use a small aperture (such as f/16) if you want everything in the shot to be in focus, such as a landscape. If you just want your focus point to be clear and you're not too picky about the rest of the scene, go with f/8 or f/11. You can use Aperture Priority to maintain the aperture you want.

But if you're handholding in low light, open the aperture to a smaller number to help you get the shutter speed you need.

Bump up your ISO as a last resort, but I wouldn't go above ISO 400 unless you're really stuck and want the shot. Just know that the image will be really, really noisy if you do.

I hope that helps.

P.S. Handholding in low light sounds romantic ;)

[shankar]

P.S. Handholding in low light sounds romantic ;)

:D:D:D

That's the whole idea of taking the tripod so that can hold hand(s)....

Thanks for your tips... I'll follow them...

[toriaj]

You're welcome, enjoy :)