The Official "I have a question about photography" Thread

[invincible]

Digital zoom isn't really a feature though. It's just available in compacts for all the people who use their photos exactly how it comes out of the camera because they are unable to do basic editing on a computer.

Photoshop (or basically any image editor) gives you the power of infinite digital zoom.

[xzmattzx]

Thanks for all of the help on the digital zoom. It looks like I'll get the A590 then.

[dattebayo]

need help

how can I put the guy in front of the car? is it possible? I just can't figure it out. by the way, Im using GIMP as my software. Thanks in advance

[aleph_null]

i dont have GIMP, but there should be some type of Marquee tool (or ideally a Pen tool) that you can use to crop out the person from the second photo. then just copy and paste him and you're done.

[dattebayo]

thanks. By the way, what kind of pen tool should I use? another question, I have a dslr and wanted to know the best setting for night shots without having any noise.

Is aperture best suited for night shots?

[aleph_null]

whatever pen tool you have with gimp should be fine. just define the path and copy the selected area. keep in mind that i am speaking from the Photoshop perspective, so this could be a bit different in Gimp, but essentially it should work the same. i'm sure you can google some tutorials on how to select a custom shaped object in Gimp.

as for the camera settings, there's more to it then just setting your mode dial to A, S, P or M. personally, i'd suggest going with M, and manually selecting your aperture and exposure settings. it depends on the light available (duh). if you have a tripod, even better; or at least a VR/IS lens is a must. to minimize the noise, keep your ISO in a range of 50-200 (depending on a camera, but 200 is a maximum i ever use). next select your f-stop, and shutter accordingly. and fire away. there's no one good setting that fits all night shots. it depends what kind of effect you are trying to achieve, as well as what you're shooting (streets, night sky, moon, buildings, a house party on a deck, etc). just go out there and take few shots. see what works, and what doesn't. good luck.

[invincible]

It's easy with DSLRs anyway - there's a screen on the back for you to look at the pictures. Set the ISO as low as your patience allows, turn off VR/IS if using a tripod, pick an aperture (f/8 or thereabouts will get the most sharpness out of most lenses) and guess at the shutter speed (this becomes easy after a while). Low ISO isn't always suitable - for example, if the shutter speed is 15 seconds and you're taking a photo on a street where people are walking past, you'll get murky ghosts everywhere. Boost up the ISO (or open up the aperture) and reduce the shutter speed accordingly and the people will take a more defined form - there's still motion blur but it will be more pleasing to the eye.

It's all trial and error really, it's something to do over a few different days and you can just experiment until something looks good. You could learn all the theory, which is good to know, but personally I found it more fun to mess around with things and then read about the theory some other time. You just need to know some basics like the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Or not even - just put it into P or A and use the exposure compensation switch and it will do the calculations for you.

[xzmattzx]

Is there any way to get rid of the spot on my lens? I am pretty sure it's on the inside, I've wiped the lens a couple times and nothing changed. It's creating little marks in my pictures (look at the very center, then look slightly up and right). Is this a piece of dirt or dust? If I bring it to a camera store, will it be a simple fix?

[aleph_null]

^the camera store won't touch it. i tell you this right now. if anything, they'll take your camera for a month and send it to a third party company.

it doesn't look like dust. it looks like a smudge of some sort. what solution do you use to clean your lens? i'd suggest using cleaning kits from: http://www.copperhillimages.com/ make sure it's not your sensor (use different lens, take a shot.. if you see the same smudge, then it's your sensor, and not a lens).

[invincible]

EXIF data says the photo is from a point-and-shoot, so changing the lens might be hard.

It's definitely not sensor dust because that would appear as well defined speck instead of a slightly dark blob on a point-and-shoot. Some camera stores might be able to help - one of the large stores here has its own servicing department. But that's no different from having it sent to a third party for repair.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by hazardously_wasted

^the camera store won't touch it. i tell you this right now. if anything, they'll take your camera for a month and send it to a third party company.

it doesn't look like dust. it looks like a smudge of some sort. what solution do you use to clean your lens? i'd suggest using cleaning kits from: http://www.copperhillimages.com/ make sure it's not your sensor (use different lens, take a shot.. if you see the same smudge, then it's your sensor, and not a lens).

I usually use a wet piece of toilet paper, then dry it with toilet paper. I treat the lens like the glasses that I wear at night.

The spot appeared while on a boat tour out on Lake Michigan. I wonder if some little piece of sand got in and ruined it.

Unfortunately, it may be the sensor. My camera's a basic point-and-click camera, though, so I don't know if I can try another lens.

I will definitely have to take advantage of the warranty for this.

Originally Posted by invincible

EXIF data says the photo is from a point-and-shoot, so changing the lens might be hard.

It's definitely not sensor dust because that would appear as well defined speck instead of a slightly dark blob on a point-and-shoot. Some camera stores might be able to help - one of the large stores here has its own servicing department. But that's no different from having it sent to a third party for repair.

Sometimes is does appear as a speck (more like a little star), depending on if I zoom in a lot or not. I'm at work right now, but I'll try to find a picture of this when I am at home.

[He Named Thor]

I have a question for the photo gods. I've been trying to take some car-in-a-parking-garage-at-night photos, but they've been turning out orangeish yellow.

As if the garage is on Mars. I've played around with the different settings, though there aren't many, and this is still the best I can get. I've even tried a different garage. I've got a Fujifilm Finepix Z20. Is it something I'm doing wrong/can do, or is it the camera?

[xzmattzx]

I blame the lighting itself. The sun emits "white" light; these lightbulbs are emitting yellow light. You need to find a place with white light bulbs.

[aleph_null]

change the white balance. alternatively you can edit the white balance inside Photoshop/Lightroom

this is a one click fix:

[i_am_hydrogen]

Switch your white balance to tungsten.

[xzmattzx]

I never realized that you could change the white balance to fix something like this. I guess that's why I'm not an expert.

[Toronto Macedonian]

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding night photography. How do I adjust my digital camera to take clear photos in a dark/night environment? Thanks.

[SirAdrian]

A few tips regarding that, though i'm by no means an expert:

1) Place your camera on a still, flat object (e.g. a wall), or better yet use a tripod.

2) If your camera allows it, manually set it to an appropriate exposure time. ½s - 1s can be enough in many cases. You can keep ISO low, if you're exposing long enough, and thus get less noise.

3) If it's very dark or your object of interest is very far away (e.g. a city skyline) your camera might have issues autofocusing. Even point-and-shoots tend to offer manual focusing now, so make use of that in those cases.

[Aliya]

Hi,

I have a Nikon D60 with the kit lense. I want to experiment with night-time photography such as in nightclubs.
I have been reading about this type of photography and I am aware I will need a flash gun (or maybe new lense or diffuser)

Can someone please help me out to pick the right type of flash to get pictures that resemble ones from below with the background still illumite but the faces of people clear

(i have 'borrowed' these from a club photo site in Israel)







Of course, I do not want to spend too much money

Thanks!

[SuburbanWalker]

[edit] the question probably belonged in the other thread.