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Photography Tips
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DuxDweller
- Posts: 158
- Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:49 am
- Location: Boston
iFloat - totally agree with you on the notion that taking pics with the DSLR can take away from the experience! I love photography. Love manipulating the images and printing them out. HOWEVER, it is really hard to be "present" and take in the atmosphere with the camera in my hands! I experienced this most notably with sports photos. Possibly even more than my love of STJ, watching my kids play sports (lax, football, cheer - whatever) is such a great experience. Working the camera during games "separates" the experience for me in a way that I am now considering going back to my old ways on vacation by leaving the camera at home - I'll take "photos" in my mind and enjoy them forever - and the best part of all: they are always properly framed, focused, and exposed 
Peace,
-Dux
Peace,
-Dux
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
Thanks again Bert!!!CariBert wrote:I believe that is correct, kygirl. I don't think you have to down load Picasa, but you do have to have a Web Album. When you click on "upload" pictures, it will show you a box with the title of your albums in it, but it will also ask if you want to create a new album. When you do, at the bottom of the page it will have several boxes, one of which says share" or "private".kygirl wrote:Thanks Bert! I'm still trying to figure this out. Do I need to have a "Web Albums" account to be able to share?
When you upload your photos, it is then quite simple to post your pix on the VIOL.
-Bert
[/url]Oh yeah sports photography is VERY hard and no way to watch a game. And as Augie mentioned, underwater photography has significant challenges that takes practice and luck to get results as good as somebody like liamsaunt.
On vacation, if you dont go overboard, I find having a camera in hand semi-looking for shots can actually make you appreciate some big and small things you mightve otherwise overlooked i.e. patterns, colors, lighting, architecture, juxtapositions of stuff, etc. but also agree that there is a danger to slipping into the mode of seeing the whole trip thru a lens, which isnt ideal either.
On vacation, if you dont go overboard, I find having a camera in hand semi-looking for shots can actually make you appreciate some big and small things you mightve otherwise overlooked i.e. patterns, colors, lighting, architecture, juxtapositions of stuff, etc. but also agree that there is a danger to slipping into the mode of seeing the whole trip thru a lens, which isnt ideal either.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
I find sports photography next to impossible. I've stopped bringing a camera to games because the photos never come out well. You just can't get a close enough shot. I guess that is why the pros in the front have those gargantuan lenses.
I wish there was a way to put a polarizing filter on a small point and shoot camera like the D10. It would help a lot with the colors in beach pictures. Bringing a bigger camera along to the beach is a PITA and I only did that once that I can recall (at Hawksnest, where I knew I'd be able to lock it to a tree).
I wish there was a way to put a polarizing filter on a small point and shoot camera like the D10. It would help a lot with the colors in beach pictures. Bringing a bigger camera along to the beach is a PITA and I only did that once that I can recall (at Hawksnest, where I knew I'd be able to lock it to a tree).
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
JMQ, I thik I have a "different" eye. What I think is great others don't and vice versa.
Of the two pictures you posted I like the top picture better. My hunch is that most photographers think the opposite.
I have to say that I love my new Canon DSLR. I get better pictures even though I have NO IDEA how to really use it. I have captured so many more pictures with it than with my point and shoot. The battery life is great and I don't have to wait for the camera to set up between shots. Love that! Also, love the sports mode and have gotten some great shots of my dog.
I do plan on taking a class. My neighbor teaches at the community college and will add me to the list when the have enough people to run a class. That said, I am not sure I will ever have the "eye" but at least I will know how to run the camera and capture pictures that I think are fantastic.
xoxo
Of the two pictures you posted I like the top picture better. My hunch is that most photographers think the opposite.
I have to say that I love my new Canon DSLR. I get better pictures even though I have NO IDEA how to really use it. I have captured so many more pictures with it than with my point and shoot. The battery life is great and I don't have to wait for the camera to set up between shots. Love that! Also, love the sports mode and have gotten some great shots of my dog.
