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Sunday, November 03, 2013

Learning my new camera...

Illusion:
I thought that if I just put the camera on automatic it would shoot and I'd have wonderful pictures.  I mean I just held it up and took some in the sewing cave and they looked so much better than the pictures on my Canon Elph did. I also thought since it's a better camera that I should be able to get a couple of decent sunset photos.

Fact:
Here's what I got...




...ummm not so good!  You can't see any of the details of the jacket or it's real color.  Which is better depicted in this collage...



Illusion:
I would be able to read the manual understand the settings, play with the camera and make it work thus taking great pictures.  My daughter who is handier than I would make it sing right away.

Fact:
I've spent the weekend watching a series of videos on YouTube cause I'm really more of a visual learner than learning by reading something. I even follow the pictures on the instruction sheet and in my sewing books better than just reading the text.  

My daughter did come in this afternoon, read the manual and had a better familiarity with the camera.  I also think she got over her fear of using the better, more expensive camera.

Result...
These are photos that my daughter and I took this afternoon.





  • With the help of my friends, I'm realizing that natural light is the best light...even in the house.
  • My picture size should be larger - I don't know how that's going to work with Blogger's space requirements but I'll worry about that later.  
  • The auto setting can be used but it's best used in natural light.
  • It's going to take me much longer to learn how to work all of the functions of the camera.
  • There are a lot more YouTube videos in my future on how to make this camera work! *LOL*

I've ordered another tripod and a remote so that I will be able to take pictures by myself.  My daughter's schedule is getting tighter and with two little kids running around and getting in the shots, it takes a lot longer to get some pictures than it use to.  Also I don't like imposing on my daughter's precious time like that.

There is definitely a learning curve involved with this camera and I hope that you won't mind putting up with a few less than wonderful photos here as I learn how to make my camera sing.

Oh and review of the 60's Vintage Wool Boucle jacket will be up soon...

...as always more later!


35 comments:

  1. Your jacket looks great! I like you am a visual learner; even with that I have limited knowledge of my camera that I have had for over a year. I could use your daughter to take photos for me as she does a great job.

    I like the jacket with the black pants; shoes look great also!

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  2. Good luck learning the tricks of the camera. Your daughters photos look good. And the jacket is great. Look forward to more details.

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  3. You hope we don't mind...??? Your blog is a gift and an inspiration! Take all the time you need. :-)

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  4. Was not sure what I would think of that jacket, but as usual I love it. Super cute once you styled it. Also love the pleather jacket with that new outfit even more than the last time you wore it :) Great jackets!!! I need to get to making myself a couple of jackets. I am in the middle of making a wrap to wear with my dress to a black tie event out of necessity since it is so terribly cold all of the sudden.

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  5. Beautiful jacket and great photo shoot! I think it doesn't matter what size you put your photos on your blog. I usually choose extra large, maybe because I have a small computer screen. The thing that matters -- at least as far as picasaweb is concerned -- is the dimensions thing (I don't know the technical word -- maybe the resolution). That needs to be under 800, I think. I get around this by resizing my photos before I upload them to blogger, usually to somewhere around 400 x 600. There are probably easier, more efficient ways to do this, but so far it is working for me:)

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  6. You'll get the hang of it. Natural light really is the best, but it can also be a very harsh mistress as well. Dawn and dusk are your friends, when the sun is still out but lower on the horizon so that you minimize the deep shadows. Also, if you end up wanting to invest in another lens, a 35mm or 50 mm lens with a low f value (1.8 or 2) would be a great addition. My 50 mm 1.8/f lens cost $100. Pricey, but not too bad as far as lenses go. Going to a low f brings in a lot of extra light and gives you that awesome depth of field, where everything in the background is blurry. You can always try to take advantage of the lowest f your default lens will allow. Again, that will bring in light and, as long as you're far enough away from your background, it'll provide some of the background fuzziness. Good luck!

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  7. everything amy said... plus clouds & shade are your friends too if you can't hit dawn and dusk. i almost never stand in direct sunlight .

    hey, bring your camera to ny and we'll play over lunch (i promise not to drop it).

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  8. Carolyn, This jacket is fantastic! The picture quality is amazing, simply gorgeous!

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  9. Ditto what others said about clouds and shade. In my experience, white and black are the hardest to photograph -- especially together. I would turn off the flash, even at night, and use a different source of light (and a longer exposure). You'll get much richer photos, even if they're not quite as sharp (i.e., more noise).

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  10. I'm not sure what brand of camera you have, but, on my Canon, I tend to use the 'P' (for Program) setting the most. It has all the advantages of the automatic setting, but gives you control of the flash. I always shoot in natural light, and, as a previous commenter said, never in the middle of the day.

    I also found that investing in a tripod and remote control allowed me to take photos without feeling guilty at taking up someone else's time.

    The single best thing I did when I got my new camera was to do a course - a real-life-in-person one. It was invaluable.

    Thanks again for all the effort you go to to share your work with us. I love reading your blog, and it's one of my absolute favourites.

