Photography thread (closed thread, see first and last post)

[20kidsonhill]

I was going to ask you about using the index card to help with the flash not being to bright, I have had problems with my flash being too flashy, but with out it the pictures doesn't seem to have enough lighting.

I am using a non-slr canon. It is at the high-end, but still non -slr. SL/r is on my wish list. it is a canon powershot S5IS 8 megapixal.

It needs a far amount of lighting to take a good picture, otherwise the pictuers can look really flat. So I have a habit of always using the flash. But then too much flash isn't a good thing, so I was trying to step back from my picture and use the zoom lens and the flash, thinking I was further away so the flash wouldn't be so bright.

 

[redtailgal]

20kids:

The index card trick is good, but be very careful not to block out too much light.

You have a few tricks that MAY help depending on the situation. First, try angling the index card toward the ceiling, IF YOU ARE UNDER A WHITE CEILING. It wont work otherwise. The goal would be to "bounce" the flash off the ceiling. Of course, your shadows will be strange in this one unless you are VERY specific with your camera angles.

I have used and had soem success with muslim, folded wax paper (the easiest to work with), and cheesecloth. Be very careful to not have them actually touching your flash unit.

Backing up will help with the amount of flash, but using the zoom on a digital camera really tends to sacrifice picture quality.

Honestly, it sounds like you may have a settings issue with your camera. Do you have the exposure compensation adjusted to far (it should be set at 0)? Is your ISO set to auto? What is your white balance setting? Get out your manual, and see if you can find these settings and let me know what they are. If you cant find them, thats ok, we will work on it. Even if all the settings are "right", you can tweak them a little, to help you have better exposed pics that dont need so much flash. I think we can fix this.

 

[redtailgal]

Livinwright:

Yes Macro is for the really close up shots.

I would love to see your flowers!

You will need a tripod or some sort of improv in order to take a good eye pic.In macro, the tiniest movement is HUGE to the camera.

Once you get the camera set up on the tripod, you will need to locate your "timed release button". This type of photography will get blurry from even the motion of pushing the shutter release.

As for the eye, can you find these.........{ } or something similar in your viewfinder? Put those directly over the iris of the eye. Set up your time release, and press your shutter release down HALFWAY. Wait a second, the camera may beep. Then press it the rest of the way down and step back while the timer does its thing.

If this does not get you a clear pic, try putting your camera on the setting for sports (see the little running man). This setting gives you a quicker shutter speed, but you may need more lighting with this setting.

Give it a try, and post your eye pic on here, so I can see if we need to make any changes.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Livinwright:

Yes Macro is for the really close up shots.

I would love to see your flowers!

You will need a tripod or some sort of improv in order to take a good eye pic.In macro, the tiniest movement is HUGE to the camera.

Once you get the camera set up on the tripod, you will need to locate your "timed release button". This type of photography will get blurry from even the motion of pushing the shutter release.

As for the eye, can you find these.........{ } or something similar in your viewfinder? Put those directly over the iris of the eye. Set up your time release, and press your shutter release down HALFWAY. Wait a second, the camera may beep. Then press it the rest of the way down and step back while the timer does its thing.

If this does not get you a clear pic, try putting your camera on the setting for sports (see the little running man). This setting gives you a quicker shutter speed, but you may need more lighting with this setting.

Give it a try, and post your eye pic on here, so I can see if we need to make any changes.

Our camera doesn't have a little running man on it... ???

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Periwinkle Myrtle

Wild Violets

Dandelion

Wild Blueberry

 

[Ms. Research]

Beautiful close ups. Love the Dandelion.

The first one, the flower looks a little blurry, is that just my old eyes? The rock in the background looks clearer to me. Well that's what really draws my eye. The rest of the close ups are so sharp!

 

[redtailgal]

Do you have any type of sports setting on your camera? The reason I am saying to go to the sports mode is that the human eye is never truely still. It vibrates, and in macro the tiniest little movement costs focus. The sports setting has a quicker shutter speed that will "freeze" motion. Check your user manual, but if you cant find anything, let me know and I will research your camera and help you find the proper settings for the eye pic.

As for your macro shots, nice job. take a look at the blueberry.........see how the blueberry is nicely focused and the background is blurred out? This is called Depth of Field (its a good thing btw). It makes the focal part of your picture 'pop" more, and is esp beneficial in macro.

However, depth of field can complicate macro, too. Look at your dandelion. See how the outermost petals are more in focus than the middle? you have a very narrow depth of field in this shot. There is not much you can do to change your depth of field with a point and shoot. You can however, use a few tricks to make the most out of what you have.

Remember to hold down the shutter release about halfway for a second before pressing it all the way down.
Use a tripod if you can.
And, this sounds weird, but back off the picure just a LITTLE (1/2 to 1 inch). This will let the camera do a better job of focusing in on the whole flower. Then if you want the flower to take up more of the framed shot, crop it like you want.

The periwinkle is a wonderful example of how narrow your depth of field is. She how the very back is blurred out, the very front is blurred out, but those few leaves in the "Middle" (thinking front to back) are nice and sharp? those clear leaves are in the middle of your depth of field. Try a few macro shots on just the normal setting and see what you get.

 

[animalloverabh]

1. What type of camera do you have (point and shoot or SLR) Cannon EOS 1000D - 18-55mm

2. What do you want to learn? How to do better portraits and the such

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Beautiful close ups. Love the Dandelion.

The first one, the flower looks a little blurry, is that just my old eyes? The rock in the background looks clearer to me. Well that's what really draws my eye. The rest of the close ups are so sharp!

Not just you, it was one of my first close up flower shots with this camera... and yes it is a bit blurry. I had a better one of the periwinkle myrtle than that one.. but it is on my laptop that decided to kill itself. Literally, it did. One day it decided that it no longer had a boot system.
Anyway, I focussed too much on the heart of the flower... I was on a kick of getting the inner parts of flowers... a personal project to see the different patterns and workings of different flowers.

 

[redtailgal]

1. What type of camera do you have (point and shoot or SLR) Cannon EOS 1000D - 18-55mm

2. What do you want to learn? How to do better portraits and the such

I have a lot of info here:
http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14312

Can you tell me what sort of portraits you are interested in?