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Photography Advice

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jonb

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Following on from my post in the Suggestions part of the foum on a Photography Advice section I have decided to open the thread up today.

So if you have any questions, queries or general ways to improve your photos/websites just post them here and I will endeavour to get back to you the same day.

Thanks
 
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Max

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Jon I often get quite a lot of 'noise' in my pictures. Is there any way to improve this?
 

jonb

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Laverack222 first of alll thanks for being the first to post on this thread!

By 'Noise' do you mean Blur I have had this before with my camera. IF this is the case ensure that you are gripping the camera firmly with two hands on each side of the camera. If you have an SLR type camera grip the right hand side and place you left hand underneath the lens.

Hope this helps!
 

Craig

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If you're talking about your photos looking grainy you need to either reduce the sensitivity of your photos by using lower ISO setting (not possible with all cameras and will darken your photos) or using a higher quality setting.

You could also have a look at Neat Image which is a program for filtering noise out of photos. I've tried it with this photo and this was the result, quite a noticeable difference.
 

Max

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Yeah, that does make a difference. I'll try it out. Cheers for your advice guys :)
 

jonb

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I've heard Windows Media Player does the job with a 'Print Screen' However I don't do video so there may be another program out there...
 

matt

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jonb said:
I've heard Windows Media Player does the job with a 'Print Screen' However I don't do video so there may be another program out there...

Thats what I use for making the thumbnails for my videos
 

jonb

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joea1 said:
Ta Jon -But it doesn't work for me, I just get blackness when pasting into Paint :(

I will give Quicktime a try 50149!

Ah sorry mate as I said im not an expert in film. I'm sure you can download a Video capture program though...
 
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WMP won't work as it uses software acceleration for output, but PrtScr takes it from hardware.
 

matt

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Tom said:
WMP won't work as it uses software acceleration for output, but PrtScr takes it from hardware.

It does if you turn off software acceleration.
 

Dennis

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The key point about noise is that it is always present at approximately constant amounts. CMOS detectors, although being more expensive than conventional CCD's, do have the advantage of producing inherently lower levels of noise.

The best way of overcoming the problems associated with background noise is to maximise the signal / noise ratio. This can be done by using the widest aperture / slowest ISO setting, as intimated in the referenced article. Obviously, this is not always possible (zoom shots and moving subjects in poor lighting conditions being the obvious examples).

A compact camera with only a small lens will inherently be more prone to noise effects as the amount of light gathered by the lens (the signal) is much less than would be gathered by the larger lenses used in cameras such as DSLRs.

The 'neat image' program referred to by Craig earlier in this thread does a fantastic job of cleaning up noisy images and is highly recommended.

I used this utility for the first time on images I took last Sunday around Bristol where the weather was incredibly dull for most of the day. Under these conditions, my Fuji Finepix F455 is completely incapable of producing noise free images (http://dennis-lance.fotopic.net/p22423549.html) being a typical example of the image quality in very dull weather. Yet using 'neat image' on images taken under similar lighting conditions, there is hardly any noise remaining (even using the filters with the automomatic calibration) http://dennis-lance.fotopic.net/p29693248.html.
 

Demps

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Holland on Rail said:
Or change the ISO settings, the lower, the less noice you have. :lol: For nightshots stay at 100 ISO and NEVER use flashlight, it will ruïn your picture. Play with exposure times.

For EOS 300D and EOS 350D cameras I advice the EAB function.

:o, if flashlight ruined your pictures; there would be no point in a flashlight. I think i know what your saying, the standard flash on cameras is a little effortless and does not have variables, thus giving a over exposed picture (usualy too close), but when you experiment with a flash gun the results can be very good, and proove very succesful in a situation where ISO does not play a part. So dont be afraid to use flash, but i advise you now how to use it, especial if it is a Gun.
 

Bastiaan

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Demps said:
:o, if flashlight ruined your pictures; there would be no point in a flashlight.
Flashlight is only meant for close-up pictures and for pictures inside a room. The light will only help within a distance of, let's say, five meters. So when you take a picture of a train with the use of a flashlight, you won't get a nice picture. Besides, you will shock the train driver...
 

Guinness

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Image Editing

Paint isn't the best thing to edit your photos with. I recommend programs such as;

Irfanview - A Freeware program used for altering Image Settings and changing brightness, Image Sizes and Cropping

GIMP - A powerful freeware program which offers similar features to those of Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop

Photoshop - Expensive but one of the most powerful image editing programs available

Paint Shop Pro - Around the £100 mark and is effective for amateur - intermediate image editing. Similar to Photoshop.

