Monday, October 25, 2010

Well, Now What?

I have been experimenting with my digital camera, trying to get interesting captures of shadows, particularly as evenings lengthen and the seasons change...

So far, I've netted pictures so dark that all one sees is blackness, the grays and whites of shadowed limbs and other things almost indiscernible.

Can anyone offer advice? If so, kindly send an email to which I'll respond.

The flat batteries have been replaced and I've a new charger as well, so this isn't the camera but the user who is the problem.

Thanks,

Until Next Time...

8 comments:

Brian Miller said...

fun...but i suck at photography so...

Kate Hanley said...

Good luck with the camera. I suck at photography as well but I say keep playing with it. I'm sure you'll learn a lot by experimenting.

the fly in the web said...

I'll check to see what advice you get.
I'm a hopeless picture taker, but for the new blog I really need to show what I'm talking about so must upgrade my non existent skills.

Megan said...

Well, you know who you should be talking to. Kim, Lettuce, Roy, etc. Although now that I think about it I don't recall seeing any night shots from them any time recently!

Good luck!

karen said...

I love the new background blog theme! Good luck with those shadows.. just experiment like mad, and try to remember what you did each time :)

Glad to hear you are back at the Library - great news!

Enchanted Oak said...

Unless your digital camera is unique among digital cameras, it ought to have an easily found knob or button with tiny icons on it that represent the various light and speed settings. If all you're getting is dark, your camera is set to daylight mode. Look for the "Mode" dial which usually has icons for portrait (a feminine profile), outdoor daylight (a mountain peak with a sun), a close-up mode (a flower), a speed mode (a running person), fill-in light (a dark box with a tiny sun over the shoulder of a human head), and something else I don't remember. There is an auto-mode feature as well on that dial, and it is usually a blank rectangle.

Auto-mode is usually just fine. All you have to do is tell the camera which part of the scene in the viewfinder is your subject. You do this by centering the desired subject in the viewing field and gently, lightly, partially depressing the shutter button. The camera will make adjustments to its lighting and focus settings so that your subject is well lit. Then arrange your shot and depress the shutter button fully.

My mode dial is on the top of my camera, but some cameras have the mode accessible though the "cross key" wheel on the back of the camera. Good luck!

lettuce said...

not me i'm afraid, i've not yet found the time to really learn about night-time photography

tho' I do know that slow shutter speeds are important, and having the camera on something steady to stop camera shake

Plus - you can do a lot on the computer to tweak not very successful pics!!

mouse (aka kimy) said...

eh good luck on night time photography, i haven't figured it out yet.... play around and 95percent of the time my photos don't turn out, the 5percent that do i unfortunately can't remember what i did....

best of luck

i seemed to do better when my camera was fully manual and i lived in the pre digital days with night shots - digital cameras are like calculators they can be the death of certain skill sets