Kodak Z710 didnt focus on the distant waterfall through the opennings in the trees

My Kodak Z710 ( non SLR) camera didn't focus on a distant waterfall ,instead it faded it out ,the foreground stuff was OK but through the openning in the trees I could see a waterfall but not through my viewfinder ,it was like a washed out shot over exposed a lot . I was at a remote spot where I was surrounded by trees but had a clear shot at a distant waterfall about a third of a mile away. I wanted to get my dog and fire pit in the photo so I got a lot of the trees that surrounded my spot into the photo also ( which I wanted ) . My camera has X10 magnification so I zoomed in to about X 7 to bring the waterfall ( wapta falls ) into focus, instead it didnt show them clearly , if I walked forward to the edge of the cliff it was OK as there were no trees in the photo just mostly the distant waterfall. Should I have put the back lite feature on? Or ajusted the aperature and/or shutter speed ? Im not there now and am experimenting with what this camera can do before I decide if I should get an inexpensive DSLR camera. This camera lets me ajust aperature ,and shutter speeds and iso.s . Im new at anything but point and shoot . And like the idea of taking unusual photos , but maybe this Kodak is all I need ???
Neil

If I'm following this, you zoomed in to focus, then zoomed back. I'm sure the camera would have refocused at that time. I don't know the camera at all, but most point-and-shoots don't give you much control over focus, or focus-lock. Also, the camera may have selected a very large aperture (low f-number) for its automatic exposure.

The best thing to try would be to force a small aperture (large f-number) to maximize the depth of field, but that could force the shutter speed to something long enough to blur the picture with camera motion. If you close down the aperture, you have to open the shutter longer.

What you're finding is that photography and vision are two different concepts, and when you see something and want to shoot it, you have to think about how the camera will see it. That comes from experience, and from experimenting.

Also, the exposure range of a camera doesn't even begin to approach what your brain can do with what you see with your eyes. If the picture was primarily shaded woods and the waterfall was brightly lit, it would be washed out in the picture. Setting for backlight would probably only make it worse. Setting for backlight increases exposure to make up for the facte that a bright backgrund will make the camera reduce exposure because of the amount of light coming in. Background setting tells the camera, "Go ahead and make the background too blight so I can see the foreground."

Unless the camera has a menu choice for manual focus you have to use other setting to get a good photo. To get a greater depth of field (area in focus, smaller lens aperture) increase the ISO menu setting.

Note not many entry level point and shoots have very little in camera controls in the menu. But you still can get $200 point and shoots with manual control, but you need to check before you purchase the camera, as the manufacturers will remove all camera control settings to make the camera simple for the unwashed masses.

My camera has what Kodak calls PA S M the text read as follows
"The highest level of creative control. You set the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO speed. Exposure compensation acts as an exposure meter, recommending the proper combination of aperture and shutter speed to produce an acceptable exposure. To prevent camera shake, use a tripod for slow shutter speeds. Press to select setting"
I'm having fun experimenting .Thanks folks