Photography

[ZaCHw117]

Just got a PAS a couple days ago. Been wanting to try out photography for a while now. Still learning about it, if you have any suggestions let me know. Thought these turned out OK though.

 

[beeshaw]

I'm diggin the first one Zach.

The second one needs a little help. I've found that a few tweaks in photo editing software goes a long way. The white balance is way off.

Hope you don't mind.... I'm by no means an expert. But all I did was adjust the white balance and then tried to take a bit of the noise out. But you get the idea.

Get your hands on a copy of Lightroom and have some fun with it.

 

[Maglor]

Congrats on the new camera Zach!


Those turned out nice!


I like what bee did to the second one, although white balance is more a matter of taste/intent. I have a feeling his manipulation is closer to what it really looked like though.


Did you go fully automatic on those shots or did you do anything manually?

It looks like a pretty high ISO on that second one. It's pretty grainy, which is all about ISO. I'm sure you can over-ride the ISO and set it to 100. Try that on your next set of pics. In low light this will slow down your shutter speed (meaning the shutter will stay open longer), which means you might need to set the camera on something. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend getting a cheap tripod. Seriously. I honestly believe this is even more important with a point and shoot than with a DSLR. I use my tripod much less now that I have a DSLR capable of bounce flash and wide apertures. But I used it almost all the time with my Lumix.


I would be curious to know what you are able to adjust manually with your camera. On my Lumix I could adjust the following:

• ISO (100 - 1600. Low ISO will be crystal clear, but in low light will require the shutter to stay open longer to light more light in. This requires a tripod. High ISO will let you shoot in low light without a tripod because the shutter will stay open for a shorter period of time, but the image will be grainy. Very grainy at the highest ISOs.)
• Minimum/maximum shutter speed (1/200th of a second all the way up to 1 full second)
• Exposure. (I honestly don't know how this worked without effecting shutter speed because there's no equivalent of it on my camera, but adjusting it went a long way to effecting the brightness of my pictures in low light.
• White balance. (This is one of the things that gives your picture a warm or cool tone.)

I almost always kept the ISO set to 100 unless I was taking a handheld picture and was forced to use a higher ISO. And I always had my shutter speed set to go to a maximum of 1 second. 1 full second is long enough to produce a beautiful image even with just the light from a computer monitor. Many of my collection pics were taken this way.

I frequently adjusted the exposure setting.


There are other setting like aspect ratio (I prefer 3:2) and Color Mode (I prefer "Standard").

 

[beeshaw]

I like what bee did to the second one, although white balance is more a matter of taste/intent. I have a feeling his manipulation is closer to what it really looked like though.

Mag knows his stuff! All good info up there. Just read and play with your camera. Tinker with your settings. And if all else fails, take an intro course to give you a hand as far as the ins and outs or even just photo basics.

But like Mag said above, edits are really a matter of taste/intent so I apologize if I stepped on your toes in any way.

 

[ZaCHw117]

Thanks for the tips guys! That looks awesome beeshaw!
This is the original shot:

I think I messed around with photobuckets new editing program a bit too much.

Mags, everything you listed about your Lumix is the same exact with mine. Shutter speed, ISO, white balance etc. And yea the ISO does go as low as 100. I'm gonna look around the house, thought I for sure had an old small tripod with a fresh plate somewhere around here. When I'm messing with it tomorrow I'm gonna take your guy's suggestions into account!

Thanks again guys!

 

[ZaCHw117]

 

[Maglor]

Awesome work Zach! Really nice!


What a leap you made between these two:

 

[ZaCHw117]

Thanks Mags. Means a lot.

What is the difference between macros?

 

[Maglor]

When you have the Macro function turned on it lets you get closer for close-up/macro shots. You know it's on when the little flower icon is on the screen.

 

[ZaCHw117]

That's what I figured. I've had it turned on so it seems to work nicely.

 

[ZaCHw117]

I feel like I'm bombing this thread with pictures.

 

[Maglor]

Might as well. This thread has been way too quiet lately. All the great photographers have gone missing it seems.


Love that last one. What exactly am I looking at there?

 

[ZaCHw117]

An old rake, hanging on my fence, with all this dirt and pollen on it.

 

[ARCADE]

The thing I really like about these last set of images is the location they were shot in more than anything. I'm not a huge fan of environmental photography as a general category, but it makes where you all live very inviting. And that is pretty much a big part of photography in certain areas so good job.

 

[agonistes86]

Very nice pics Zach, looking very forward to seeing more pics shots from you in here. The last one of the rake is my favorite so far. I also like the one with the heavy blue tint on the previous page though, despite the (albeit very constructive) criticism.

Here are some shots I took at the St. Petersburg Pier in Florida in January. I still have a lot of shots from my trip to Florida trip to go through, will probably post some more here soon.

 

[Maglor]

Those binocular shots are stellar. What lens is that?

 

[agonistes86]

Thanks man. That's the plastic ring 1.8 50mm.

 

[beeshaw]

The first and last pics with the sun are spectacular agonistes!

And I totally regret stepping on Zach toes... I know it's a no-no to re-edit someones photography I just got flashbacks to when I started out and didn't realize what a difference the White Balance made and thought it would helpful.

So Zach dude, my apologies again. I didn't realize your intent with that pic.

Your new batch are awesome and I'm also digging the rake one.

 

[ZaCHw117]

Very nice pics Zach, looking very forward to seeing more pics shots from you in here. The last one of the rake is my favorite so far. I also like the one with the heavy blue tint on the previous page though, despite the (albeit very constructive) criticism.

Thanks man.

I really like the constrictive criticism, actually. It helps me realize my weak points. Not just in photography, but other hobbies I pursue in.

This shot is all kinds of epic.

And I totally regret stepping on Zach toes... I know it's a no-no to re-edit someones photography I just got flashbacks to when I started out and didn't realize what a difference the White Balance made and thought it would helpful.

So Zach dude, my apologies again. I didn't realize your intent with that pic.

Your new batch are awesome and I'm also digging the rake one.

Hey man, no need to apologize. I took the info you gave me in the way you intended for me to take it. Just a friend helping a friend. In fact, if it wasn't for your criticism I wouldn't have made the "leap" that Maglor pointed out. So thank you.

 

[r5150s]