Photography tips anyone?

[BikerDoc5968]

I champion all that Ross has said. Your pics are very nice and you should be proud of them. As has been mentioned with time and practice all will become perfect. Once you have mastered the basics of composition (depth of field, etc), lighting, and exposure, you'll see some great pics. Then using the right equipment for the job makes things work the way you want, like tripod, type of lense, light configuation, etc. I've posted some pics here and some I like others not so much and some are just "me too" pics....just showing what's in the "garden". No question....practice makes perfect....at times this learning curve can be very frustrating, and I know you can do it!

[camille1585]

All of this is really helpful because I'm trying to get some pics of my plants with black backgrounds, with not much luck despite your earlier suggestions. I have a point n shoot digital camera and have no clue had to adjust everything manually. I use all the auto modes. Is it even possible to takes goods pics with this plain old camera? I'm not going to waste any more time if it's pointless.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by camille1585

All of this is really helpful because I'm trying to get some pics of my plants with black backgrounds, with not much luck despite your earlier suggestions. I have a point n shoot digital camera and have no clue had to adjust everything manually. I use all the auto modes. Is it even possible to takes goods pics with this plain old camera? I'm not going to waste any more time if it's pointless.

It depends on what you mean by "good pics". I would say, hesitantly, yes it is possible. If you mean "stick the camera down the throat of the flower and count the hairs" type photos, then probably not. Full auto exposure is trying to do one thing (well maybe two) - the camera wants to adjust the average scene to 18% gray equivilant exposure. With a whole lot of black, the scene will be grayish in the background and way overexposed in the foreground. If you start with gray for the background, the foreground should be properly exposed. If you use white for the background, the foreground will be way underexposed. Did this help?

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Ross

It depends on what you mean by "good pics". I would say, hesitantly, yes it is possible. If you mean "stick the camera down the throat of the flower and count the hairs" type photos, then probably not. Full auto exposure is trying to do one thing (well maybe two) - the camera wants to adjust the average scene to 18% gray equivilant exposure. With a whole lot of black, the scene will be grayish in the background and way overexposed in the foreground. If you start with gray for the background, the foreground should be properly exposed. If you use white for the background, the foreground will be way underexposed. Did this help?

Thanks! Today I tinkered around with photoshop, and managed to improve them a bit, so that some of my pictures are actually decent, with a nice black background. I think you're right, I'll never get the very fine detail. On day (in the distant future for now) I'll invest in a nice camera and learn how to use the thing!

[pedecamera]

When I take images of plants / flowers, I like to spray some water over them, a fine mist. a drop at the end of a leafe is also good. It seems to naturally sharpen things up a bit. It creates some nice sparkle. Avoid flat light like noon... if using natural light go for morning or evening light. just my cheers
peter

[Ross]

Good points Peter. I like shade because it eliminates the contrast issue, but does introduce some blueish colors that might not be wanted. The water droplets do add a bit of sparkle and interest, if not overdone.

[pedecamera]

clean up blueish cast by using replace color in PhotoShop
select the colour you like to clean ( use the fuzzie slider... next you can try to change the hue or use desaturate

next with history brush bring back all the good stuff you do want to keep

good luck

[cirillonb]

Cowboy took some very good shots considering his hardware both camera and lighting. Ross, who takes some of the best images in the forum, give excellent advise for [I]orchid[I] photography. Cowboy mentioned another mode of photography...sports action...which I apologize for being off topic. Most point-and-shoot cameras have as long as a 2.5 second delay from when the release is pushed until the image is recorded. Not good of soccer, laCrosse, or rodeos.
I gave up an expensive point and shoot for a single lens reflex camera with a less than 0.5 sec delay. It also has all the do-dads for taking excellent orchid pictures and even the ability (at great expense) to buy a special Macro lens to get into the heart of the flower.
If Cowboy is thinking of an equipment upgrade, I think he should look at that type of camera. Pricey...yes. but will be worth it in the long run.
Nick

[Ross]

Nick, want some advise? Get the best (not necessarily most expensive - do the research) lens you can afford for the type of photos you want to do. I can afford thousands for mine since I can write them off as business expense. But you want to get the best single lens you can afford as an all-around lens. I would suggest something in the 100-150mm range. and a dedicated macro/micro lens that fits your camera.

[Royal]

Just soaking this all in. Nice job Cowboy! Thanks for the tips everybody.