My kids take part in a summer drama camp, whose big finish is producing a show. As with most parents, I was there with my camera. Knowing a few simple techniques, though, meant I was more likely to get some good pictures. And these tips are easy to do, even with the little point-and-shoot camera I was using.

Flashes are popping off all around me during the show, as parents and grandparents try to get shots of their heirs in action. What most of them don't realize is that those flashes aren't helping at all. That little built-in flash on the camera will usually have a range of 8-10 feet. That's not much help if the subject is 50-feet away (see photo).

Tip #1 - Turn off the flash. Not only will it not reach your subject (which is too far away), it will light up the foreground, which in this case are the backs other people's heads.

Most of the time these shows are presented in an auditorium where the only light is on the stage. The camera doesn't know that, and if there's a lot of dark area included in the frame, the meter will take that area into account when setting exposure. What happens then is that the stage area is overexposed, or comes out too light (see photo).

Tip #2 - Use Exposure Compensation. Almost every digital camera has the ability to override the automatic metering with a simple Exposure Compensation adjustment. It's most often found through a button with a +/- icon on it. You want to underexpose to darken the stage area. Try -1.0 as a starting point.

It's not unusual to get blurry photos. That can happen from too low a shutter speed or not holding the camera steady when shooting. There are two things you can do to help prevent that: first, be steady. Use a tripod, or if handholding, grip the camera firmly with both hands, press the camera to your face to steady it and squeeze, don't jerk, the shutter button. The second thing is to raise the ISO. Most compact cameras can do a reasonable job at 400 ISO, and digital SLR's can work well up to around 1600 ISO. Go into your menus and change to one of those numbers based on your camera.

Tip #3 - Raise the ISO of the camera, and hold still while shooting the photos.

Remember that cameras don't know what kind of light you're taking pictures in. They have to guess at that and adjust the color accordingly. Almost all cameras will create yellowish images when shooting under household or stage lighting. There's an easy fix for this. Tell your camera what the light is. Find the White Balance menu on your camera and set it to "Tungsten" or "Incandescent," in this case. That should make the color look more natural (see pair of photos).

Tip #4 - Set your camera's white balance control to match the light you're shooting in.

Lastly, despite trying to do everything right, you're still bound to get some blurry photos and ones that just don't work out. With digital there's no reason not to shoot a LOT of photos, to make sure you get at least a few good ones.

Tip #5 - Shoot plenty of pictures to be sure you get a few good ones.

There. Five simple tips that can help you make the most of their stage performance, and give you some photos worth keeping for years to come.