USVI-On-Line

No offense, but it's interesting when folks see some great shots and ask “what kind of camera are you using?” Give a person who doesn’t have “an eye” a $2000 camera and another “with an eye” a $200 camera and set them loose in the same area and guess what the results will be?

In fact, NatGeo Traveler magazine did an issue where they handed out basic point n shoot cameras to some pros and set them loose, then printed the results. Of course, the images were pretty amazing. If fact several of them enjoyed the experience much more than they anticipated and felt liberated form lugging around their pro gear. Digital technology as really flattened the field in terms of the results you can get from cheaper cameras.

That said, taking a good picture isn’t rocket science, but it doesn’t happen by accident either. If you want to improve, take a night course on photography at your local high school or community college or just take some time to buy a cappuccino at Barnes and Noble, grab some “how to” and coffee table photo books and when you see images you like, LOOK at them and ask yourself, what is it that is drawing me into the photo? Go on photo sites like flickr and do the same. AMAZING work being done there.

Learn what kind of lighting can enhance your photos (like late afternoon) and what kind can cause problems (like backlighting), and yes, even look at your camera manual to learn what different settings you can use to compensate for different conditions. Learn how to hold the shutter button down part way to lock in the focus and exposure in the part of the scene you want emphasized, then re-frame and then trip the shutter.

And for the islands, see if your camera can accept a polarizing filter - it's like sunglasses for your camera lens. It really makes those water colors pop.

And when you shoot something (landscape, person, anything), take a shot wide, take a shot zoomed, take a shot with the camera held vertical (or "portrait" position). Crouch down to get a different angle. Use the “rule of thirds” when framing (or later while cropping your shots) i.e. divide the frame into thirds and try to have something interesting in each third of the frame.

Place your subject off center and don’t only shoot people full frame. Also frame them from the knees up and then from the waist up - but put don’t put their heads smack dab in the middle of the frame – keep their faces in the upper third. With landscapes, don’t always put the horizon smack dab in the middle of the frame on every shot. Do another one with more sky, then one with more water or land. Maybe try it with something in the foreground off to the side.

And use some photo editing software to do simple things like straightening the horizon (a pet peeve of mine) and do stuff like lighten up underexposed photos or adjust the blue tint of underwater photos. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or time on that either – Picasa from google is free, and you can get pretty good color and tint corrections from just using their all-in-one “I’m Feeling Lucky” button under "Basic Fixes”.

Taking more shots will enable you to do a better job selecting only the best ones to keep/print/show to others, but please, be a harsh editor. It can be a bit painful when somebody shows a virtual or actual stack of their vacation photos that still includes ALL the crooked, blurry, dark, or crazy red eye photos.

Off soap box. Resume enjoying the photos posted here.

Some great ideas you got there. Thanks! I think one of the most valuable tips you gave was to take a few different pictures of the same thing. That way you can choose your favorite.

I never realized how much of a vertical shooter I was until JMQ pointed it out to me. I have no idea why I do that but I do. Some times it annoys me and some times not.
I also can't believe what people think is a good photo. Have you seen the photos submitted for the CT&L contest (current). You pay to submit your photos there and I just look at many of them and think to myself "you think that is good?".

That being said there are many good photographers around here.

EXCELLENT advice JMQ.

All of the pics that I have posted on this forum for my TR's have all be done with an 8 year old Canon power shot camera that's about the size of a small brick.

Nothing fancy, very basic, minimal zoom capacity but, as you have suggested, I make FULL use of Picasa and all of it's editing bells and whistles. I play with colors and lighting and cropping and that can make all the difference.

I don't take a lot of people pics in favor of landscapes and places.

I'm no professional but I think some of them turn out pretty well!

Even if I had a fancy camera I probably wouldn't use it -- if it wasn't convenient. Taking pics can't be ahassle of equipment or I won't bother.

For me good pics are about capturing a moment. And while I enjoy taking pictures I never let it distract me from being IN the moment.

I remember seeing people in Florence Italy piling off the buses at the Duomo and taking tons of pictures one after the other then piling back on the bus 30 mins later and off they went.

Rarely did I see someone off those buses stop and take it all in, walk up close to the colored marble and touch it, noticing the differences between the pale green and pink and the contrast to the white. Take in the coolness, despite the heat of the day.

Granted they didn't have a lot of time and were probably trying to capture as much as they could given their circumstances but sometimes, just sometimes taking the picture of the moment in your mind is much better than one you can take with any camera.

That being said, I really enjoy your photos!!

I had to chuckle about your $2000 comment. some of my sunsets taken with my little Canon Powershot were equals to those being shot at the same time on a huge-ass lensy camera.