I do plan on taking a class. My neighbor teaches at the community college and will add me to the list when the have enough people to run a class. That said, I am not sure I will ever have the "eye" but at least I will know how to run the camera and capture pictures that I think are fantastic.
xoxo
I have used a polarizing filter on my little Canon A720IS. They sell a part called LA-DC58G which snaps onto the front of the camera, looks like a little lens hood about 1 3/4 inches deep and you can screw on a polarizing filter on the threads at the end opposite the camera.
I found it practically useless for several reasons: first, (with the filter mounted on the lens adapter,) it partially blocks your optical viewfinder. Second, you can't SEE the effect of a circular polarizer through the optical viewfinder, as you are not looking through the lens, so you need to look at the LCD as you rotate the outer ring of the circular polarizer. If you are out in bright sun, your LCD won't provide a bright enough image in most instances to let you know how to align the polarizer. Third, since the lens itself extends or contracts as you zoom out and in, the filter is not right up against the lens glass, and every single speck of dust on the filter will appear in your images. Fourth, you can get some vignetting of your images at the wide angle settings. Fifth, it blocks the flash.
It would be a nice thing to have if you wanted to add neutral density filters to get good pictures of waterfalls, etc.
One thing I do like about this accessory is that I affixed a soft rubber collapsible lens hood to it and this is great for pressing up against the glass in airplanes and zoos, to avoid reflections and glare when shooting through a window.
Maybe other models of point and shoot have something like this too.
Got mine on Amazon.com
I found it practically useless for several reasons: first, (with the filter mounted on the lens adapter,) it partially blocks your optical viewfinder. Second, you can't SEE the effect of a circular polarizer through the optical viewfinder, as you are not looking through the lens, so you need to look at the LCD as you rotate the outer ring of the circular polarizer. If you are out in bright sun, your LCD won't provide a bright enough image in most instances to let you know how to align the polarizer. Third, since the lens itself extends or contracts as you zoom out and in, the filter is not right up against the lens glass, and every single speck of dust on the filter will appear in your images. Fourth, you can get some vignetting of your images at the wide angle settings. Fifth, it blocks the flash.
It would be a nice thing to have if you wanted to add neutral density filters to get good pictures of waterfalls, etc.
One thing I do like about this accessory is that I affixed a soft rubber collapsible lens hood to it and this is great for pressing up against the glass in airplanes and zoos, to avoid reflections and glare when shooting through a window.
Maybe other models of point and shoot have something like this too.
Got mine on Amazon.com
Jmq I'm with ya on the crooked horizons. When I look at a great shot someone posted and it has a crooked horizon always think that would have been a ten second job to make it a perfect pic.
Picassa is great, use it all the time, I feel lucky for underwaters works like magic to clear out the blue.
I gotta get one of those polarizing lenses for my Canon S2IS. Every once and awhile I get that great clarity in the morning. Would like to be able to get that all the time on those beach shots.
Picassa is great, use it all the time, I feel lucky for underwaters works like magic to clear out the blue.
I gotta get one of those polarizing lenses for my Canon S2IS. Every once and awhile I get that great clarity in the morning. Would like to be able to get that all the time on those beach shots.
Kirk - thats the camera I use it on, and yes, you do have to use it with an adapter like ifloat indicates.
Also yes that there are challenges using it like ifloat described, but not to the point of uselessness (at least for me). You can learn to work around those things because the payoff with those wonderful Caribbean water/landscape colors is worth it.
As to partially blocking the flash, might be more true with some models, but I've only used flash with a polarizer as fill flash anyways (somebody in shade under trees, bright water behind) so not critical if partially blocked.
Yup it partially obscures a corner of the optical viewer. Annoying, but you know whats there.
Yup you cant see the effect of the polarizer in the optical, so you have to develop practiced eye to pick up the effect of the circular polarizer because you have to rotate it til you get the "sunglasses" effect. You can pick this up on the LCD even midday if you look at the outline of clouds in the sky or where the water changes color (they will become more defined). You'll get better at this the more you try.
Yup you should pay attention to stuff on the surface of the filter and always have lens tissue with you to clean it. But, I'm sure I've shot plenty of images without a pristine filter and maybe I just havent noticed it showing up in my images.
