Canon SX110 IS -- tips?

[SoNewToDisney!]

So I bought this little guy, after returning a Canon SX10 because I thought it was a tad too big for us for every day use. Maybe in the future I will upgrade and eventually make it to a dSLR!

We are leaving for Disney in a few weeks so would like to master what I can on the SX110 before we go.

Any other users? Now that the search feature is gone I can't hunt for threads on this camera

Top needs for the short term are:

Be able to take crisp & vibrant images,
Quick & clear action shots,
Be able to take on the spot pics of the kids as needed,
And also somehow become able to do portrait shots where the background goes out of focus a bit (ywim?).

There is an auto & easy feature but I feel like maybe I could go a bit beyond that. The instruction manual is less than helpful but is a start.

TIA

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Congratulations on your purchase!

There are no threads that I know of on that particular camera, but there is a long running Canon S3 IS thread that you'll probably find helpful. (You might want to post there and ask if anyone's using it.) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1235546&referrerid=70088

To get those shots you want, try using either Portrait Mode or Aperture Priority. Practice lots. I started to get some info for you yesterday but there's so much out there. The terms you want to google are depth of field and bokeh.

Besides using the manual, if you pick up a basic book of digital photography, this will help you get started in learning to use the camera to its fullest. I really like The Kodak Most Basic Book of Digital Photography for beginners. It's easy to read and nicely illustrated. Sometimes photography information can get tedious, but this book keeps it simple.

Good luck, and have a great trip!