Post #195,615
2/20/05 1:16:45 PM
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Digital photography - where to get started?
I've got the camera, but where's a decent place to read up on how to set the damn thing up to take a half-decent picture? It's all a bit hit-and-miss at the moment.
Peter
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu Linux]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
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Post #195,626
2/20/05 3:07:57 PM
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Heh - when you find it, be sure to let me know.
Got myself -- ourselves, really -- [link|http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/fx7.html|one of these] for Christmas, but it's, like, more miss than hit, so far... ;-)
[link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Your lies are of Microsoftian Scale and boring to boot. Your 'depression' may be the closest you ever come to recognizing truth: you have no 'inferiority complex', you are inferior - and something inside you recognizes this. - [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=71575|Ashton Brown]
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Post #195,627
2/20/05 3:15:24 PM
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Re: Heh - when you find it, be sure to let me know.
I have one of [link|http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/fuji_e510.html|these], and like you, it's more miss than hit at the moment.
Peter
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu Linux]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
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Post #195,633
2/20/05 3:39:11 PM
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One of my final candidates too. So, when did you get yours?
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Post #195,650
2/20/05 4:29:19 PM
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In Dublin, circa 8 Jan 2005.
Peter
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu Linux]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
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Post #195,634
2/20/05 3:40:16 PM
2/20/05 3:43:27 PM
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Let me see, what's its name: PHOTOGRAPHY
Geez, the same rules apply.
Lemme Guess, I'll bet you couldn't take good picture with film camera. Or would you argue differently?
Just because the CCD is more forgiving, doesn't mean the rules do not apply.
Get a Good book on Traditional Photography, yes a BOOK. Processed tree into paper. Printed words on that paper, usually in a binding.
How quaint, right?
No, a GOOD BOOK on the subject is better than any web-site. It is all about understanding exposure focus and f-stop... etc.
Yeah, I am serious.
And, I have [link|http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/optio750z.html|one of these]. Even my wife takes good pictures with it, after reading a good book on Photography ideals and practices.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Miltary Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
Edited by folkert
Feb. 20, 2005, 03:43:27 PM EST
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Post #195,637
2/20/05 3:46:32 PM
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Does it have the same silly-retro styling, too?(jus'wondrin)
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Post #195,640
2/20/05 3:51:31 PM
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Please Re-Iterate in more 'Murican Slang please.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Miltary Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #195,642
2/20/05 3:55:46 PM
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That "exterior accented by leather-grained rubber panels"...
...just hoping the model was available without that ultra-tired attempt at re-living the sixties?
[link|mailto:MyUserId@MyISP.CountryCode|Christian R. Conrad]
(I live in Finland, and my e-mail in-box is at the Saunalahti company.)
Your lies are of Microsoftian Scale and boring to boot. Your 'depression' may be the closest you ever come to recognizing truth: you have no 'inferiority complex', you are inferior - and something inside you recognizes this. - [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=71575|Ashton Brown]
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Post #195,648
2/20/05 4:20:05 PM
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Dunno
It helps out in holding it. Especially during the Vegetable oil orgies With plastic on the floor and half way up the walls.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Miltary Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #195,655
2/20/05 5:19:09 PM
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Ah, yes, of course. Sorry, forgot about those.
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Post #195,639
2/20/05 3:49:22 PM
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"even my wife"?
Which then leads to the question:
Is she normally incompetent in her endeavors, but in this rare case, she succeeded?
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Post #195,641
2/20/05 3:53:51 PM
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And Greg, what'll ya pay for us NOT to show her this thread?
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Post #195,647
2/20/05 4:07:16 PM
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She can read it for all I care.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Miltary Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #195,646
2/20/05 4:06:43 PM
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She was a...
complete failure at taking GOOD snapshots with regular cameras or with the disposable or with the EXPENSIVE AF/AE cameras. taking shots that included more background with a tiny subject... when the back ground was unimportant. Or taking pictures with the sun somehow behind the subject, taking pictures through windows and expecting AF to work proper, putting here finger infront of the lense or flash...
We went to the library, picked up a good Photography book written in 1990 (can't remember the name).
It taught her basics and good ideals based on traditional photography.
She now takes pictures for pay with it. And they have not rejected a single one. The average rate of rejection for these is typically 50% retakes required. Plus since we got the scanner/copier/printer an Epson RX600... she can now be totally electronics in submission, versus FAX. Stuff gets approved in minutes versus days.
So it pays to go read a good book.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Miltary Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #195,649
2/20/05 4:28:05 PM
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OBviously you've got one of THOSE.
It has MORE MEGAPIXELS than anyone else's.
Peter
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu Linux]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
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Post #195,653
2/20/05 5:01:03 PM
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What does that have to do with the price of Canola Oil?
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Miltary Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #195,656
2/20/05 5:19:44 PM
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Which is a very important commodity to keep track of...
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Post #196,346
2/25/05 3:04:44 PM
2/27/05 12:36:12 AM
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I agree
I did just that myself. Bought a good book on composition, will probably get another one or two. Thought it would be good start for using [link|http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/300d.html|This] and the additional lenses
edit: changed href for the review page
~~~)-Steven----
"I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country..."
General George S. Patton
Edited by Steven A S
Feb. 27, 2005, 12:36:12 AM EST
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Post #196,482
2/27/05 1:55:55 AM
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Well, yeah . . .
