Still Lifes 1 – Using the SCENE mode

There are many occasions when you want to take still lifes, for example when shooting a picture for an auction site on the internet. Since it is a picture of a product, you want to take a picture that is as attractive and as close to reality as possible. When the picture is different from real life, the charm of the object may be lost in the picture. In most cases still life shots are taken indoors. You will need good lighting but if you use the camera’s built-in flash the shadows can be too hard and the results may not be so good.

Set [SCENE] to [AUCTION]
When you use the flash, the shadows can be too hard and the shape and color of the subject as well as its material texture may not come through very well. Try using a desktop lamp or a similar source of light to avoid hard shadows in the picture. In [AUCTION] mode 3 pictures are taken at different exposure levels. You can display them and select the picture you like best. The image size is automatically set to a smaller size, but it is sufficient for uploading to an internet auction site.

Compare the effects of different values of exposure compensation

From the left: exposure compensation at +0.3, +0.7 and +1.0

Useful things to remember

• Depending on the light source you use, the colors may not appear natural. Adjust the white balance to match the light source.
• If your camera model does not have the [AUCTION] mode, set the flash mode to flash off. If your camera has it, try setting the [DRIVE] mode to auto bracketing (BKT).
• Even using a light source, indoor light conditions are seldom as bright as when shooting outdoors. Stabilize the camera by using a tripod or other similar equipment.