here's my newbie contribution for the day

officially picture #93 taken by me

(this is a reduced quality picture and i fiddled with contrast and brightness)

on the original it still shows some signs of grain -- i used PET/KIDS mode and i believe daylight light balance

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...bey_sphinx.jpg

gotta figure out this damn grainyness thing, i have some ebooks coming my way so those should help me out a bit

The grain is caused by the camera using high ISO...
Basically for the camera to calculate the exposure, the light bounces off the subject and into the lens.

Because the camera is exposing for the cat, there is not enough light, which is why the patio door is washed out and there is a lot of grain introduced. Try using the Av mode more. The lower the number, the larger the iris, thus more light gets in, and the larger the number, the less light gets in. Just play around with that for the time being and note how it affects your shot.

Hope that helps.

Here's my contribution. I fucked up on the unmasking and edges, but I got lazy =)
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...m/78353312.jpg

You talking to me? All shot with my Nikon 18-200VR. 2 and 3 had a circular polarizer.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/...a23555a717.jpg

:)

She's supposed to be nekkid for Wreck Beach!!! :p

hahahah.

-ed

heheheheh it's a nice pose and lighting.....

however i find saturation might be too high for this image, perhaps toning it down or even
below the "normal" might be more pleasing to the eye. i feel it's screaming at me with colours
and taking the attention away from the hotness.

alright paolo -- i'll try the av mode since i haven't used that yet. thx for the help

edit:

do you think PORTRAIT mode would have been a good choice for that last cat shot?

No. You were shooting against the shadow which is a no no IMO.
If you worked with the light coming into the house, then that would be different.

Edit: Where did you get your camera from?

thx for the comments guys, this is what i like to call extreme editing :)..my kinda style, but yah maybe a little less blue would be a bit better :)... we'll see on the next pics i edit :)

-ed

Paolo: best buy -- $179.99

($9.99 extra for an epson printer -- did not buy, might go back and see if i can get it)

anyways, snapped my first picture in Av Mode as suggested.

as you can see the focus is off but it's because she moved after the i calibrated and i took the picture quickly... (it's a freakin cat they don't stay still sometimes hahaha)

she was in the middle of chasing shadows and something else caught her attention and i shot her haha

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...o_and_book.jpg

That's a pretty good shot considering you're using a point-and-shoot. What I mean is they're not as fast as DSLR. There is always that 1/2 or 1/4 second of delay. Keep working on it! You're doing good! :)

I just picked up a Canon SD1000 at Costco for same price as you. I decided to go with this as it's a bit smaller and I can always carry it with me :) No image stabilizer, but I was looking at the size of it more than features.

Yes to you :p
Wow, that's pretty good. Nice lens :)

^thanks, hopefully in the future people will be asking ME how to take shots hahaha

that's the goal at least

edit:

when i'm a world famous photographer my plan is to reveal to everyone that i'm actually color blind and people will be scratching heads like WTF?

hahaha yeah

don't tell anyone for now or i'll kill you(s) =)

It's getting better.
I don't know if your camera shows the shutter speed when it focuses, but if it's higher than 1/10, you might need to use the flash and adjust the f-stop again.

carbon copying this shot i took just now (in the auto thread)

again AV mode, i like the reflection!

my shots are improving!

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...dza3_badge.jpg

Paolo, FYI, he's using a point-and-shoot camera (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I know its a P&S.
It just so happens that the camera he bought (Canon A590IS) has shutter priority, aperture priority and a full manual mode.
There's nothing wrong with exploring it's semi-manual controls now is there?

here's a few more snapped in less than 5 mins.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...IMG_0137-1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...IMG_0135-1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...IMG_0133-1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...IMG_0130-1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...IMG_0127-1.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...IMG_0126-1.jpg

shooting one handed while croutching probably doesn't yield the best results lol

my ciritque on the above photos; yes, they are nice pictures of flowers, but there is no "story", "contrast" or emotion in them. They are simply pictures of flowers. My best advice would be to look at pictures from photographers better than you, and be inspired by that. Try to emulate some of their techniques or ideas to start with. In the end this will allow you to be creative with your own ideas.

LCV, as much as I understand where you are coming from, how shooting and asking questions will help you learn, please follow the rules on the first post:

^ like i read the first post when we're in the hundreds and thirties of pages ahahaha

but yeah sorry if im BORING you lol

for somereason i have absolutely no interest in anything other than portraits.
i did though come across this during a shoot.

enjoy!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/onnong/SGGtknI0...jpg?imgmax=512

Never said there was. All I know that it's a point-and-shoot, just didn't look into the specs of it much. :)

He never said you were boring him. Just respect the rules, or other wise everybody would start posting 10+ pics a day and this whole thread would be a mess. It'd be a lot harder to help you out with your photos if we couldn't keep track of them.

I'm sorry, but pornography should not be allowed on this forum :p