Slow Sync

This is useful in taking portraits in low-light situations. In most situations when we attempt portraiture with a low-lit background with flash, the background comes out dark, without any details. The Slow Sync mode will correct this, exposing both the subject and the background well. But in this mode, the shutter speed will be very slow. Hence, you need to keep your hands perfectly steady even after the flash has fired.

This photograph was taken in a dark portico. To freeze the girl in action, I had to use flash. But an ordinary flash would have left the background dark. So I had to use slow sync flash here.

Histogram

This is often regarded as the exposure meter of the 21st century. The histogram shows information on the exposure of each part of your scene. In general, the key is to avoid any shadow or highlight clipping and to make the graph fall well within the camera’s dynamic range. The shift in histogram towards one side can be considered an accurate measurement of the deviation from the correct exposure.

All the features mentioned here are available in most compact cameras except a few such as the IXUS series from Canon and a handful of other point-and-shoot cameras. So next time you plan an outing with your compact, make sure you go out, prepared to use these features. Not using the available features in your camera is no less crime than buying a battery of Brahmos missiles just to celebrate Diwali with them.