'Digital Photo Noise'
- See posts above

---

Recently I've had a play about with my camera and alter what size it takes pictures at. I was taking photos at the 1024 x 768 size which I found ineffective to crop platforms and people out of the image because of final image size reduction to 800 x 600 size. I've since moved up to 1500px size photos and because of the higher pixel size I can effectively edit obstructions out of the way and have clear pictures of the image subject.

This may cost you quite a few MBs on your Memory Card and you may find this not good if your one of those Photographers who takes 100s of pictures of anything coming your way. :)
 

Bastiaan

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That program GIMP looks nice, but I have really no idea how to install it. All those *.tar-files and additional files. I really get lost and I can't open them too. Isn't there a simple install-file?
 

5872

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Following on from my post in the Suggestions part of the foum on a Photography Advice section I have decided to open the thread up today.

So if you have any questions, queries or general ways to improve your photos/websites just post them here and I will endeavour to get back to you the same day.

Thanks



Can I ask a qestion on some of my photography , I have trouble taking photographs of Fast Trains and Ive seen some of yours and there brillant and freighters or diesels moving around my hands shake when I take the pictures could you help me with my photos because I enjoy taking pics
 

Bill EWS

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Hi 777Fred,
If you have a film camera you need purchase a fast film such as 400 ASA or higher and use the fastest possible speed that the light will allow.

Follow the train through the viewfinder, prior to where you wish to take the picture and try to make the exposure while you are still following the train/loco, and click the shutter button at the point you decide you want the picture. By keeping the camera panning at and after the point of exposure there is a good chance that you will stop the image faster and have a better chance of the image being sharp.

With a good Digital camera, you need to pick the fastest ASA setting it allows, i.e. 400 ASA, 800 ASA to 1600 ASA and a shutter speed of 500th sec or 1000sec. This combinating will give you quite sharp images from handheld shots. Remember, the higher the ASA setting and duller the light, the more chance you have of seeing grain/noise in the shadow areas of the image. However, a good quality SLR digital camera will still give nice sharp images, with little or no grain/noise. The cheaper cameras, even if they do have a 1600 ASA setting, will give fair results providing you don't want to blow the picture up much more than a 5"-6" print.

If you don't understand 'ASA', this is the light sensitivity of a film or digital camera light sensor. The higher the number the more sensitive the sensor. Each ASA stage is equal to 'One Stop' E.G. The with autometer at 100 ASA, giving an exposure of F8. If you up to 200 ASA the exposure will now be F11, for the same light level.

As a guide, the F number! e.g. F8 etc. Each 'F' stop allows twice the amount of light as the previous 'F' stop. E.G. F8 allows twice the light as F11, F2 twice that of F4 etc.

Likewise with shutter speeds! E.G. 200th a second is twice the light sensitivity as 100th sec. Therefore, you can use both the ASA and 'F' stops in combination to find a suitable exposure or shutter speed for the situation.

For a good average speed to stop a moving train I would suggest, as a first trial, using ASA 400 and a shutter speed of 500th a second.

For everyday 'average' exposures don't use anything less than 250th a second with a 200 ASA setting. If your camera has auto-exposure then leave the camera to take care of that by itself. 250th a sec will stop most human movement outside actually running.

I hope that this is of some help.

Cheers.

BillEWS.
 

5872

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Quote removed. There was no need to quote it as it was from the previous post. David.

Thanks Bill ,could you give me sorry but a little bit more help using a HP M627 camera ?
 

devon_metro

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If the button holds down half way, hold it down half way and when you want to take sthe shot it takes an instant snapshot.
 

compsci

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I find it helpful to use the multiple shot mode of my camera (a Canon 350D) with anything particularly fast moving. Take enough and it is likely that some will come out. (Some people might consider this cheating). The time between shots on that HP is just under half a second in the spec, which is pretty good for a compact, however the number of consecutive images will be limited by the memory transfer speed. It's not clear from the spec if it's possible to make the camera take multiple pictures with one shutter press.

XXX ASA and ISO XXX are equivalent.
 

Bill EWS

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Hi 777Fred
Sorry, I don't know the HP M627 camera! However, being a digital camera it will have much of the facilities that I mentioned.

If you have auto pre-sets for Portrait, Sports etc, then use these for suitable subjects. The Sports setting will always set the maximum shutter speed for the available light. It is excecellent in fine and fair weather but in dull/flat light, if you don't have a 800 to 1600 ASA setting you will run out of light.

