What kind of camera did you use? Pictures are nice. If you are using a DSLR I would shot at F 16 or F22 and you would get more depth of field. This would make the pictures a little sharper if this is what you want.

I would say that you could get a beginner DSLR with a kit lens that is 55-200mm. This depends how much you know about photography and how much you are willing to learn. There are some point and shoot cameras that have long zooms and are simple to use. If you are not going to blow the pictures up very large this would work providing the shutter speed is fairly fast. Sam's Club is selling a Canon Rebel T2i with a 17-55 IS and a 55-250IS lens for about $849.00. This may seem like a lot of money but you will be paying around $500 for a point and shoot with a long zoom. The Rebel T2i has high definition video and you won't outgrow it very quickly. It also has an eighteen megapixel sensor, which is APS-C size.

I would set the exposure first and then set my focus. I very seldom let the camera set my exposure. I only use what the camera tells me as a guide and then I go up or down a stop, 1/3, 2/3, etc. I then decide what I want in focus. As you get more experienced you will find that you will only let the camera set the exposure in tricky lighting situations or situations where you have to shoot very quickly. If you have time try to bracket your exposures.

The rule of thumb is that what is 1/3 of the way in front of the main subject will be in focus. Of course all of this is determined by the F stop, the focal length of the lens and your distance from the subject. If it were me I would focus on the swan using an F-stop of 4.0 or 5.6 and that would put some of what is in front of the swan out of focus and some of what is in the back of the swan out of focus. That is why I always use the center focus point because I can focus on the subject and then recompose. I always want the subject to capture the viewers attention. The rest of the elements in the picture just add to the composition like the high grass. If you use all the focus points the camera is determining what is in focus, not the photographer.

I used to read Herbert Keppler's articles in Popular Photography and he used to always say that if you can afford a $5,000 camera body and a $2,000 lens buy it but for the rest of us a Canon or Nikon prosumer camera and lens will do just fine. I have owned Hasselblads, Canon F-1's with motor drives etc. The main thing is the person with the camera in his or her hand. The most important tool is the photographer's ability to see an image in his mind and to create it with the tools at hand. A professional camera will not make you a better photographer. The only thing that will make you a better photographer is to constantly take pictures and read everything that you can get your hands on.

I have a Canon SD1100 elph point & shoot and you can go into the menu and have the flash to not go off or go off all the time in manual mode. Go to Steve's digicam and look at the specs on the point and shoots. You could probably put that question in the forum. My camera is 3 years old.

Photography is all about light. If you have a decent flash with an off-camera shoe cord, a flash diffuser (such as stofen) and can balance the ambient light with the flash light (white balance) you can do an adequate job. Remember you can also go into Photoshop, Elements, or Lightroom and clean up your mistakes as long as your exposure is not too far off. Take as many images as you have time to take while bracketing exposures as long as the children are patient enough for you to do it. If you can use a tripod you can use your self-timer and get into the picture.

The problem with point and shoot cameras on the wide end is basically the very small sensors. I do not know of any that would be that wide if you are using the 35mm comparison. This is why professional and advanced photographers want full frame (35mm) sensor DSLRs. We love the long end but the price you pay is on the wide end because even with the APS-C sensor you have to have a 11mm lens to have a 16mm wide angle using a 35mm comparison.

I think the photos are pretty good, especially the macro shot of the fly which is extremely difficult to do. What the other photographer was talking about was the "rule of thirds" which is a good technique but is not always used, especially in macro shots. Sometimes it adds better composition, sometimes not. In the 40+ years I have been a serious photographer there has never been a photograph that I feel could not have been improved, basically because of the subjective nature of the craft. I love the picture of the rooster mainly because of the composition. If you notice the rooster is in the right 3rd of the picture, "rule of 3rds".)

I would not buy another point and shoot for $400.00 but I would invest in a used DSLR such as a Canon 20D, Nikon D70s. you could probaby find one of those cameras with a lens for $400.00.

Hi Ruth! If you are using a DSLR with a short zoom lens, say 17-55mm kit lens, get as close as you can to the bars at as wide of an aperture as the tele end of the lens will allow, normally about 5.6, and you should be able to get a decent picture. Try to have a shutter speed of at least 1/60 or 1/90 of a second to avoid camera shake unless you have image stabilization in the lens or camera body. Good Luck!!

No becasue too many people still take pictures with 35mm SLRs. I still own two and 1 is worth over a $1.000.

Depth of field is controlled by 3 things. Aperture, the smaller the aperture, the more depth of field. The distance to the subject and the focal length of the lens. If you can set those 3 things on the camera you can control the depth of field. Small apertures are like F16, 22, 32 etc. The farther you are from the subject, the more depth of field you have. You have more depth of field with point and shoot cameras because of their small sensors

Increase the ISO to about 800 and set your shutter speed to about 1/60 and your F stop at about 5.6. This is at dusk. Any later than this you would need a tripod.

It is definitely worth $100. The lens is worth more than $100. The Nikon D100 was an excellent camera when it came out. You would need to read the book and have someone give you some instruction on how to use the camera. Hopefully he still has the manual. If not you can download it from Nikon's website.