Canon PowerShot SD700 IS

[Loopy Lisa]

I got this camera for christmas from my boyfriend Nick. He said he did alot of research and found that for what I want to use it for, was the best deal and has raved many times about hot great it is.
But to him so long as it takes a clear pic of him snowboarding, all is well, lol.

I'm trying to learn it myself...going through the motions and reading up on the advanced manual...what I want to know is, can I use this camera to take decent almost-professional photos or would I need an SLR, photography degree and proper lamps?

What I am trying to say is that we went to a professional freelance photographer to get some family pics done...granted, they were nice, clear and crisp, but I'm looking at them thinking "Shit, I could do THAT...couldn't I?" Plus, they cost us $125 for 6 8X10 images. Not sure if that is a deal or not, I don't do photography as a business so...

I'm just wondering if I can take "professional" looking pics with it. I'd much rather set it up on a tri-pod (or have someone take them FOR me), hang a white sheet for a background, open up the blinds (for natural lighting cause I think that's the best) or set up a small spot light and have fun playing Self Model/Hot Mamacita.

Bottom line, so far so good...the only thing is when I have the flash OFF, the pictures sometimes are blurry even when I am holding the darn thing as still as I possibly can. But the flash is so bright that for the most part I prefer it off.

Suggestions/comments/queries?

[hewligan]

The camera needs a certain amount of light to make a picture. If it's darker in the room, it needs to find a way to get more light. There are two ways to do that - the first is a longer exposure, and the second is a larger aperture (the hole that lets the light onto your sensor).

Once the exposure gets above a certain length of time (which depends on your lens and on your sensor, but is still gonna be a fraction of a second) there's no one on the planet who's hands are steady enough to hold the camera still enough to not see blur. You have to use a tripod.

The alternative, a wider aperture, affects your depth of field - the amount of the picture that is in focus. A small depth of field, and very little of your picture is in focus, again making it blurry.

Knowing about this stuff is why professional photographers - and I'm definitely not one - get the big bucks. I'd have to say that, based on experience, they really are worth it.

Still, it's nothing you can't learn about if you really want to. It just takes a bit of work. This is a pretty good place to start:

http://www.morguefile.com/archive/classroom.php?MORGUEFILE=3a8frim7m173rceapng5vraqi 7

[Loopy Lisa]

Killer, thanks hewligan.
I just figured I could save myself a few pennies by learning the basics of digital photography, that's all. I mean it's not like I would set up tripods all over the church for our wedding, lol...THAT I would pay the said big bucks for.

Just for random house shots of my daughter or something of the nature variety, I wanted to be able to make look nice.

Again, merci beaucoup!