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  11. Hi there - I can only agree with all the previous comments about shooting black & white, and about getting the right amount of lighting. I'm glad you persevered as the jacket is lovely and worth seeing well.

    This is me -
    http://bobbinsbikesandblades.com/wordpress/

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  12. Great jacket! The photos are good also. Have fun learning your camera.

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  13. Your top three photos, plus the collage look like they were taken at night...and that the flash was used for the top three outfit shots. That combination will never produce a great photo (unless you have a you beaut camera with an amazing aperture for low light). Like you've said...your best bet is natural light...but not too sunny. Enjoy the new camera.

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  14. Well, I think the jacket looks fantastic regardless of you learning the ins and outs of your new camera!

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  15. Love your jacket and the shoes!

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  16. Fabulous outfit!

    I tried for 6 years to get a decent photo of my son's football games, His teams always wore white helmets and the jerseys were generally dark.I never felt like I got the lighting right. I think this was a tough outfit to start with the new camera, because of the high contrast.

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  17. Great jacket, awesome shoes! Yes, natural light is the absolute best. My daughter was my photographer today, and I just crop the shots afterward. She's 10, so I have to remind her of exactly what I want in the frame, and she does pretty good. "Mom, do you want your shoes in this one?" :)

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  18. I've had my head down and have been sewing the last few days, Carolyn, but I do use the automatic settings on my camera. The only real difference is that I generally use the mode that you use for fast-action (the running man icon) and I avoid using flash.

    That's really all I do that is special or different.

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  19. Beautiful jacket!! Congrats on the new toy! :)

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  20. Your photos definitely got better - the last one is the best. The best suggestion I can give you is to pay attention to the time of day you take the photos. I can tell the last one was either later in the day or taken in the shade (as opposed to the mid-day ones with all the shadows from the sun). The best time to take them is right around sunrise or sunset - called the "magic hour" or the "golden hour." I have an app on my phone that tells me when it is! Ha! Lately I have been taking my sewing photos during those hours, and my photos have dramatically improved. :) Hope that helps! (Oh, and I am just learning to shoot in manual on my Nikon DSLR. I use a tripod and a remote so I can take shots of my outfits anytime.) My blog is http://www.laurendahl.com if you want to see some of my recent photos.

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  21. Great camera! Looks like you're conquering the learning curve well. You're inspiring me to get my own with remote and tripod so I can be a little more independent with my picture taking!!! Gorgeous jacket btw!

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  22. Your jacket looks amazing and I also appreciate everyones comments on photography!

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  23. AS Kelley said, using the "P" setting on a Canon camera gives you a lot of options. My hubby also changes the "ISO" setting when he is shooting sunsets and nighttime skies. Granted, not exactly what you are trying for, but those are much lower light situations too. The camera captures so much more light than the naked eye thinks is there.

    Love the jacket!

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  24. These pictures look great. It is a continual curve, I think. Shade is a good place for photos and you cand change your ISO for this, too.

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  25. The jacket looks fantastic! I'm sure you'll master the camera in no time.
    I LOVE those shoes! Their just like Dorothy's in the wizard of Oz, they look fabulous on you!

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  26. I love everything you sew, and the jacket is lovely! And your styling of the outfit, especially those candy-apple-red shoes, really makes the whole thing stunning.

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  27. I like your street photos - very natural and great background. As for photo size you can resize them before uploading so that they are big enough to fill the entire column width but not such a large file that it is slow to load. I resize mine to about 650pixels wide, but it depends on your blog settings. This blog post is helpful: http://honeybeeinthecity.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/blogging-tut-streamlining-photo-size.html

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  28. Beautiful jacket, and very elegant as always. I actually have this pattern and have never used it, but after seeing your version I am feeling quite tempted.

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  29. Gorgeous jacket. From my end the pictures look great.

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  30. Ive just bought the Nikon, beginners DSLR, a couple of weeks ago, so Im in exactly the same situation, its boggling. Of course Im in a rush to use it a, and probably not using at its full potential. But my pics a so much clearer. Just need to sit down and work out how to use properly, and not use just the auto function. Your pics are good hope you are happy with it.

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  31. I love that you're always trying new things. I think life long learning is life enhancing, some things succeed and some don't but it all teaches us something. More power to you I say and thank you for sharing.

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  32. OMG! What a sophisticated, elegant yet saucy outfit! What a confident look! Love it! I might even need to use ALL CAPS! ;-D

    Seriously, you look movie star-beautiful in that outfit.

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  33. Carolyn don't worry about the pics as we're more than happy to just see pics of the wonderful outfits you make and enjoy the shots you share while you test drive your new camera and the all the features she has to offer... Most importantly just have fun with your new toy :)

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  34. Ditto Chris Lucas ... this is your sewing blog, not a photo lab and I love all your photos. LOL! But I do see the good advice from above (should try it myself!) and I understand wanting to conquer the new toy. All of this to say that I'll still be looking at whatever pics you post. Oh, and very pretty jacket ... and love those shoes!!

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