Like many of you out there, I have a DSLR camera. In fact, I am on my second one. Earlier this year I purchased a Canon 60 D, an upgrade from my Rebel. I also have shared with you that I sell my pictures on FineArtAmerica or FAA for short. That all started when I was using my trusty Kodak EasyShare, which was my third digital camera. Man, I cannot believe how far digital cameras have come in such a short period of time.
Anyway, I am still learning how to use this amazing piece of technology. In fact, I don’t think I ever fully learned how to use my Rebel, I just happened to get lucky most of the time and my shots came out pretty good. The thing now is, this camera is not just a point and shoot anymore. Yes, you can do that with the many settings and programs on it, but then you get point and shoot quality photos. When I would review my pictures on my computer they were okay, but not WOW like so many others that I see out there. I knew I would have to make a point to sit down and go through the manual to learn better ways to capture the images I wanted.
This past weekend was a rainy day kind of weekend, so I spent some time catching up on some reading and it finally hit home when I came across this post by Marian of Miss Mustard Seed. I had a moment of clarity. It was time to stop procrastinating and hit the book! The Manual Book, that is! So, Tuesday I had a day off work and decided to take the lessons learned from Marian’s post and put them into action. Her post was geared for getting better indoor shots and that is definitely one area where I have problems. Especially with my new no-built-in-flash camera. I have a flash to use, but I am always in a hurry (which is the main reason my pictures have been lacking) so I never want to put the flash on when I am taking pictures of stuff inside.
[pinterest]
Before when I would take pictures inside (like here on this post) they were very grainy and not as clear as I would like them to be. Well, after reading what Marian had to say and quickly reviewing my manual to find what she referenced (see, again I am impatient) I was able to play around and get a few indoor shots that I am happy with. They are not perfection, but when you compare them to previous photos used on this blog of interior shots, I think you will notice the difference. In the shot above of some of my Lorna Doone chintz, I played around with selecting the focus to be on the pitcher on the left. In the shot below, it is on the right. I still am not sure of all the technical jargon, but I do know that I changed my ISO to 100, used my tripod and handheld shutter release, opened up the aperture to let in more light and played around with different shutter speeds to get these results.
[pinterest]
And another great thing about using Manual Mode and shooting correctly for the situation, I did not have to do very much editing in Photoshop on these images. The main thing I did was crop them and bump up a few highlights. The camera did the rest. I hate to say it, but I wish I would have figured this out sooner. I guess sometimes it just takes that one person or that one article to finally give you that Ah-Ha moment and it clicks. Literally…clicks. And, did I tell you I didn’t have to use a flash? No flash glare to worry about either!
[pinterest]
And I am really happy with how the image above turned out. I had these old spools with ribbon on them that I had gotten earlier this year for Christmas decorations and I put them on one of my cupboards and took a few shots. This one I am proudest of because where they were placed had very little light and they cupboard is dark, adding to lighting issues. Normally if I would have tried to take a picture it would have been chucked into File 13 along with all the other unloved pictures that I cannot bare to commit to the delete key, for hopes of one day figuring out a way to make them somehow usable. Well, now I know, they are what they are, pictures that are just grainy, dark and fuzzy. There is a fix…it is called reading the manual and practice.
I am very happy with today’s results. So happy that my Ribbon Spools picture was FAA worthy in my opinion. I think it would make a great Christmas Card! I cannot wait for some more time when I can practice taking shots of things inside and continue improving my photography skills. Thanks again Miss Mustard Seed for providing the motivation for me that I needed!
Have you read your camera manual lately?
Leave a Reply