The tech stuff is easy because most digitals do it all for you anyway - whether you want them to or not (and you can fix their mistakes (most of the time, but not all of the time with your graphics program (PMView in my case) but yellowed whites are a bitch and a half). No more balancing film speed vs f-stops and depth of field or creative cheating. You point the thing in the right direction and press the button and that's it.
Now if you're an artiste, the "right direction" is by nature and will produce ART - even if you're using a Brownie box camera. If you're not, you'll get crap with a high end Leica, Bronica or Nikon.
Therefore: the only thing to study is composition and style. If you have to study it, you aren't an artiste (and not a single artiste will own up to the decades of study it took), but can play one on TV.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #196,487
2/27/05 3:36:19 AM
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I assume you meant "if you *still* have to study it"
There's art, and there's good pictures. I can take good pictures, and I once studied how. It's actually a very teachable skill: fill the frame, don't center the subject[1], put the sun behind you instead of the subject, etc. For the majority of people who have never really thought about the "rules" of composition, it's incredibly easy to get significant improvement.
[1] Wha? That's right: Don't center the subject. Most candid snapshots are of people. Put the faces in the center of the frame and you'll have two inches of uninteresting background above their heads every time.
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #196,538
2/27/05 1:08:31 PM
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No - it was sarcasm referring to . .
. . the tendancy of "artistes" to "forget" all the years of study (by book, by imitation and by trial and error) that lead to their skill which they now claim as a natural talent.
Of course, at the top end the natural talent certainly does come to play. Leonardo da Vinci (a certified genius) defined genius as "being able to do easily what others can not do at all". In contrast, Thomas Edison, a person of distinctly lesser genius but with a tremendous talent for marketing and exploiting the work of others, defined it as "one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration".
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #196,626
2/28/05 12:05:55 PM
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Believe it or not
with the digital SLRs you can actually set the "film speed". There is an ISO setting on mine from ISO 100 to 1600 (up to 3000 with a firmware upgrade). Just like with film, the higher the ISO, the grainier the picture. You also get all the control if you want it of the shutter speed and aperture so you get creative control of the DoF/stop motion.
I took a photography class in high school, but that was over 20 years ago; so it's time for me to relearn everything :)
~~~)-Steven----
"I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country..."
General George S. Patton
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Post #196,641
2/28/05 12:53:41 PM
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The Pentax I bought allows ISO settings too.
As well as shutter speed and so on.
The one I bought has so much crap in it, even I'll never use all of it.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Military Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #196,643
2/28/05 12:58:49 PM
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Heh, me too.
Mine has f-stops and ISO from 80 to 400, whatever THAT is.
Peter
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu Linux]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Home]
Use P2P for legitimate purposes!
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Post #195,636
2/20/05 3:45:19 PM
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Dunno for sure.
With my Canon S45 I just got a 1 GB compact flash card and took lots of pictures until I thought I understood how it worked. It's still hit and miss though (especially when I try to take pictures of items close to the camera and have to use the manual focus).
[link|http://www.dcviews.com/tutors.htm|This] site lists lots of tutorials of various kinds. I haven't gone through them myself.
A book on general photography that I have and like is the National Geographic Photography Field Guide (ISBN-0-7922-7498-9) by Peter K. Burian and Robert Caputo. It mainly covers general photography, though there is about 20 pages on digital manipulation and digital photography. It, and other resources, are mentioned [link|http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=10129|here].
Luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #195,658
2/20/05 5:21:17 PM
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Nice to see someone's still sane around here. Thanks, Scott!
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Post #195,645
2/20/05 4:02:49 PM
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jus 'cause its digital doesnt mean that physics doesnt apply
lighting, ambient light, shutter speed focus etc. Like greg sez, get the book
regards,
daemon
may you go in beauty
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Post #195,657
2/20/05 5:21:09 PM
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Who the F ever said it did?
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Post #195,663
2/20/05 6:21:15 PM
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What F stop was that again?
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
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Post #195,690
2/20/05 9:40:03 PM
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I presume you read it's manual?
Okay, how much of it did you understand? :-)
For online stuff, you can rattle around [link|http://www.photo.net/learn/|http://www.photo.net/learn/] There are a number of Philip Greenspun's articles about photography there. He starts by talking about light and goes on from there.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
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Post #195,718
2/21/05 2:16:05 AM
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couple of suggestions
[link|http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/howto.htm|How To]
[link|http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/books.htm|Books]
Have fun,
Carl Forde
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Post #196,715
2/28/05 9:08:56 PM
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Re: Digital photography - where to get started?
Well...my first knee-jerk reaction was to post a title that says..."take a freakin picture".
But...
First, read the camera manual. Then read some of the stuff posted here. You need to know how shutter and other settings effect depth of field...backlight and how to compensate..etc. Chances are there are some settings on the camera that once you know about will be very handy.
I've just picked up [link|http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=145&modelid=10462|this] at the local shop to replace [link|http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/ekn006544.jhtml?pq-path=698|this old POS].
Much much much better.
I also traded a 12 string danelectro electric for a 70's 12 string (US made in MI) Epiphone acoustic. I took a bit of a hit on value...but it saves me the eBay trouble and the guy at the shop is a good guy. If he gets lucky and moves it quick..cool by me. I wasn't doing anything with the one I traded except watch the case collect dust.
It was a good weekend for me and toys.
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #196,719
2/28/05 10:08:02 PM
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Re: Digital photography - where to get started?
Well...my first knee-jerk reaction was to post a title that says..."take a freakin picture".
That was my reaction as well. That's basically all I ever do; Point & Shoot.
Those pictures I gave you from last year came out ok, didn't they?
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