You may be able to take a reasonable picture by simply dropping down to the next ASA setting. Likewise, the wider the apparture, the shallower the depth--of-Field and in a scenic shot you may notice the foreground and/or background out of focus. The 'Portrait' setting uses this to advantage in, that it uses the widest possible aparture to blurr the background and make the person, face or object stand out sharper.

If using a zoom lens for portraits choose the 60mm zoom setting, as this gives perfect perspective for a portrait.

The only problem I have with the pre-sets is that I often forget to change back to normal settings when next taking a photo. Thankfully, with digital you can always delete the ruined shot, but it usually happens with a once-only shot that can't be repeated!!! But experiment with the pre-sets. Take the same photo using each setting and look for the changes, you will eventually learn which one to use for certain shots and affect.

With my Canon 350D I have 'servo-focusing' lenes, which is a great help when taking fast moving objects while using a zoom range. With a train, you focus on it while it is well back from where you want the picture and as you pan the camera to follow the train, the lens continually refocuses as the train gets closer and will be correct when you click the shutter.

However, if you don't want to mess about with the camera while picture taking (you may not have the time to make changes) simply set an ASA setting of 400 or 800 ASA with the shutter set at 500th sec. I prefer to use 'Shutter Prority, where I set the shutter speed, manually and leave the auto exposure to get the exposure right. This, of course will get the exposure if the scene is 'averagely' lit, but in a back-lit scene with a lot of sky or water, this will make the auto exposure shut down too much and the person or object will be well underexposed.

Here is an example and my way of correcting this problem, in most cases....

KewUnderExposureb.jpg


Apologies, this image simply refuses to work as the ones below. Please click on the hyperlink to see the image.

Above: The auto exposure has dropped the exposure too much due to there being a lot of sky around the narrow building.

LightAverageScene.jpg


Above: All I have done here is do an about turn, point the camera at the scene which is front lit, with plenty of trees and grass to give an average exposure. I pressed the shutter button 'half-way' to set the exposure (note too that both scenes are distant, giving a similar 'infinitive' focus setting).

KewCorrectExposure.jpg


Above: Next I turned back to the Pagodo, still holding the button half-way, reframed the scene and pressed the shutter fully. You can see the difference in the detail of the Pagoda and there is more detail in the tree branches.

Providing the 'opposite' view has a more neutral light level that the back-lit view this will work for you everytime. Likewis, as mentioned, take into account that the object you are photographing is within a similar distance as the opposite scene. If you need to refocus then this won't work. You will have the correct exposure but the object will most likely be out of focus.

I could have spent time changing the camera settings but this method only took a few seconds and is also a good example for those who have an 'All-Auto' camera and have wondered how they may be able to avoid these type of under exposures.

If it is required to refocus, use the camera on 'manual', set the exposure for the 'average' scene, then turn back to the required scene and take the picture.

Again, I trust that is of some help.

Cheers.

BillEWS.
 

yorkie

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I find it helpful to use the multiple shot mode of my camera (a Canon 350D) with anything particularly fast moving. Take enough and it is likely that some will come out. (Some people might consider this cheating). The time between shots on that HP is just under half a second in the spec, which is pretty good for a compact, however the number of consecutive images will be limited by the memory transfer speed. It's not clear from the spec if it's possible to make the camera take multiple pictures with one shutter press.

XXX ASA and ISO XXX are equivalent.
It's not cheating ;) but you should get good results with a 350D. Depending on light levels, try a higher ISO. I've found that I can't really tell the difference in quality between ISO100 and ISO400, because there's so little noise at ISO400 with a 450D. Even at ISO800 you get good results, and that allows you to increase the shutter speed further.

If you can achieve 1/800th of a second you should be fine even at 125mph(although that's a massive generalisation as it depends on the speed of subject, the angle, etc), e.g. this was taken at 1/800 sec and was probably up to 125 by this point.
 

86242

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If you can achieve 1/800th of a second you should be fine even at 125mph(although that's a massive generalisation as it depends on the speed of subject, the angle, etc), e.g. this was taken at 1/800 sec and was probably up to 125 by this point.

If you can however fast it is going you want to be on 1/800th+ to get the sharpest results. If something is doing 100mph+ you need to be on about 1/1000th+
ISO 200 is probably the best ISO to be on (but depends in the camera/lens) unless its full sun in which case move it back to 100....
 
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