any tips for me?

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Permalink Reply by shanie on January 24, 2008 at 5:47pm

im no pro but i think you just have to read the manual.view the tutorials people may pass on from time to time.what i have found so far with my camera is that i use a setting on it and if it takes a good picture i save that picture with its camera settings.then i can recall what settings produce what picture.does that make sence.most of the time its trial and error.and also to know,depth of field, composition and the other important factors in good picture taking. practice makes perfect.enjoy it, it is a great hobby.

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Permalink Reply by Richard S. on January 24, 2008 at 9:17pm

Hi Jemini,

in regular daylight make sure your ISO speed is very low. you might try playing with white balance. And consider trying some lens filters out. That may bring some more life to your photos.

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Permalink Reply by Scott A Walmsley on January 27, 2008 at 2:11pm

Jemini, welcome to the group. Cordell (as well as the others) gave you a great answer. I don't know if the rebel has these settings or not. If it does play with them a bit to see how they effect the photos. Just remember that you have these settings adjusted becuase in some cases they will over saturate your photos if you don't bring the setting back down. I would suggest you pop up a few photos on your page, that you are talking about and let us know what settings you used and what they were based on.
Imagine the image, Scott

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Permalink Reply by Bill Dobbs on January 28, 2008 at 12:14am

I have recently switched from film to digital and my first impression is that the amount of correction for incorrect colour cast is about the same for digital as for film. The only difference is that for film the correction work was done at the lab and with digital I get to do that myself. That is the nature of the beast.
Changes in camera setting done correctly will steer your image closer to what you want. The basics we all learned early on still hold true, thankfully. To add vitality to your shots a slight underexposure (by only 1/3 or 1/2 f/stop) will add depth to darker areas. As in film, you will have to add exposure in Photoshop to bring it back to normal. If your camera has the ability to increase the contrast then selecting that feature will probably help. I would venture a guess that many of the photos you see have been modified in photo editing programs, even if all that has been done is perhaps an increase in contrast and brightness.
A warming filter will add a hint of yellow-brown to a colour shot which will bring colours up in saturation but will also add the same colour to white or light objects. An enhancing filter will darken reds, oranges and yellows; if you have a sunset setting in your digital camera give that a try too.
So, don't despair. The sensor in your digital camera is very similar to film, in that it captures the light that fell on it, just like film does.
Unless you can accurately judge the colour cast of a scene and adjust the camera accordingly or add filters you will always have some post-production work to do to bring the image in balance.

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Permalink Reply by Jemini on February 6, 2008 at 6:35am

Hey, thanks for all your tips. I guess I will just have to do the trial and error for now. Most of my pictures are quite colorful, just not as vibrant! I hate to say "fix it in photoshop" but I guess I can give them a boost in there. I just upgraded to CS3.. haven't tried it out yet, but we'll see how it goes! I have been so busy with my job, and our seasonal business, that I haven't had time to upload some of my work or take any new ones lately. I hope to add some soon and hope to hear your feedback on them! Thanks everyone!

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Permalink Reply by Todd Whetstine on February 6, 2008 at 4:16pm

Most of your vibrant landscapes aren't shot under regular daylight conditions they're shot during the golden hour. Early morning or an hour or so before dark, cloudy conditions work well also avoid sunlight. Timing is everything.
You might also try on your sunsets to set white balance on cloudy. A polarizor filter makes a big difference also.

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Permalink Reply by Issa on February 7, 2008 at 6:26am

Hi Jemini! I am no pro either but if you already tried so much with your camera and Photoshop to make such a perfect color for your shots, then maybe the problem is in the computer monitor. There is this thing that's called HUEY that corrects the color on your monitor. You can check the website, I am getting one for myself soon.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=79

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Permalink Reply by Gordie on February 9, 2008 at 8:22pm

Is it possible that your monitor needs to be calibrated? There are plenty of inexpensive monitor calibration tools like the Pantone Huey that can make sure that your monitor is set correctly. You could just goolgle monitor calibration and you will find lots of guidence to do this even with just freeware, What type of camera are you using?

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Permalink Reply by jadeast on February 10, 2008 at 1:45am

Jemini
Try to take more pictures of your subject, bracket exposures, saturation, play with your shutter speed, aperture. Pros only use about 2% of the pictures they take, National Graphic only uses one out a thousand, the more you experiment the more likely you are to get the picture you envisioned. you will get better with practice

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Permalink Reply by Rohit Manohar on February 14, 2008 at 1:37am

For all freelance photographers and amateurs, have a look at this website.
http://www.zibtips.com/phototips.aspx

Its a great site with neatly written tips and tutorials. PS : I loved the article on photographing children, do check it out.

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Permalink Reply by Rohit Manohar on February 14, 2008 at 1:43am

For all freelance photographers and amateurs, have a look at this website. http://www.zibtips.com/phototips.aspx

Its a great site with neatly written tips and tutorials. PS : I loved the article on photographing children, do check it out.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff on February 20, 2008 at 2:13pm

Jemini
I think the best tip I can offer is take plentty of pictures and have fun. I sometimes take 9 or 10 photos of my subject using diffrent settings,expousers etc, and when I view my card on the computer I doscard the worst ones.You may also I also use my croamatic color setting, it gives me some vibrant colors. I have found that often we are our own worst critic.
Hope this helps

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