help for a newcomer with an A40

[ldelicato]

some of the photos that i have taken can be found here

http://www.columbia.edu/~ld2040/personal/pictures/Tourist.html

I am just a beginner with a small camera but would like to learn to take good photos. what i am concerned with at the moment is why some of the photos appear grainy (i.e the sky on the empire state photos) whilst others do not (the dark portion of the pumpkin house).

i did reduce the size using photoshop (most of them began life as 1200x1600 and they are grainy there too but it is exacerbated by reducing their size).

is there a problem with my technique? shaking too much?

i must tell you that none of the photos were taken with a tripod and for some reason (i dont know why) not all the exif info was recorded so i cannot give you details. help with an explanation on that would be great. i am going to try and take better ones this weekend so all tips would be greatly appreciated!

thanks
louise

[eland]

Hi
You have a very good eye for composition which is more important than small technical failings.

Long exposures with digital cameras frequently lead to coarseness particularly in areas with only one tone. It's called Noise.

For hand held you have done remarkably well.

eland

[ldelicato]

thanks for the feedback, i guess next time i shall mess around more with the exposure and see what improves.

at the moment i am just experimenting with the camera i have to learn more about its capabilites and the technical stuff. i guess it will just take time and practice but i'll enjoy learning along the way! also at the moment i want to make the photos as best as possible before editing them using software (for some reason i am not too keen on that).

any other comments are very welcome,
thanks
louise

[Conk]

What program are you using to download and edit your photo's? This is likely the reason why you lost some of your exif data.

[Leighow]

LOUISE

* I am not a nightime photographer -- but look for my slide rule on http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1835#8153

* I think that your last Times Sq shot is best -- but how do you lighten it up -- and avoid a tungsten look.

* Look for great nightime shots (appologies for ommissions) from Pekka (home page), Griffin (HK), Don Ellis (home page, jazz bar), Darryl (Dallas), onehotrx7 (australia), hoskim (Korea),.... memory is gone.. but also fireworks, Norther Lights, Lightening.

GOOD LUCK

HOWIE

[ldelicato]

thanks for the info i shall take a look at those sites.

re the times square photo, it is as of yet unedited, should i find the exif info i shall post it.

thanks again and any more comments are very welcome.
louise

[ldelicato]

hmmn that is a surprisingly tough one, i use mac OS X so i cannot remember whether the program is built into the OS or i used the one that came with the camera. i shall check that and see if there is a difference re the exif info with them. thanks for the tip!

louise

[henkbos]

The grain is most visible is the sky. I tried to enhance the picture of the Chrysler Building by:
- create a new layer
- remove building
- fill the sky with a gradient layer (blue to white)
- bingo, most of the noise gone.
Only spent a few minutes on this in the offie. Obviously it need more tuning and improvement, but you get the idea.

http://www.henkbos.com/Various/Crysler.jpg

[Conk]

ldelicato wrote:
hmmn that is a surprisingly tough one, i use mac OS X so i cannot remember whether the program is built into the OS or i used the one that came with the camera. i shall check that and see if there is a difference re the exif info with them. thanks for the tip!

louise

I know that if I use my Windows Xp photo editor that I lose the exif data. Too bad because it's great for fast fix-ups like sharpening and colour balanc.
I use Adobe PS 7. I know nothing about Mac software.
Chances are though if you use an editing software like Adobe you'll solve the exif data problem.

[ldelicato]

Hi Colin,

it turns out that if i use image browser (that came with the camera) i get all the info! that is great because i can learn what changes to make to the settings to improve the pictures. i dont mind keeping the original and modifying a copy in PS or something. i just wanted to have the info available to improve.

thanks for the suggestion on trying the software, i was all too keen on blaming the camera-i am just not familiar with all its settings yet!

anyway i took a couple more photos last night of the empire state on my way home from work and they are much improved in terms of grainyness (second row of empire state buildings on my site).

the puchase of the camera began as a means of making photos available to the family back in the UK. however it has turned out to be a fun hobby and i find now i want to take photos all the time!

thanks again for everyones suggestions.

louise