Newbie with Grainy Results

I'm new to digital photogaphy, so I'm not really always sure what I'm looking at. Especially when I shoot a portrait on AUTO with the largest resolution level "L", the results look grainy when I view it in Photoshop, Draw, etc.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

Use P mode and set the camera (menu) to ISO 50. This should help.

Are you viewing the photos in 16, 24 or 36-bit display mode? If your computer is set to 256 colors you can't see the real image quality in any case.

Pekka,

Thanks for the quick response! It would've taken me a long time to figure that one out. I'll try both of these, and "post back" my findings.

Great! I have a lead to work with here.

Thanks again!

Pekka,

Your assertion that I can't see the true quality of a picture at 256 colors was correct! I went into the "Windows Display Properties Setting" and changed from 256 colors to "True Color (24 bit)", and it made all the difference!

I appreciate your expertise on this. I know a lot about computers --relatively speaking, and I can't imagine how long It would've taken to figure this out.

Just so others know. Prior to making the above changes my "L" "Auto" pictures had a "grainy" appearance --actually it looked like I had a very subtle "fabric" textured background to all of my pictures. Changing the settings to "True Color (24 bit)" seemed to have chased that artifact away.

Thanks again!