Picture This

[Ashiwi]

I started uploading some of the photos I've taken recently onto Photobucket. Below are a couple of the ones I was really tickled with. People always ask me how I can stand living so far out in the country, and hopefully these might help explain it. I really enjoy photography in a totally amateur way, but I was hoping somebody could answer a couple of questions for me.

My camera's nothing fancy, but I love it; it's just a Nikon CoolPix L1, and as far as I'm concerned it does a really great job for MOST simple shots. The one thing I've found though, is that all the cameras I've tried so far seem to have a problem catching specific hues of pink and orange that you see in sunrises and sunsets. As those are my favorite pics to take, I'd love to know why, and what it's going to take to be able to capture those colors.

Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture? There's one shot in my gallery that I took just because the moon was so enormous in the twilight sky that it was really quite a breathtaking sight, but it just didn't translate the same at all.

Another thing... what's it going to take to be able to capture a dimmer shot? Is there something available that can work with less light and doesn't cost a fortune?

Thanks ahead of time!









Yes, that's my ratty little place that I try to avoid taking pictures of, but I couldn't resist the rest of the shot.




My fishing spot.


Oral Roberts University Praying Hands


Tulsa Riverparks... I just liked this one because of the contrast between the mirrored water surface on the left and the churning water on the right.


Meet Eilistraee!


Say what you will, SuperDave is one of my all-time favorite pics![/img]

[Ashiwi]

Oh, and here's the gallery of what I have up so far.

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j113/Kyzmette/

Anybody else have one? Post 'em!

[Auril]

You have some *very* lovely pictures there. :)

[ssar]

Ooooh, I love the pic of Eilistraee! Looks like a wonderful dog, so stoked to see dogs in the snow!

Love that moon photo too!

[Lilira]

Gorgeous Kel!!!!

*grin* I love going through my old stuff and remembering that we moved from this....



and this..



To this...



and this...

[Adriorn Darkcloak]

The first photo is the best one I think, along with the snow/moon one. Unless it seems to pricey for you Ash, check out the Canon Rebel XTI. The problem you seem to be having with dim shots is due to the aperture (how much light comes in) and the shutter speed (how long light comes in for). Most point & shoot cameras don't have good shots at night, while others have better ones. The Rebel XTI can use different lenses, which can help dramatically with better shots and better dark/night shots. I got mine for $775, and it's a monster leap from my old point and shoot poop. But I'm a huge nerd.

Also, check if the camera has an ISO option. Usually it's set at 100, which is good for normal use, but see if you can raise it to 400 or 800, or even 1600. It helps ALOT to raise it when you're taking shots in low/no light. The shots come out a little grainier, depending on the camera, but you can usually fix part of it with a photo editor program. I hope this helps.

Btw, I always knew Eilistraee was a dirty old dog, but really...

eep.

[Ashiwi]

OMG... my Eili is NOT dirty!

[Adriorn Darkcloak]

Oh, you mean your dog's name is Eilistraee too...

:whistle:

[Corth]

Here are a few pics I took in Iceland

[Glorishan]

Here are some pics from my most recent Canadian fishing trip.


A daytime shot from the island on which we camp.


This is an evening shot from the boat where we were fishing. This is on the English River system in Ontario. The water can be choppy during the day, but it really gets glassy at night.


A nice picture of the sunset.


Fire!


This is the picture I use for my desktop now.

[Birile]

This is the picture I use for my desktop now.

I'm a snob--I only use Nokie's photos for my desktop backgrounds.

[Ashiwi]

They're all beautiful... but back to my original question. Where are all the pinks and oranges in the sky at sunrise and sunset?

[Yadir]

Glorishan - Your pics remind me of a fishing trip I took to that same area in Ontario years ago. In fact, I could almost swear I stood in almost the exact same spot as the fire picture. The view brings back some good memories.

Thanks for posting.

[Glorishan]

Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture?

As an answer to this - the moon isn't that big when you're looking at it. It's your brain playing tricks on you. When a moon is low in the sky, your brain can use the ground and trees as a size reference, and as such it appears larger to you. When it's high in the sky, there is no comparisons for your brain, and thus it makes it appear smaller to you. If you used an instrument to actually check the size, it would be the same for both.

[Tasan]

Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture?

As an answer to this - the moon isn't that big when you're looking at it. It's your brain playing tricks on you. When a moon is low in the sky, your brain can use the ground and trees as a size reference, and as such it appears larger to you. When it's high in the sky, there is no comparisons for your brain, and thus it makes it appear smaller to you. If you used an instrument to actually check the size, it would be the same for both.

Actually, it's due to the refraction of light through the atmosphere. Same as light through water etc. :)

[Glorishan]

Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture?

As an answer to this - the moon isn't that big when you're looking at it. It's your brain playing tricks on you. When a moon is low in the sky, your brain can use the ground and trees as a size reference, and as such it appears larger to you. When it's high in the sky, there is no comparisons for your brain, and thus it makes it appear smaller to you. If you used an instrument to actually check the size, it would be the same for both.

Actually, it's due to the refraction of light through the atmosphere. Same as light through water etc. :)

If that were the case, then it would come out looking different in pictures, too, which it doesn't. I had an optometrist explain this to me, wank! :)

[Eshacin]

Sunrises/sunsets don't come out right because the camera is trying to be too clever. It tries to make whites look white no matter what the light is. That means your red sky looks less red. It works well to even things out when there's bright sunlight, cloudy haze, overcast dull or indoors electric light, but is not so good when you want to capture those light differences.

The feature is called automatic white balance. If you're lucky, you'll have options to set it manually. Tell the camera that the light is bright sunlight when it's really sunset and voila! luscious red sunsets.

You'll find a better explanation here:
http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_white-balance.html

Oh yeah, and Glorishan's right about the moon.

A good site for camera reviews is http://www.dpreview.com

[Ashiwi]

Hunh. I have multiple settings on my camera, including one specifically for sunrise/sunset, that's supposed to allow all those colors to display in the photo. It doesn't.

I found the white balance and I'll play with it for a bit, thanks!

[Minofagal]

out of curiosity, what camera do you have?

[Ashiwi]

My camera's nothing fancy, but I love it; it's just a Nikon CoolPix L1,

[Ashiwi]

Okay, now what am I doing wrong? See the shot below... I fiddled with my camera until some of the really beautiful pinks and oranges came through just fine on this for my camera, but once I downloaded it, I lost them. The shot on my camera is lavender and cotton candy orange with pink highlights overlaid on deep gold, but once I uploaded it into my computer it lost all those subtle shades and all I see is the gold.

So here's the question... is that what everybody else sees, or can you see the pinks and oranges, too? If the color is visible to others, then it's my monitor. If not, then why do I lose the color in the translation from camera to computer?

[rylan]

I see a little bit of pinks and oranges on my old CRT monitor... however it is mostly golds. Looks quite a bit different on my LCD monitor... can only see the gold.

[Ashiwi]

TA DAAAAAA!!!

My old monitor was shot, and I guess the red was going out on it. I bought a new monitor today, and apparently since I fiddled with the white balance on my camera, I'm in the PINK!

How's that for some pink and orange pizzazz!

[Oghma]

Wow, you sure get some nice sunsets there.

[Ashiwi]

The last one I posted is a sunrise. I looked out my window and almost fell over myself getting outside to take those pics.

And no... they're not touched up at all.