Digital Photography Tips?

[gastro54]

Hey, as all of you probably know, everyone likes eye-candy of the new amp you just built, the newly released audio player, or headphones...

Does anyone have suggestions on how to take great pictures that look really nice? I have a Canon s410 4mp camera and my pics are mediocre at best.


Thanks

.

 

[MuZI]

How is that cammera btw, i would love to see pictures from it.

 

[Madcat05]

first of all, what don't you like about your pics? blurry pics, bad lighting, etc. ?

 

[DMaxwell]

I noticed a huge difference when I started using a little tripod, especially with macro shots. It's definitely a good investment. I found one at the dollar store.

 

[gastro54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madcat05 first of all, what don't you like about your pics? blurry pics, bad lighting, etc. ?

I think my worst problem is that my images come out kind of grainy, I think this comes from the high ISO setting that I have been using to take my pictures (400). Anything lower, and the pictures come out blurry. Note that I am not using a tripod when I take my pictures, so this is also probably a problem. Would you happen to have any suggestions for a tripod that isn't overly expensive? The lightning in my pictures is OK, but certainly not excellent, I would be glad to hear of any suggestions regarding that.

Muzi: I like the camera a lot, but I feel that I am not using it to its full potential. Here is an example of something I have taken.

Also, I am not that familiar with the function of the exposure, white balance, and ISO speed. The only one of these settings that I have tinkered with is the ISO, the rest I have just left on auto.

 

[mbriant]

The camera's lowest ISO setting should give you the best pictures....providing you have enough light. Your camera ( I'm assuming you're shooting in "auto" mode?) is likely slowing down the shutter too much for hand-holding with lower than 400 ISO settings, and this would explain the blurring you mentioned.

Shooting outside in natural light will really help your macro or close-up product shots by providing lots of light, allowing your camera to get maximum depth of field at a reasonably quick shutter speed. A tri-pod will also help a great deal....not only to reduce camera shake, but it tends to make you slow down a bit and really frame the shot properly .... as opposed to "snapshot" mode many of us get into when hand-holding a camera.

 

[gastro54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant The camera's lowest ISO setting should give you the best pictures....providing you have enough light. Your camera ( I'm assuming you're shooting in "auto" mode?) is likely slowing down the shutter too much for hand-holding with lower than 400 ISO settings, and this would explain the blurring you mentioned. Shooting outside in natural light will really help your macro or close-up product shots by providing lots of light, allowing your camera to get maximum depth of field at a reasonably quick shutter speed. A tri-pod will also help a great deal....not only to reduce camera shake, but it tends to make you slow down a bit and really frame the shot properly .... as opposed to "snapshot" mode many of us get into when hand-holding a camera.

Technicaly I am shooting in manual mode, but my camera gives the option to leave some of the setting on auto (in my case, I left the white balance and exposure settings on auto, but manually set the ISO at 400 because of the blurring on lower seetings).

Also, I think it would be more convenient (for me, atleast) to take the pictures inside, where I (presumably) would have more control over the lightning.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[md01]

For close up photography you'll want to stay away from high iso speed. The picture you provided isn't bad, just out of focus due to shallow depth of field. The camera must have been set to a wide aperature (small number like f 3.5). When making closeup captures you want the smallest aperature you can master (large number eg f16). I'm not familiar with your camera, but for closeup photgraphy you might have a macro mode (should look like a flower picture). If not, see if you can set camera to aperature priority mode. At that point you'll be responsible for setting the aperature and camera will be responsible for setting the shatter speed. And yes you'll need a tripod for this to work. An alternative that has worked for me for table-top shooting is a bag filled with coffee beans.

Also, I was going to recommend photoshop, but it's kind of spendy. PS is a great tool for fixing any mistakes you or your camera makes.

Composition wise, use the rule of thirds. Just imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over your scene. Place the main subject at one of the intersections where the lines meet, in the third quadrant from any side (hmm, I don't know if this is clear enough). But, never place your subject in the center of an image. Hmmm, that's all I can think of at the moment.

 

[gastro54]

The s410 does have a macro mode, and I was using it when I took that picture, so I think it was the lack of tripod that caused the blurring. Are there any particular brands of tripod that are good? The only tripods I have had experience with were flimsy and performed like crap.

 

[dffman2001]

To prevent blurriness, you need to keep your camera still. You can do this with a tripod. If you dont want to buy/use/find a tripod or dont have one with you, you can use basically anything to prop up the camera to the right position (such as books, cushions, pens) and then use the timer function to eliminate vibration. As your finger pushing on the shutter would cause shake and blur to your pictures, the timer allows you to remove your finger after pressing the shutter, the camera stops moving, and then takes the picture. BTW, this is the reason why there is usually a 2 second timer mode; its not enough time for you to run in the picture, but it allows the camera to stop moving when the frame is captured.

To prevent graininess, set at lowest ISO (ie. ISO50 or 100) and rely on the long shutter speed to capture the picture rather than turning the gain up on the CCD.

