I grew up with film cameras. I have owned a miniature, a 127, a 220, a 35mm, a 2-1/4" x 2-1/4", a 2-1/4" x 3-1/4", and a 4" x 5" camera. I had my own B&W darkroom and have developed many films and prints down through the years but when digital came out I soon switched and personally prefer the digital format. The digital format camera gave me much more photographic control compared to the film format camera. When you consider the cost of film versus a memory card there is NO comparison! I can shoot more frames, shoot more often, experiment more, do more special effects, and without the cost of the film, film processing, and the final printing, processing, and the finishing of the photograph. Yes, sometimes I miss the aroma of the processing chemicals, the print washing, the print drying, and the print storing.... NOT! I am not saying one is better then the other... just saying which one that I prefer.

I took this photo on my daughter's dinning room table. I used the ceiling light as the main lighting. The light had a ring light effect since the ceiling light had 8 bulbs arranged in a circle. I used a plastic tablecloth to mask out the background. I used a hatbox, a red hat, an imitation pearl necklace, and a feathered boa. I photoshoped the additional boa feathers and added some additional background painting. I then cropped the photo changing it from a portrait to a landscape photo. The photo has been greatly reduced and has picked up additional grain. If viewed enlarged it will pixilated.

Photo 1 is before cropping. Photo 2 has been converted from a portrait format to a landscape format.

Grandaughter Photographed on Kitchen table 1


Grandaughter Photographed on Kitchen table 2

Arleen,

Go to the website below... it has more information on how to take motion photographs without blurring the subject.


http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/306/how-to-take-photos-of-fast-moving-sports-without-blurring-the-subject/

What you have discovered by accident is a technique that is sometimes used to create "special effects' and can at times produce interesting and beautiful results. I have used one second or longer exposures and have purposefully moved the camera to create some beautiful shots. It sometimes takes experimenting to get the results that you want, so take several shots and vary the exposure and camera movement to get the result that you like the most. To define the object of interest that you wish to capture, after the exposure is started, do not move the camera right away... let some of the subject record before starting the camera movement. Don't forget... remember the 3Ps... practice, practice, practice!

To photograph a football game while the team members are on the run will require shutter speeds between 1/500th to 1/1000th of a second or faster. There are several variable factors that can change the required shutter speed but I will not get into that now... I will just keep it simple... You will need to balance the ISO speed and the lens aperture to obtain the proper exposure based upon the shutter speed setting that you have chosen. You can also set the camera setting to "Sports Mode" if your camera has that setting. Also read the owner's manual... the owner's manual should have a section regarding the "Sports Mode Setting" or it should give advise on shooting sports or taking action shots in general.

The second moon image that you see in the photograph is similar to looking through a double pane window and you see two reflections of yourself... one reflection from the 1st window pane and a second reflection, usually dimmer, from the second window pane. It is similar with multi-elements lenses... a reflection from one of the multi-lens surfaces was bright enough to record a second dimmer reflection image of the moon on the photograph. This phenomena is called lens flare. Special lens coatings, which adds cost to the lens construction, can reduce this phenomena.

Great, whatever works best for you. Did you get a chance to try the Image Resize Tool? If you did I hope it worked for you.

Hi Sarah,

Glad to meet you! I hope to start taking photos again... I have been so busy the last year and haven't had time to get my cameras out! Trying to slow down and smell the coffee/flowers. I'll try to get on and explore this site more often now that I have registered onto the site. I look forward to meeting new people and sharing ideas and concerning photography.

Thanks for the welcome,
Just call me Bruce.

Rachel,

Glad to meet you! As I said in my profile, I am a new member and have been exploring the web to see what is out there. I forget how I came upon this site... I have too many irons in the fire! If you would like to see some of my attempts at photography you can got to "https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos" (without parenthesis). I have posted about 41 photo albums, which include some family gatherings, some weddings of family members, some local sport events, music festivals, flowers, birds, insects, the list goes on. I am a photo enthusiast and have never made any money in photography. Photography is just one of my many hobbies. I need to go out and take more photos and update my Picasa albums. It has been over a year since I last updated Picasa! Time flies!


Thanks for the welcoming,
Just call me Bruce:)

I forgot to mention when you resize the photo you should rename it so it won't overwrite your original. Also give it a name that let you know that it has been resized... i.e., Example.jpg to Example Reduced.jpg or some other name to let you know that it has been reduced in size/resolution.

The best pointer is to get to know your new camera. I know most of us do "NOT" like to read the "User's Manual", but it is important to do so if you are interested in getting the most from your new camera. First thing that I do is highlight all of the "Don'ts". Then read the camera manual with your camera nearby. You need to experiment and discover what each camera control does. Again, read the user's manual and master one control at a time. The old saying "Practice makes perfect" is so true! Since you have a digital camera, you don't have to worry about the expense of film, which in the old days kept experimenting out of the question unless you had a fortune to buy film and then also pay for the processing and prints. Also, by the time you received the prints you forgot what you did when you took the picture and you didn't learn anything from the exercise! With a digital camera, you can experiment to your heart's content and "NOT" worry about film and processing cost. Again, read/study the camera user's manual. The time spent will be well worth the effort that was put into reading the user's manual!

Have fun and enjoy the new digital camera.

Just call me Bruce:)

I like the B&W look. Years ago B&W was the standard norm... now days it is considered a "Special Effect"! Go figure!!!

If you have Print Shop Pro, you can go to "Image", then "Resize", and reduce the image size. By reducing the image size you will reduce the resolution.

I need to get my camera out and dust it off! I haven't been shooting lately! I thought that I would just check this website and see what is going on in the photo world. I haven't joined very many sites. The only site that I have been using lately is Picasa and I haven't added anything to it in months. I have went to and photographed free music concerts in Blue Ash, Ohio and have shot a few of the big name music artists/groups. I like all types of photography... I have photographed art shows, craft shows, birds, flowers, insects, landscapes, family weddings, sports, etc... I guess since I don't get paid for photography that I would be considered somewhere between an amateur and advance amateur. Most of my photographs I would call "Snapshots" since they were not planned or posed... just spontaneous "snapshots". If anyone would like to see my Picasa albums you can see them at Picasa.com listed under brucew29@yahoo.com.

I can upload some photos later after I have a chance to reduce them to 800x600 dpi.

Thanks for the free oportunity to share... I like free!

Just call me "Bruce"