I’m splitting this into two separate picture and video posts so Anna Merriman‘s blog doesn’t get all confused and duplicate things again.
Anyway these photos were shot on the 13th of October, and demonstrate that our camera can struggle without the flash being turned on. Irina doesn’t like the un-natural lighting, and I don’t like blurry photos. We could get around to setting the camera up correctly in the programmable mode, but then we’d need to remember to tweak a little each time the lighting changed. Hey ho.
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- Rabbit Sleeps Whilst Anna Smiles
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- The Camera Will Be Mine
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- Now, What Was I Doing?
December 18th, 2009 2:41 pm
Not sure what camera you have, but there may be a “White Balance” feature, which allows you to alter the camera settings to the particular lighting that you are shooting under. Automatic mode gets it right most of the time, but not always. Just be aware that when shooting indoors you need to enhance as much ambient light as possible. Stick some more room lights on if possible. Maybe even consider something white to act as a reflector – newspaper, sheet, etc.
Having said all that my Nikon compact is permanently set on auto. I hate on camera flash – but try sticking a small bit of tissue over it to soften it.
You may also be able to wrack up the sensitivity at the point of taking the shot – it should be under ISO on the menu. Sorry if I am preaching to the converted !
December 18th, 2009 2:43 pm
p.s. Have can I get a Welsh flag into the avatar? Or an Irish one instead of the union jack – which has nothing on it to represent Wales!!!!
December 19th, 2009 6:03 pm
In programmable mode there are some options, ISO and EV that can help, but by the time we’ve entered the menu and changed options, the photo opp has often gone. There are preset modes for snow etc., but most of the time the camera is on full-auto/programmable/video mode. The room lights are normally all on, and we need a 3rd person around to handle camera/Anna/reflector 🙂 Will try the tissue paper, hadn’t thought of that at all, thanks. ISO above 800 is way too noisy on this camera sadly.
re. point 2. NO – we’ve spoken about this before 🙂 The country flag is automatically created, according to your IP address. You use a British ISP, so a British flag appears. If there were ever to be an exclusively-Welsh ISP (who only ever assigned IP addresses in the same range to Welsh residents), and the software was updated, it could happen. I thought we had sorted you a Gravatar already – the image to the left of the flag. We could always incorporate a Welsh flag into that I guess.
December 20th, 2009 11:36 pm
OK, I’ll try again. I was writing a comment on this – but we had a long Skype call in between.
ISO 400 on digital is pretty good for most indoor work. The colour balance is the problem. I open Photoshop, then Bridge. The photos are opened in Bridge, then opened in Photoshop. Sounds a bit convoluted, but doing it this way goves me an immediate option of altering the White Balance before doing anything else. The recovery slider also helps with any areas that are burnt out. Hope this is of help if you cannot (or do not have the time or capability) of setting the White Balance on the camera. Hmm, my grammar is abysmal there. I don’t care!
Reflectors can be made out of a lot of things, but I agree, a spare pair of hands is often necessary.
On the other issue of the flag… Well, The Free Wales Army has just put an order in for new catapults, so we should be in a position to establish ourselves more threateningly in the next year or so. Unfortunately, Health & Safety have insisted on extensive training before we are allowed to use them in our war against the english oppressors. We will have to rely on destroying the English on the rugby field in the meantime.
Any chance of opening a Welsh Embassy in your apartment in the interim? Waleski an Byth!
December 22nd, 2009 2:54 am
Are you talking about opening RAW files, rather than JPGs?
I’ve never really understood why you have the files on screen in Windows Explorer, then open them in Bridge, then in Photoshop – you know the Camera RAW interface appears when you open a RAW files directly in Photoshop, yeah?
ahhhhhhh, OK, discovered (just tried playing with Bridge) why you might go via Bridge for JPGs at least, you can access the Camera RAW interface for them that way. NEFs or other RAW type file formats will open in Photoshop directly, with the camera raw interface though, just in case you hadn’t noticed.
No, there is no white balance option on Ira’s camera that I can find, it really is a point’n’click type affair. I think she wants to have more flexibility, but it was all Father Christmas could afford that year, and she needs to learn how to use the functions on this one before we upgrade 🙂
I didn’t think with the recent Intl. Bazaar, I could have found someone capable of cooking, and bribed them to make some lovely Welsh cakes to sell at the charity event. Obviously I’d have eaten them all up before they ever arrived, and had to pay the stall directly, but it’d have been worth it 🙂 Finally, an or aM byth? My Welsh language skills are non-existent, but my googling revealed a hiccup in translating the an, am byth being Waleski for ever???
December 22nd, 2009 3:30 pm
It is Cymru Am Byth. My typing skills are not good.
I open RAW files in Bridge, then open in Photoshop. Not using a third programme anymore. This works for me, allows me to get White Balance corrected, Recovery, Exposure, etc., simply by using the sliders in the transfer between Bridge & Photoshop. I convert to JPEG after that if necessary for web or printing.
December 23rd, 2009 4:52 pm
Re. the sliders you’re talking about, those immediately appear when you open the RAW file directly in Photoshop, without involving Bridge, that is what I was trying to say 🙂
December 23rd, 2009 11:29 pm
Bloody Hell ! So it does – that will save me loads of time. Thanks
December 24th, 2009 1:09 pm
It is probably in your Photoshop for Dummies book, and whilst you’re reading up on that, you can skim through the WordPress one as well 😉
You’re v.welcome btw, obviously.