Better yet...hand your camera to a kid and see how they see the world. We got absolutely amazing pictures in March when we handed the child my camera. Stuff you'd never think to see...she saw.

jmq wrote: Taking more shots will enable you to do a better job selecting only the best ones to keep/print/show to others.

Not only that, taking more shots will give you that many more chances to have some that actually turn out well.

There are a number of things that can cause something that looked great in person look a lot less so in a picture.

Underwater the things that can adversely affect the shots multiply.

Factor in that most of the sea life won't pose for you, that it's tough to get close and stay still to things that aren't within a couple of feet of the surface, and most point and shoot digital cameras have a substantial amount of shutter lag, and it's kind of amazing that any of them turn out at all.

I know that I discard a LOT of pictures to find a few that I don't mind posting, and even some of those only make the cut due to "artist's bias" or because the subject is so interesting (to me anyway) that I can't bear to leave it out of the set.

There are some posters on here that, despite all of the above obstacles, produce some flat out AMAZING pictures.

mbw1024 wrote:I never realized how much of a vertical shooter I was until JMQ pointed it out to me. I have no idea why I do that but I do. Some times it annoys me and some times not.
I also can't believe what people think is a good photo. Have you seen the photos submitted for the CT&L contest (current). You pay to submit your photos there and I just look at many of them and think to myself "you think that is good?".

That being said there are many good photographers around here.

LOL MB I always knew you were wired differently! The vast majority of people have the opposite issue - they almost NEVER hold the camera vertically, even for shots of people. Thats why the vertical image orientation is also called "portrait".
I take a lot of vertical shots too, so much so that I struggle with not enough page set up choices that feature vertical images when you assemble those photobooks online.

And grr...dont get me started on that CT&L contest. Think I've already vented about that.

An example of how you can trick an auto exposure camera to taking lighter and darker images of the same scene by holding the shutter button down halfway and locking in the lighter sky or darker water exposure, then reframing, then pressing the shutter all the way. This works especially well at sunset or sunset. These were taken 11 seconds apart with a Canon Powershot at different focal lengths. Minimal software adjustments made.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/j2 ... site"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/TFmir ... 6.JPG"></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UN ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/TFmjS ... 7.JPG"></a>

Great tips! You got me looking at my horizon lines a couple of years ago and I thank you for that! Now I'm super anal about having them level!

I agree with you that some people just have an "eye" for a good photo, and the camera doesn't matter that much.

A lot of people compliment me on my photos and I use a Canon SD800 IS point n' shoot, then I Photoshop almost everything to make adjustments. And I always take hundreds of photos and just keep the best of the best. Out of 2000 photos (our last trip) I kept 800. I personally don't have time to mess with a big camera, lenses, exposures, etc. because I'm too busy taking a picture every 2 seconds! Just ask Sydney & Kellee! LOL!

If I return to St. John I'll be bringing my little point n shoot again, not my DSLR.

I have an underwater housing for my Canon A720IS, and last time I left the camera in the housing the entire time, to keep it safe from spray and sand, and so that if I dropped it, it would float.

I don't want to have to worry about leaving the DSLR on the beach, or getting sand inside it, or lugging it around in the heat. I consider my travel pictures to be snapshots worthy of being fine memories for me, and that is sufficient.

I get so wrapped up in my DSLR that it tends to be a barrier between me and the experience.

Thanks JMQ for the tips! I have now spent half my day loading Picasa and adding pics. I have a question about Picasa, though. I have read their Q & A section on privacy, but I still can't figure out how to keep my pictures private. Do you know what I need to do?

kygirl - I assume you mean if you actively upload photos to Picasa web albums through a google/gmail account. If you don’t, its not an issue, everything stays on your computer. If you do upload, I assume you may be prompted about privacy settings when signing up.
Sorry but I don’t recall the specific steps to do so - here are links about managing Public and Unlisted (I assume that means private) galleries. Hope these help.

http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/an ... lev=answer

http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/an ... wer=173224

kygirl wrote:Thanks JMQ for the tips! I have now spent half my day loading Picasa and adding pics. I have a question about Picasa, though. I have read their Q & A section on privacy, but I still can't figure out how to keep my pictures private. Do you know what I need to do?

kygirl, when you make the "album" into which you upload the pictures, there is a section that asks if you want it public or not. That is where you decide who can see the album.

And on the subject of not mattering what camera you use, do you think Tiger Woods could play as well with a set of clubs from a pawn shop? Probably, but it is much easier for him to play with his custom mades......I have been a photographer most of my life, and I still prefer to use my point and shoot while on vacation. Some good tips, jmq.


-Bert

Thanks Bert! I'm still trying to figure this out. Do I need to have a "Web Albums" account to be able to share?

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?

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".

When you upload your photos, it is then quite simple to post your pix on the VIOL.

-Bert