Focusing the Camera

The little new/used camera I took to Pecos with me has really nice potential, I realized, for taking jewelry shots. But I couldn't understand what the heck all those symbols were, including the blinking red hand (did it know about my dream???) so after a day of less than stellar shots I finally looked up the manual online.

Ha! I was disappointed at first there was no manual focus, but then the manual explained. Whatever is in the center of the shot is what's in focus. So, put what you want in focus in the center of the shot, press the "take a picture" button halfway until the camera locks in the focus and exposure, then move the camera to compose your shot, and click down the rest of the way.

I suppose my old/used camera was like that too, but it had a manual focus and a "steady shot" option for long shutter speeds. This new one doesn't do well under low light conditions (the pictures are blurry), but the color balance is really good, hardly any color correction needed so far.

So here's a "before I knew" and an "after I knew". The top photo, irritatingly, has the hinge of the locket in focus. The bottom photo has the part I want in focus -- the rhinestone and rose.