Aloha Bloggerinos,
As you may have noticed, I have been whinging about my curddy old kodak camera for a while now. Hearing my cries, my Dad has lent me his swish fancypants camera, so that I can take excellent pictures for Sprinkle of Glitter and also document Darcy and life a bit better.
I've had this camera a couple of weeks and am struggling a little bit, so I thought seeing as you are always so good to me, I would ask for your tips and tricks.
Below is the beast. I'm not sure what it's name is, but perhaps some of you will recognise the model and know how to help.
It also has this in it's little carry case:
Any advise on how to get good clear shots in macro and normal would be most appreciated. If you have it or know anyone that has this, let me know.
GO COMMENT CRAZY KIDS!!
Toodlepip!
xx
Oooooh get you :) I've just got a dslr and I would say the best thing to do is just take so many practice shots. Just of random things like cups of tea, random household objects, Darcy. My poor family were so annoyed at me because I was asking them allll the time if I could take their photos. It allows you to just get used to the controls and what works best. Somehow, you will be able to see what settings you used for each picture so if you can't remember what you did to get a certain photo, you can look and it will say :)I know when I go through my photos, I press one of the arrows and it says what shutter speed, ISO, etc I used. I would also reccommend this post by Fee, it's brill :) http://www.makeupsavvy.co.uk/2010/10/beauty-blogging-photography-tips.html
ReplyDeleteand this one by Gem http://www.fromgemwithlove.com/2011/08/photographic-tutorial-part-1-depth-of.html :)
Hope that helps Louise! Hope you had a lovely time in Florida xxx
Thats the Canon Eos 350D, i used to have that model!
ReplyDeleteHonestly if your not sure how to work a DSLR then stick to using automatic at first but keep switching to manual for a few practise shots every now and again so you get a feel for what your doing.
The circular 'switch' at the top with pictures on are various settings. (No flash, night shoot, High shutter speed for moving objects, Macro, Landscape, Portrait and so on)
Honestly the key to most good shots is the lighting and composition in my opinion. If you have good natural light and an eye for a good photo then using automatic macro (for products) or portrait ssettings will be perfect for your blog.
As for the Manual settings, practise makes perfect :)
Good luck.
I have this exact camera, I still haven't managed to figure out the settings so I'm still shamefully using it in auto :( xx
ReplyDeleteAF which it says on the lens will auto focus it, meaning that it will be easier for you to take pictures without having to worry about focus! Sorry I'm not much help, I would suggest searching Canon EOS 350D and you will find a lot of information that may help xx
ReplyDeletePhotography student here!
ReplyDeleteThe little switch on the lens is the key to focusing. AF will auto focus whatever is infront of the lens. MF is manual focus so you cheat the lens and focus on what you want. The flower symbol on the dial on the camera is for macro pictures e.g a pic of a bee or whatever :) The M stands for manual but unless you know anything about apertures and shutter speeds, it's best to leave the camera on its default setting of auto which I believe to be the green square icon. The other icons are not used as often, merely if you're photographing speed for example. Also if you need flash and it doesn't pop up automatically, the little button on the side with the lightening bolt symbol will pop it open. If there's anything else you'd like to know, just let me know :)
Lots of love,
Ashleigh
ashllyd.com xx
ALOHAAAA Sprinkleofglitter!
ReplyDeleteI am new to the blogging world and would love love love it if you could follow my blog, maybe give me some tips and sturrf
I have been watching your videos and reading your posts for yonks now and love them
ps your baby is so so cute! <3
that camera looks so cool xx
ReplyDeletemy blog : http://ravingbeautyx.blogspot.com/
Lauren x
using manual focus on the macro setting will allow you to get much closer photos of your subject than using auto focus. auto focus is good on the normal, auto setting.
ReplyDeleteGosh I could give you so many tips but you'd be here until next September reading them. The greatest tip I was ever given was that the first 10,000 photos you ever take are the worst you will ever take. When I heard that I was like oh thanks! I'm never going to hack this but now I know what they mean. You have to experiment and test and try and make mistakes. Take more photos than less photos because somewhere in there will be the golden one. You'll also improve over time but you personally might not necessarily notice.
ReplyDeleteThe next hit is always work in thirds. A shot looks better offset than directly in the centre of the frame. So whether it be portrait or landscape remember your thirds.
I also have a website for you: www.karltaylor.co.uk
he's amazing and gives you a lot of very good hints to how you get started.
Good luck hun and I look forward to seeing them!!!!
Nashxx
I haven't got that camera, but do have some knowledge in them.
ReplyDeleteThe AF is auto focus, which is helpful when taking quick snaps.
The macro setting is for photos which you'll be taking close by, gives a clearer and more pristine finish.
But I have to agree with the commenter above, a lot of the first ones are gonna be a bit pants. But you've got to experiement with all the settings in different environments to figure out which ones work and make good effects. So just fiddle around and soon you'll have gorgeous photos :)
Hope that helped a little, and I look forward to seeing the photos :D xx
Just in case you want to venture into manual and you don't know much about iso, aperture etc. then aperture = kind of (its quite difficult to describe) how to creatively present your photo, so if you wanted to take a pic of Darcy and you wanted her to be in focus, but you wanted her surroundings to be out of focus then set your aperture to the lowest number...if you want everything to be in focus, put it on the highest number. ISO = the amount of light allowed into the lens (lower number = less light) HOWEVER, if your ISO is on like 1600 or 3200 then it will probably add noise to the photo (make it all fuzzy) so for the sharpest photos you want good natural light, and therefore a very low ISO setting (eg:100 to 600 is probs best). Finally shutter speed = the speed the lens click? (really dont know how to describe it) if you're shooting a flower on a windy day 1/250 of a second would be brilliant (basically the 1/highest number possible) however when shooting a waterfall you could put it on 1 or 2 seconds to make it all blurry and smooth (would have to be on a tripod though). Hope this helped you brave the deep waters of manual setting!!!
ReplyDeletexxx
ps: I'm not an expert I just have a photography book, so I may have misinterpreted in places...hope not! Happy snapping XD
I agree with Ashleigh the most. I'm a photo major too. I think you should also play with Aperture priority(av) and shutter priority(tv). I think that's what it's called on a Canon, I have a Nikon. Those are the other modes besides manual and auto/program. Playing with those two will eventually help you figure out what to set your camera at.
ReplyDeleteOH and you have a Canon 350D and a 28-200mm lens. A good macro setting is 50mm to 85mm on your lens.
Good Luck and Congrats!
Bluebox89
As some of the earlier bloggerinos have mentioned your camera is Canon 350D :)
ReplyDeleteI would suggest spending $200 extra and investing in a 50mm lens, make sure that aperture is at 1.4 or 1.8 - The lower the aperture number the more light the lens will let in and the more blurred and bokeh effect you will get.
I think that you will really enjoy the 50mm for taking portrait shots of your lovely daughter and family :)
Also, if you ever do any image processing on your computer I would suggest to always shoot in "Aperture priority" mode, it is usually an "A" setting. Adjust aperture at 1.4 to 2.5 - this will ensure a beautiful blended background, and ability to shoot when there isn't a lot of light.
Also, keep your ISO setting at 200 - this way you will never get grain in your photos.
Happy blogging and photographing :))