Basic picture taking

xianmacx

xianmacx

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Guys,

I need a little help with my picture taking. I have read the recent thread that totally breaks down taking pictures to a macro level. I am not looking to take professional pictures, I just want to have decent ones. All I have is a 5mp digital point and click. What kinda lighting is best? I notice alot of people are taking pictures outside? If that is best, should I have the sun behind the camera?

Any *simple* advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Ian
 
My favourite setup is the following: using the 'macro' mode on the camera (it is shown by a little flower most of the time) and having natural lighting. The Sun should be shining from behind you, or maybe ~40 degrees from the side so you won't have your shadow on the cue.

You may want to lift the cue at its joint or butt cap a little so it won't reflect straight back into the camera.

If you have 'enough' light you won't have this problem but I'd recommend you holding the camera fairly steady so you won't have blurry / moved pictures.

Just some superficial settings: ISO not more than 200, No flash, very little zoom even in macro mode, light coming almost from behind you.

These and some time spent practicing should pay off, but these are the very basics, I believe.

GOOD LUCK and please keep us posted as you advance.
 
poohkiller said:
My favourite setup is the following: using the 'macro' mode on the camera (it is shown by a little flower most of the time) and having natural lighting. The Sun should be shining from behind you, or maybe ~40 degrees from the side so you won't have your shadow on the cue.

You may want to lift the cue at its joint or butt cap a little so it won't reflect straight back into the camera.

If you have 'enough' light you won't have this problem but I'd recommend you holding the camera fairly steady so you won't have blurry / moved pictures.

Just some superficial settings: ISO not more than 200, No flash, very little zoom even in macro mode, light coming almost from behind you.

These and some time spent practicing should pay off, but these are the very basics, I believe.

GOOD LUCK and please keep us posted as you advance.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much sir, this is exactly the "basics" I needed.
 
xianmacx said:
I need a little help with my picture taking. I have read the recent thread that totally breaks down taking pictures to a macro level. I am not looking to take professional pictures, I just want to have decent ones. All I have is a 5mp digital point and click. What kinda lighting is best? I notice alot of people are taking pictures outside? If that is best, should I have the sun behind the camera?
thanks,
Ian
Click to expand...
think you mean "micro"!?
5mp point & shoot is capable of pro quality.
if you wanted to use natural light i'd wait until the sun is behind a cloud to reduce glare.
wouldnt want the sun behind you as it would throw your shadow on the cue.
shouldn't need the "macro" setting unless you're taking a pic of a knat sitting on the cue. :)
ISO is always best at the lowest setting if you can hold the camera still for the shutter length.
(higher setting would allow for a shorter shutter length, but the higher the setting increases the possibility of noise in the image)
if not you could always just sit the camera on something and use the timer, or purchase an inexpensive tripod.
 
icon2 said:
think you mean "micro"!?
5mp point & shoot is capable of pro quality.
if you wanted to use natural light i'd wait until the sun is behind a cloud to reduce glare.
wouldnt want the sun behind you as it would throw your shadow on the cue.
shouldn't need the "macro" setting unless you're taking a pic of a knat sitting on the cue. :)
ISO is always best at the lowest setting if you can hold the camera still for the shutter length.
(higher setting would allow for a shorter shutter length, but the higher the setting increases the possibility of noise in the image)
if not you could always just sit the camera on something and use the timer, or purchase an inexpensive tripod.
Click to expand...

Haha, yes Micro... ;)

Thanks for these tips Sir. I tried it in peak sunshine yesterday and as you mentioned, couldn't get rid of my shadow. I will try these suggestions this weekend. Thanks again.

Ian
 
Suggestion

What ever you do do not use a cell phone to take pictures. I don't care how good the phone is the pictures will still suck.

Your camera will take great photo's with a little practice. You could use the cue in your avatar as practice material as I would love to see more pictures of that beauty.

Kevin
 
PMS said:
Even though you're outside with great weather and bright sun, every other photo, use the flash.
It's a pro technique, sometimes it helps
Click to expand...

I realized that about half way through, all these pics WERE taken with flash. Made a big difference.

thanks for all the tips guys.
 
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