That's a nice looking MINI.

Of the four, I like the first one the best taken as a whole, the others I like the MINI, but the house as a backdrop takes away from the overall impact of the photos.

 

I'm not sure which is the first one, but I like the bottom one
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co..._2_001-med.jpg

For it's very aggressive stance and nice glossy window reflection.

 

I appreciate the kind words gentlemen...especially coming from such camera/video savvy memebers of the MINI society. On these particular shots I had just finished washing the car and decided to get some pictures in using angles I had seen in a magazine publication I subscribe to(motto/thought: imitation is the greatest form of flattery)..............I'd say they worked out pretty well consideng I took it with a point-and-shoot Nikon Digital .

 

IMO, a lot of the P&S capability goes undiscovered by most owners. Spending some time with the manual, even if you've had your camera for a while, will enable you to learn more about using it even more effectively.

For instance, I also have a Nikon 4300 P&S, but didn't take the time to fully understand how to adjust all of the manual mode settings until after I had owned the camera for two years. I wish now that I had re-visited the camera manual at some point before then.

 

I really believe that technology can HELP a casual user make beautiful stuff, but a skilled person using even the most basic of tools can do it even better. I will draw on my video background for an example.

Shooting good video is all about the lighting. Do a poor job of lighting your subject, and your video will be grainy, blurry, lacking color, and overall very amateur looking---even with the best of cameras.

Take a cheapy video camera and give it the best possible lighting you can do, and not only will that help compensate for the lack of technology the tool presents (say lack of low light sensitivity), people will focus more on the subject and less on the distracting technical merits of the work.

Although people in the know do tend to notice those things, and will still debate the technical aspects to death anyways.

My point is that I've been able to shoot a lot of really great stuff with my Nikon P & S, both an 880 and now a 4300. I've bumped into its limitations in many ways during low light situations, and lack of needed resolution for really big stuff where a DSLR would really shine.

But this has really only come after shooting thousands and thousands of pictures with my P & S.

Don't worry about the technology. Master the art of photography, including lighting and composition, and the lack of technology will be much less of an issue.

Just my 2cents.

Richard

 

Great advice there OctaneGuy!

Also, something that hasn't been mentioned yet that would help is getting a tripod. It can help significantly both in terms of being a stable platform and allow you to use longer shutter times. In addition, it will help you become more deliberate in how you compose your picture.