whitewitch Loc: Buffalo NY

Hi, I'm a she but you're right, I was just there to attend the wedding. I did let Bob know that. Thanks! - Denise
;-)

beacher Loc: Butler, PA

roger on the "she". Sorry :-D ! fingers flying too fast, i THOUGHT I hit the "s" key...

whitewitch Loc: Buffalo NY

No problem
;)

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

You had low light. You didn't add any light. The camera chose a slow shutter speed to get enough light. The subjects moved while the shutter was open and blurred their way across the sensor. What else could you expect?

You would have forced the camera into 1/125th second or another shutter speed somewhere around there if you would have used flash - which would have been enough to freeze most movement.

Flash doesn't have to give white faces and red eyes like you blasted them if it's used right. Your camera probably would have made the shots look somewhat natural because the computer calculates fill flash based on distance. You can Scotch tape a single ply toilet paper strip across the flash face to act as a diffuser. Or you can buy a real diffuser on eBay for about $5 that clips into your hot shoe attachment and sits in front of your internal flash.

Did the pro photog they hired use flash? You bet he/she did. Great big powerful ones!

whitewitch Loc: Buffalo NY

Thanks so much for your input. My camera is new I'm still trying to figure it out so I know I'm making a lot of mistakes. I do have to experiment more with the flash settings. I like your ideas for the diffusers. So, if I'm using a diffuser, do I need to compensate for it by adjusting the camera settings? Thanks again...

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

If you're using auto settings the camera will pretty much adjust itself. If not, you can normally boost or lower the flash output. A very thin diffuser doesn't really lose any flash power. It just isn't as glaring and is softer.

As far as your camera settings and mistakes, make sure you study aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, at least online if not in book form. Then read your operation manual about the camera's capabilities. You will understand the manual much better with basic theory of photography imprinted in your brain first. I only say this because you hoped the camera would save you in low light with no added flash, which means you don't know which shutter speeds will eliminate movement blur or that no camera could reach that speed in low light without flash or an ISO setting in the 5-figure range.

Keep trying! You'll get it.

whitewitch Loc: Buffalo NY

I know I need to keep practicing. I keep reading my manual and I'm going to keep reading and practicing until it all clicks. I had used my 35mm. film camera for many, many years yet I'm finding my digital camera to be a lot more complicated for some reason. That doesn't make much sense, does it? I had no problems with my 35mm. ha . I think I get overwhelmed by the myriad of buttons and settings. My 35mm. seemed more simple and straightforward - you set the aperture, shutter speed and use the light meter. With the digital there are so many options and combinations. But I'm enjoying the process of trying to figure it all out. I have learned so much already from you and all the others who gave feedback.So, Markomarks, thank you. I really do appreciate your knowledge and encouragement - Denise

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Yes, it's known as technophobia. Put a senior citizen who grew up on manual typewriters on a PC computer and they're afraid to push the power button on because they feel like there will be a nuclear war if they do - until the desktop comes up. Then they're afraid to double click any software packages because they think they'll blow out the hard drive or freeze the PC up permanently. Then they're afraid of e-mail and websites because they're sure some giant tapeworm is going to squeeze its way up the modem wire and eat the insides of the computer because Dan Rather told them viruses and worms are lethal to computers. Eventually they over come their fears and become fairly fluent users or they don't face their fears and turn it off and never go back.

Old school guitar players are afraid to use a newer digital multi-effect pedal or digital "modeling" amplifier that replaces 6 to 10 older individual pedal units that sit on the floor and require 6 to 10 batteries and 12 cables to operate. They either learn to program the new digital technology and find out how easy it actually is, or they keep dragging a big box full of pedals and wires out every performance and spend 20 minutes hooking them up.

I went to L.A last January for a convention and rented a Nissan Altima for a week. It took me 15 minutes to figure out how to start the thing. I'm used to turning a key. The owners manual in the glove box said it required pushing the brake pedal, putting in but not turning the key, then finding a starter button to press to go and press it again later to stop. I felt like a technophobe geezer because of that car yet I can build a PC from scratch.

