Views on roadside by BenQ G1

Since BenQ G1 is a light weight digital camera, I carry it with me most of the time, especially when I get out and shoot pictures. I use it either as my back-up or snapshot camera to shoot views on roadside (幫BenQ寫的網誌，校稿中).
 



1. Views of  roadside

On sunny weekends, I would like riding a bicycle along the bank of rivers. There are a lot of beautiful views by the bicycle routes, such as sunset, flowers, birds, etc. From time to time, the beautiful views get my attention, making me stop and shoot pictures. 
 


 


Because of riding a bike, it’s not convenient to put a DSLR in my small backpack. Instead, the compact G1 becomes my good partner. Whenever I spot a nice view, I stop my bike, withdraw G1 out or my bag and press the shutter to take a picture. It’s easy and quick to shoot a good picture with G1. I don’t even have to get off my bike. 


 
2. Snapshots of roadside
 
On other occasions, I use G1 as my backup camera to shoot snapshots. I enjoy shooting and watching sunsets. My favorite location is a viewpoint by Keelung River near Peitou, Taipei. When it comes to a sunny day, I would go there and watch the sun going down slowly from the sky, touching the mountain top and disappearing below the horizon.   


 
 

The show isn’t over yet after the sun goes down. If it is my lucky day, I might have a chance to watch a magnificent show: the clouds changing colors from light yellow to orange and red. More surprisingly, the river reflects the colors of the clouds, creating a colorful picture. 

Of course, as a photography lover, I used to carry a DSLR and a G1 with me to take pictures of beautiful sunset. I usually set up the DSLR on a tripod and waiting for the magic moment. At the same time, I handheld G1 and quickly shoot pictures around the viewpoint. 
 

 


 
It’s easy to shoot sunset view with G1. Most of the time, I use P mode plus exposure compensation to control the exposure of a picture. If the color isn’t colorful, I change the color mode to vivid so as to add richness to the color of the picture.
 

P Mode, Vivid color.
 
Sometimes, I use HDR to balance lighting difference between the sky and the ground. However, the easiest way is to use sunset scene mode and let G1 take the sunset picture for me. All in all, G1 provides a variety of functions for me to take beautiful pictures of sunset.  


3. The usage of Aperture F1.8 

What are the functions of aperture F1.8 ? The answers are to create shallow depth of field and acquire higher shutter speeds when shooting pictures in dim light situation. 

Take the subsequent pictures for example. They are shot in a museum with dim light. In order to handhold G1 and get a picture of good quality, I set ISO at 100 and use aperture F1.8. Therefore, I can get shutter speeds around 1/100 second to prevent handshake and get a steady shot. 
 

 When shooting in a museum, you can use a larger aperture to get asafety shutter speed. P mode, F1.8, ISO100, 1/100 second.


 P mode, F1.8, ISO100, 1/77 second.

 
 P mode, F1.8, ISO800, 1/62 second.

On other occasions, I use larger apertures to shoot close-up subject for the purpose of getting shallow depth of field. In other words, I apply larger apertures to create a blurry background and let the subject standout of a picture.

Take the next picture for example. First, I use wide angle, AV (aperture priority) mode and set the aperture to F1.8. Then, I get as close as I can to shoot the dragonfly. With the settings and technique, I blur the background of the picture and show up the dragonfly.
 

 P mode, F1.8, ISO80, 1/742 second.

 4. Other roadside views shot by BenQ G1