 

[gastro54]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far, they are all very helpfull.
I took this picture with ISO 50 and had the camera propped up against something and used the 2s timer.

The lightning isn't that good, but I think it's much clearer than previous attempts.

 

[raymondlin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gastro54 Technicaly I am shooting in manual mode, but my camera gives the option to leave some of the setting on auto (in my case, I left the white balance and exposure settings on auto, but manually set the ISO at 400 because of the blurring on lower seetings). Also, I think it would be more convenient (for me, atleast) to take the pictures inside, where I (presumably) would have more control over the lightning. Thanks for the reply.

Oh come on ! You can't beat natural day light, internal lights is not the same, and the temperature from the bulbs is completely different, you'll always get a yellow tone no matter what colour balance you use. What you are doing wrong is actually your own doing. unless you go into studio lighting, which is a whole other ball game.

1 - High ISO setting

2 - Blurred photos

And it's a catch 22, you use High ISO because it's dark inside (so much for having control over lighting......or the complete lack of it), if you use a lower ISO, you'll need longer exposure, this can be over come using a tripod but you don't have one so it goes back to higher ISO to get it sharp........and it goes around. All because the light isn't bright enough.

You'll probably notice that using the flash won't get you the same results, so just put on some shoes and get outside, Macro pictures of headphones and CD players are 2 a penny. Given the camera enough light, it should focus correctly and give a sharp image 99% of the time. Concentrate on taking a good photo.

 

[NEO]

S410 is a very good camera and is probable one of the top in compact 4mp range (some reviewers said it's hard to tell the different between the images from S4xx and G3). Your ISO setting is the one that cause the degradation of picture quality. The thing is you shoot the photo in a pretty low light sitaution which means that the camera is used near its limit of producing decent shots. One thing you can do is try to adjust flash setting and leave ISO at 100 or 200 at most. Or else you should try taking photos on the daytime. If you need to take photo in the room with limited light, try adding the light from fluorescent, neon bulb..etc. In this case you may need to play around with white balance setting. Mini Tripod is not expensive and with the lightweight of this camera you dont really need to buy the top brand. Just buy one which you feel comfortable with.

 

[Old Pa]

You are going to need to find ways to allow you to increase you exposures. Decreasing ISOs will reduce digital noise, but the kind of macro shots you like need higher f-stops to increase depth of field. A tripod is in your future, and you will probably add a clamp to add support options for camera stillness. It's been my experience that you can also learn to hold more steadily and trigger the shutter more gently than you do now just by practicing stillness, breath control, and gentleness on the shutter. All this helps greatly.

How are you releasing the shutter? If your digital camera cannot use a screw in shutter release, think about using your self timer or remote to eliminate body induced vibrations when tripping the shutter. Frame as tightly as possible in your viewfinder so as to minimize the amount of enlargement you will need in your final print.

Then think about additional light sources. You probably will not want to use direct flash or other light in your macro work because the ranges are so short and you will not want harsh shadows. Think about bouncing light off the ceiling and other reflectors to softly light your close-ups. I use both bounce flash (with wireless optical slave triggers) and bounced incandescent lights to gain several f-stops for increased depth of field and sharp focus from front to back in the photo.

Remember that still photography is entirely different from our normal visual experience. The more you do of still photography, the more your eye "sees" in still photography terms and you automatically internalize what adjustments do what in a picture. Digital is especially good for this process because you can see immediate results, eliminate bad exposures, and go back and try changes until your desired effect is obtained.

I'm just getting into digital still photography after more than 35 years in film. The new technologies of hardware and software provide plenty of options but a lot of material to assimilate. Everything is in someway outmoded by the time it hits the shelves. I'm currently shooting with a Canon G3 and printing on an Epson Photo Stylus R800. They don't even make the next camera I want to buy yet, but I'm sure it will be out within the year and on closeout within two years. Meantime, I've got what I need to learn. This is a long term hobby with learning plateaus and constantly changing interesting stuff to check out. I learn much from reading; if you want magazine and book suggestions let me know.

Good luck.

 

[grinch]

i stay away from anything but the lowest iso mode. i love my high aperatures though and try to shoot without my flash whenever i can. i find that this, coupled with a lot of practice, has helped me learn to hold my camera steadier than i ever could before. i haven't yet bought a tripod, and i'm trying to steer away from it for as long as i can.

took this one the other night. personally i really enjoy a shallow depth of field, not necessarily for every shot, but this one i think came out decently. the soft lack of focus on the surrounding objects help sharpen the look on the subject. also, shooting in raw lets me tweak the white balance later as much as i want.

from what i've seen, the canon elph models are incredible for their size, but the performance seems to drop off pretty steeply. it probably isn't the ideal camera for doing macro shots, especially by hand, so you may want to take up the advice from earlier in this thread and pickup a tripod. even a small one can make a big difference in shots, especially when shooting outside on a bright day isn't an option.