I kept my Motorola Razer far too long to avoid smart phones. Now I have an LG and I've learned that it's pretty cool although I don't use many of it's features and apps. Everybody is getting IPhones and Droids and all the other technology now. I feel technophobic about those again but I also know there's nothing on them that I need at this point. Maybe later when I feel like learning new technology again. Marketing people are shoving techno-addicts into new expensive products they don't need but learn to want.

In reality your digital camera is as easy to use as your 35mm if you set it to manual mode. The other bells and whistles are added to make your camera experience easier and more successful. Like an electric can opener beats out a manual crank type. There's also many features you'll never use, but your neighbor might use them on his or hers. So the manufacturer jams them all on there whether you personally will use them or not. 3D shots? Nah. Panoramic shots? Nah. HDR? Nah... GPS? Nah... The list goes on and on but somebody will use them, just not me and maybe not you.

With time you'll be able to create a Program for yourself with the P on your top dial that makes your life much easier. It will likely be partially manual for you to feel old school comfortable and partially auto so the camera can do some of the dirty work for you using its vast internal knowledge base. Over more time, you might say to yourself, "Why am I doing this manually when the camera can do it just as well automatically?" It's all personal taste.

whitewitch Loc: Buffalo NY

Ahahaha!! You're too funny. And I agree with everything you said. That's so funny about the car you tried to start for 15 minutes. My girlfriend just came back from Ireland and she rented an 'automatic' car which was more expensive because they normally drive standards there. As it turned out, this 'automatic' car was more like a standard. It turned out to be some type of hybrid where it had a combination of both standard and automatic functions and you had to use all functions to make the thing go. It's very hilly there and she found herself rolling backwards down a hill at a stop sign. Couple that with driving on the 'wrong' side of the road. I'm so glad I wasn't there with her because she's a horrible driver to begin with and I'm quite sure we would have ran off a cliff and we'd both be dead and buried in Ireland.

I'm still trying to get my elderly mother to get a computer. She's 87 and very lucid but talk about technophobes. She still can't figure out her answering machine. She will let it beep all day long when someone has left a message and she doesn't feel like listening to or deleting it. And forget about her figuring out how to watch a DVD on her TV. I have to go to her house just to put a movie in and then she comes up next to me and inadvertently starts pressing every single button she can find possibly find on the DVD player even though she doesn't have a clue what any of them are for. Apparently she's not afraid of setting off a nuclear war. In fact she wants to start one right now. I love my mother but boy, when it comes to her and electronics I can feel my blood pressure go haywire. And forget about a simple point and shoot camera. She'll just get a picture of your foot. It's not that she's dense. She just pretends to be dense because she really doesn't want to know.

And me, I continue to use my manual can opener instead of an electric one. You're so right about the marketers getting everyone to buy the latest touch screen or cell phone. I know so many people who fall into that trap of just having to get the newest or latest model of whatever.

Have to get ready for work tomorrow. Thanks for making me laugh, Marky Mark

:-D PS - What's an LG?

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

So you know exactly what I mean by elderly technophobes. You forgot about the VCR flashing at 12 o'clock for years or your mother putting tape over it so she doesn't have to see the flashing. I'm sure Jerry Seinfeld did a show on this subject sometime in their long run.

I don't go around rapping in my underwear, certainly that would make everybody sick... so I'm not Marky Mark!

LG is a Chinese manufacturer. Verizon carries many LG brand phones. LG also makes microwave ovens, TVs, computer monitors, etc. They are as big as GoldStar, Acer, Samsung, etc. in consumer electronics.

My LG (I think it's called a Chocolate although it's not brown) is a big touch screen on the front but opens to have a real keyboard and another smaller screen for text and number entry that is easier than the touch screen in my opinion. I only use it for phone purposes although it has about a dozen apps in it that use the Internet and cost a fortune per kB.

Well... okay, I've got an 8GB micro-SD card in it that I slammed a bunch of MP3 audio files onto and I can listen to it like an IPod if I get bored on a long flight or car trip.

forbescat

I'm still laughing...