Steve'sDigicams

mtngal · Dec 7, 2005, 11:10 PM

I took some photos of flowers today and think I'm finally getting a feel for the camera. Let me know what you think if these. I've been shooting in raw, and they are much better than the camera's jpg files. Is there anything I can do to improve them?

mtngal · Dec 7, 2005, 11:11 PM

Both the flower above and this one are just flowers planted near my office.

mtngal · Dec 7, 2005, 11:12 PM

I liked these leaves.

boyzo · Dec 7, 2005, 11:16 PM

Frank Sinatra would sing "nice work if you can get it"
You did...
Nice Shots...

mtngal · Dec 7, 2005, 11:16 PM

There's a botanical garden near my office, and I found this flower. I have no idea what it is, but I thought it was interesting. The quality of the photo isn't as good, but I couldn't resist asking if anyone knew what it is.

Please let me know if there's something I should be doing better - I want to be a better photographer and I really want to get a handle on how to make the most of this camera. Thanks!

Hiroshi · Dec 8, 2005, 12:18 AM

Very nicely done.

AsI got more familiar with my FZ20, I found that in most cases,shooting flowers in manual mode allowed me to better control color accuracy, saturation and balance.I also found that by turning the contrast down and saturation up in the camera,I achieved better results.

Hiroshi

mtngal · Dec 8, 2005, 8:13 AM

Hiroshi - can you explain it a bit more? I noticed that the camera seems to have problems with over-exposing when there's light and shadow - I read in another thread that many people set their exposure to underexpose and leave it there (I finally figured out how to do it and what I had done wrong the first time I did it). I used spot mode to compensate, which worked reasonably well. I'm not sure I understand how using manual mode would help color accuracy - can you explain?

The funny thing is that this weekend I printed some comparisons between my old Sony and this camera and it seemed to me that the FZ30 naturally had more saturated colors, so I didn't think I wanted to change the camera settings. However, when I was looking at yesterday's photos, the jpg versions lost a great deal of color, while the raw versions were excellent. The jpg version of the first flower had it more bluish-grey than anything else. Guess I'd better go back to the owners manual and see about how to change the saturation levels on the camera itself. Thanks for the tip!

tiger98 · Dec 8, 2005, 12:27 PM

Mtngal, Your doing GREAT !That second flower is a winner! Jim

d-sr · Dec 8, 2005, 1:59 PM

Looks like you have the hang of it. Nice shots mtngal! Don

mtngal · Dec 8, 2005, 5:02 PM

Thanks for the complements - while this isn't my first digital camera, I've just recently found this board. I've always taken photos for myself and had no idea if they were good or bad. Thanks for all the help to try to sort it all out.

This was the easy "assignment" because I like taking flowers. Today's assignment is harder - it's a very grey day so I thought I would experiment with the camera's black and white settings. I have no idea if this will work out because I was shooting buildings and architectural details, and that's not a subject I've done very well at. I'll see tonight if I had any success or if it was a dismal failure. Also, I'm not sure it's worth it to use the B&W mode on the camera when I can always desaturate in Photoshop. Will I gain anything?

Dec 7, 2005, 11:10 PM	#1
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	I took some photos of flowers today and think I'm finally getting a feel for the camera. Let me know what you think if these. I've been shooting in raw, and they are much better than the camera's jpg files. Is there anything I can do to improve them? Attached Images

Dec 7, 2005, 11:11 PM	#2
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	Both the flower above and this one are just flowers planted near my office. Attached Images

Dec 7, 2005, 11:12 PM	#3
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	I liked these leaves. Attached Images

Dec 7, 2005, 11:16 PM	#5
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	There's a botanical garden near my office, and I found this flower. I have no idea what it is, but I thought it was interesting. The quality of the photo isn't as good, but I couldn't resist asking if anyone knew what it is. Please let me know if there's something I should be doing better - I want to be a better photographer and I really want to get a handle on how to make the most of this camera. Thanks! Attached Images

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Dec 7, 2005, 11:16 PM	#4
boyzo Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,544	Frank Sinatra would sing "nice work if you can get it" You did... Nice Shots...

Dec 8, 2005, 12:18 AM	#6
Hiroshi Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,749	Very nicely done. AsI got more familiar with my FZ20, I found that in most cases,shooting flowers in manual mode allowed me to better control color accuracy, saturation and balance.I also found that by turning the contrast down and saturation up in the camera,I achieved better results. Hiroshi

Dec 8, 2005, 8:13 AM	#7
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	Hiroshi - can you explain it a bit more? I noticed that the camera seems to have problems with over-exposing when there's light and shadow - I read in another thread that many people set their exposure to underexpose and leave it there (I finally figured out how to do it and what I had done wrong the first time I did it). I used spot mode to compensate, which worked reasonably well. I'm not sure I understand how using manual mode would help color accuracy - can you explain? The funny thing is that this weekend I printed some comparisons between my old Sony and this camera and it seemed to me that the FZ30 naturally had more saturated colors, so I didn't think I wanted to change the camera settings. However, when I was looking at yesterday's photos, the jpg versions lost a great deal of color, while the raw versions were excellent. The jpg version of the first flower had it more bluish-grey than anything else. Guess I'd better go back to the owners manual and see about how to change the saturation levels on the camera itself. Thanks for the tip!

Dec 8, 2005, 12:27 PM	#8
tiger98 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,696	Mtngal, Your doing GREAT !That second flower is a winner! Jim

Dec 8, 2005, 1:59 PM	#9
d-sr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Abilene. TX Posts: 1,486	Looks like you have the hang of it. Nice shots mtngal! Don

Dec 8, 2005, 5:02 PM	#10
mtngal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Frazier Park, CA Posts: 16,177	Thanks for the complements - while this isn't my first digital camera, I've just recently found this board. I've always taken photos for myself and had no idea if they were good or bad. Thanks for all the help to try to sort it all out. This was the easy "assignment" because I like taking flowers. Today's assignment is harder - it's a very grey day so I thought I would experiment with the camera's black and white settings. I have no idea if this will work out because I was shooting buildings and architectural details, and that's not a subject I've done very well at. I'll see tonight if I had any success or if it was a dismal failure. Also, I'm not sure it's worth it to use the B&W mode on the camera when I can always desaturate in Photoshop. Will I gain anything?