Photography help with Darky and Sammy!

[Samurai]

Darky, you want these posts trimmed off into a seperate thread?

[Darkness]

Sounds like a good idea.

[somacruz145]

Thanks guys I was going to ask you to move the posts because I didn't want to steal Darkness' thread Oh and about the pictures I will copy all the informations from the description and post them in text format under each of my new submission.

[Samurai]

that's great Adam.

It would also be really good if you could add an attachment to your initial post, just so the gallery has a thumbnail.

[backstept]

Originally Posted by somacruz145

Thanks everyone for your wise words Guess my camera isn't so bad after all ... maybe I just wanted too much from the pictures Ok once I finish my school-leaving exams I'm going to start doing some nice pictures ... well, at least I'll try.

Here's what I did a few minutes earlier - a pic of my phone. I applied some changes to the contrast and brightness so that the effect of the glow is more visible. What do you think ?

when doing close-up or macro shots with a camera that doesn't have manual focus it helps to know the minimum focus distance when using the macro mode (usually a little flower icon) so you don't get too close and blurry
my camera seems to be around 3 or 4 inches minimum focus distance
play around and see how your camera focuses on close up stuff

in the image of your phone it seems like the focus plane is right at the tip of the LG strap on the bottom, and the phone itself is out of focus
try moving your camera around until the subject is in focus

take lots of pictures! sometimes good photography just happens! it's difficult to take a picture and have it come out exactly the way you want on the first try. you never know what sort of shots you've taken until you go back and look at them full size. by taking a lot of pictures you're bound to come out with a few surprises, and you'll be able to pick and choose the best of the batch

[somacruz145]

Thanks Andy I used the macro shot and I did about 8 pictures in a row and this one was the sharpest one ... However, I will try to do another batch of pics but this time they will be at day so they should be a lot better. Once I'm done with exams (ahhh just 3 more days) I will do tons of photos and hopefully at least some of them will turn out nice Spring just kicked in not so long ago the trees and flowers bloom like crazy (they're all over the city - over here no one controls how plants grow ) so it should be a pleasure capturing that on ... SD card .
Oh and Samurai, the thumbnail is in place
Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate it

[Darkness]

Concerning the picture of that cellphone ... I wouldn't bet my life on it, but the white balance is probably off and I think the exposure time was a little too long - I think that blurred it a little.

Speaking of sharpness ... how do you resize your pictures?

[Samurai]

I'd side with Darky on that one, though Andy is also right in suggesting that you experiment with different angles, distances and focal-lengths.

The majority of compact digital cameras usually perform quite well in macro scenarios, your Optio T20 should be no different- Pentax glass is good stuff.

A good way to explain White balance would be to pop your camera on a small tabletop tripod (the kind of thing you buy for £5 in corner stores) and take a selection of identical photos, changing the white balance setting for each of them. Typically a compact camera like yours will have between four and six settings, including an "auto" option (which is often good enough, except in low-light conditions). By changing the settings between otherwise identical photos, you'll gain a better understanding of the effect of White Balance parameters on your photography.

Tip: chances are, with your Pentax you'll need to change it from the "Auto" mode (or the green camera icon, depending on model) to "Program" (or a "P" symbol) to access features like flash options and White Balance.

[Darkness]

I'd say it's time for you to show some pics, Sam-OO-Rey.

[Samurai]

Bah, always on at me to get out there and be creative and such like....

Truth is, I've been snowed under with work recently. I got out and about the other week and took some pics, but a nasty change in weather and lack of inspiration (I was just at the coast- I always seem to end up with similar pics, need to break that rut) meant I didn't get anything that sort of "jumped off" the camera at me. I suppose I could upload some Velvet Revolver pics- some of them came out nice. Only thing is I'll have to do them from the PC, as SFM doesn't like people uploading from Mac OS (****ed if I know why, it's the only damned forum that gives me any trouble....)

I'll see what I can do though.