More fun with the camera

I've been having a great time with the camera. We went to the playground this afternoon and I took these shots there.

Brienne on swing Laurent climbing Celine at Playground

Perhaps someone can help me... The challenge I'm having is taking clear shots without the flash. If the flash is turned off, which I wanted it to be to get the natural light, then the image is fuzzier. I'm thinking specifically of the photos of Celine & Brienne (I like the movement shown in Laurent's photo since I think it captures how he really is - moving all the time). Any advice for how to deal with this. I'm really ignorant when it comes to photography, trying to learn.

« Ignorance is bliss
Crafty Mama »
  • zoltan

    zoltan on Nov. 22, 2005, 4:08 p.m.

    What make/model of camera do you have? You most likely need to take more manual control over your cameras settings.

    The settings you should play with are:

    1) Aperature - known as f-stop (the lower the setting the more light/less depth of field) 2) Shutter Speed - faster take clearer actions shots but requires more light 3) Film Speed - eg. ISO200, ISO400 - the higher the number, the more sensitive to light the camera will be, and the shutter speed will be increased, so don't use high ISO settings with the flash.

    Most like you are taking pictures in "P" mode which is fully automatic. If you camera has an "A" mode this is Aperature priority. As you adjust the F-stop, the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed/ISO setting. If you are in "S" Mode this is shutter prioirty, as you adjust the shutter speed the camera automatically adjusts the F-Stop/ISO setting. If you are in "M" mode this is where you have full control over both Aperature and Shutter speed, this is the most flexible. Take a series of photos with the same shot under the same lighting conditions and change the settings between each one to see if you can achieve the shot you are looking for. Also a lot of cameras have some pre-set settings denoted by a little picture which basically are just preset settings of Aperature/Shutter/ISO.

    With aperature...this is cool... When I mentioned Depth of Field....with a small aperature setting (which is actually opening the iris more), your subject will be clear and the background fuzzy, with a large aperature setting (smaller iris opening), the subject/background will be clear, a neat effect especially if you are taking Macro (close up) photos of flowers etc...

    Hope this helps some.

    zoLTan

    reply

    • renee

      renee on Nov. 23, 2005, 4:03 p.m.

      Thank you for the tips. We have a Canon Powershot S60. I have been experimenting with the manual settings and I bet if I read the manual it would help as well. I need to just play around but now at least I have some idea of what the different symbols mean.

      reply

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