Never had the vignetting issue with the S series - no doubt can happen in some models like ifloats A series, probably at wide angles. I had it happen back in the day of film cameras when I had a lens hood on a wide angle and didnt know it was happening til I got the photos back. Guess I didnt notice it in the far corners of the viewfinder, although a lot of viewfinders dont show 100% of the frame, even some SLRs.
So - annoying? Yes - maybe very at times. Useless? Maybe not.
Wish I had "with" and "without" shots of same scene to show the difference, but dont think I do.
Also yes that there are challenges using it like ifloat described, but not to the point of uselessness (at least for me). You can learn to work around those things because the payoff with those wonderful Caribbean water/landscape colors is worth it.
As to partially blocking the flash, might be more true with some models, but I've only used flash with a polarizer as fill flash anyways (somebody in shade under trees, bright water behind) so not critical if partially blocked.
Yup it partially obscures a corner of the optical viewer. Annoying, but you know whats there.
Yup you cant see the effect of the polarizer in the optical, so you have to develop practiced eye to pick up the effect of the circular polarizer because you have to rotate it til you get the "sunglasses" effect. You can pick this up on the LCD even midday if you look at the outline of clouds in the sky or where the water changes color (they will become more defined). You'll get better at this the more you try.
Yup you should pay attention to stuff on the surface of the filter and always have lens tissue with you to clean it. But, I'm sure I've shot plenty of images without a pristine filter and maybe I just havent noticed it showing up in my images.
Never had the vignetting issue with the S series - no doubt can happen in some models like ifloats A series, probably at wide angles. I had it happen back in the day of film cameras when I had a lens hood on a wide angle and didnt know it was happening til I got the photos back. Guess I didnt notice it in the far corners of the viewfinder, although a lot of viewfinders dont show 100% of the frame, even some SLRs.
So - annoying? Yes - maybe very at times. Useless? Maybe not.
Wish I had "with" and "without" shots of same scene to show the difference, but dont think I do.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
A book I have found very helpful for photography is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exp ... 0817463003
It's pretty cheap and very useful. Lots of great info with example images to show what he's talking about. It's definitely geared more toward SLR/DSLR cameras but he also talks about point and shoots. The techniques apply across the board though.
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exp ... 0817463003
It's pretty cheap and very useful. Lots of great info with example images to show what he's talking about. It's definitely geared more toward SLR/DSLR cameras but he also talks about point and shoots. The techniques apply across the board though.
Matt
I've been photographing kids' tee ball and baseball this summer, and it is harder than I thought, harder than any other event I've ever tried to photograph (amateurly) or assisted on. HARD. I had to ask the kids at the end of the game who won, who hit what, etc.jmq wrote:Oh yeah sports photography is VERY hard and no way to watch a game.
And baseball is a "slow" sport--- now it's football season. At night, under stadium lights. Yikes.
Those are great tips, JMQ. I'm always glad when you and others share insight. My new "goal" is No Photoshop. I actually achieve it sometimes, too.
Ifloat<----------------Lazy. Too lazy to fiddle with the polarizer on the point n shoot. I just fix the images in Photoshop after vacation. Not going to take my PnS out of the underwater housing to use the polarizer on the beach. Glad other people are willing to use it though because I sure do love looking at your gorgeous pictures! In retrospect useless was a bad choice of words. More like, not for me because I only like to use equipment that works well without a lot of fiddling around. (Lazy, I tell ya.)
I do use the circular polarizer on my DSLR tho. I attach the polarizer to the lens and then I attach a soft rubber collapsible lens hood to the circular polarizer. Instead of groping around for that narrow little ring, I grab the hood and rotate that. It's good for a little neutral density when I'm shooting water, too.
I do use the circular polarizer on my DSLR tho. I attach the polarizer to the lens and then I attach a soft rubber collapsible lens hood to the circular polarizer. Instead of groping around for that narrow little ring, I grab the hood and rotate that. It's good for a little neutral density when I'm shooting water, too.