These photos were taken today with the simple GE Digital Superzoom I have. Again, you have to understand how the zoom works, account for the distance and where the thing you are aiming at is in the range and shoot. You have to learn what your settings do, how they do it and then select the automatic settings accordingly. This robin was about 15 feet up the tree. The first photo is with the zoom only half engaged.
What I liked best about this particular shot is that the buds didn't get in the way of the bird. It was framed fairly well. The picture follows the rule of thirds, just not in the way they mean. The subject should be in the two thirds margin. Instead, I have the background divided by thirds with the blue sky slicing between the grey of the trunks. The bird is not perfectly centered in the mid section of the rectangle. And it is not crowded.
For the next shot the zoom was fully engaged which brought in the details of the bird's feathers. It also brought the buds in closer and out of focus to partially obscure the all-important red breast. I like his attitude, bill pointed high. He had just finished a song.I would also like to point out that I did not have to edit these photos. No darkening the shadows. No adding contrast. No sharpening. No adding clarity and no adjusting color.
This is what can be done with a point and shoot if you take the time to learn how these cameras work. Nothing wrong with making these types of cameras your learning tool. Better to spend a couple of hundred dollars until you find out if you really want to do this than the hundreds and hundreds it takes to buy the SLRs.
