Photography question

[OuZo]

Hey kids,

Dunno if anyone can help but I'm having probs trying to take a certain type of photo! Usually it's when I'm trying to take a shot of my Central Netted's inside their cage. Basically, the pic looks great on the little screen like exactly how I want it, but when I take the shot the camera decides it needs a flash so the whole thing ends up looking completely washed out and crap! And I've tried turning the flash off but because of the longer exposure time (or whatever it's called :?) you have to hold the camera completely still or it turns out blurry. Now me pressing my finger on the button is enough to make the damn thing blurry :evil: . It's not just the Netteds, but any pic where there's enough lighting to make me happy but not the camera :?

Does anyone know of a way to fix this? Is there something that newer cameras have which prevents the blurring of a pic with no flash? If I was to take them outside into natural sunlight it would turn out ok but there's no way in hell I'd ever trust my netteds outside lol. Plus it's always inside their cage that they're doing the silly things worth taking pics of . I did have a suggestion by a lady the other day to put the camera on the self timer with the flash off so that I could maybe hold it still enough because I don't have to press the button but I reckon they would have moved before the 10 secs counts down lol.

Any advice or info would be appreciated...I'm sick of missing out on good shots!

-Zo

PS If it helps it's a Nikon Coolpix 3100

 

[Shaggy]

have you tried putting the camera on a chair .. or some other hard surface that's the right height.. or even supporting your elbows on a surface.. I have the shakiest hands ever. Or perhaps you can adjust the shutter speed?

 

[pugsly]

Zo,

1st thing is making sure you hold the camera still which is what is blurring the picture, if the camera has a macro mode then switch it to that it helps with close ups alot. (what its for). If you cant hold the camera still enough try putting it on a tripod either in front of the glass or even inside the enclosure.

2nd idea is get the other half to hold a light over the enclosure or above the dragon and the camera will have sufficient light to not need the flash. In america they do this alot with taking cool shots. Make sure the enclosure is the brightest thing in the room too or the colour washes out with the other lights behing you.

3rd is change the shutter speed, my camera used to take a shot like a second after i held the button down but then i changed it to take it straight away, its in functions somewhere cant remember, just look at the instructions

Goodluck

 

[basketcase]

like shaggy said you need a tripod or you could put the camera on manual and change the shutter speed. just tinker around and youll get it right

alternatively you could turns on the lights in the room, if they arent already, so that the flash isnt necessary.

 

[westhamsc]

zoe i'll bring my camera up on sunday and show you how it's done just look at my pic of the bredli


ha ha ha ha ha i can take better pic's then zoe

 

[moosenoose]

I've been copping the same thing with my digital. It's a right royal pain in the butt!!!! Grrrrrrr No consolation to you though, but having a gripe has made me feel a whole lot better :lol:

 

[OuZo]

I'm limited with how far away I can put the camera (ie on a chair) cos we only have 3x optical zoom and it's only 3.2 mp lol. Maybe I need a tripod!

Pugs, it's your damn pictures that have done it to me twice lol . I really wanna get those close up shots that macro is good for. I've tried holding it still but when I push the button down it always moves and I get blur lol. Even if it only moves a bit it still makes it an overall crappy picture cos I want it to be in good focus! Macro seems to do the same thing to me :?. It will still flash and drown everything out but what you can see is in focus lol :lol:. I like the idea of holding another light above them tho! That's worth trying and seems easy enough . So to make the enclosure the brightest thing in the room could you turn the room lights off and just use the enclosure lights or the other half holding one? Or would you still have the same problem? I did have a read thru the manual recently and don't remember seeing anything about changing shutter speed but I might have another look cos that sounds like it could work!

The room lights are really pretty crappy for really brightening things up which I think is one of the problems

Westy you suck :lol:

It's bloody crap isn't it moosey :evil:. I used to be able to take good pics with the cam and now everything seems to suck :?. I guess the other possibility is that all our light bulbs are about to blow at the same time and that's why the lighting is so bad? Hmmmm maybe not :lol:

Does anyone know if newer cameras have something to prevent that sorta thing? Cos the flash is really unnecessary and I was using this on the auto mode which is supposed to pick the best settings without you having to fiddle with it. I'm not gonna run out and buy a new one tomorrow but it's probably almost time to have a squiz at what new stuff is out there

 

[africancichlidau]

Tripod dear, tripod.

 

[herptrader]

At least with digital cameras it is a lot cheaper to experiment.

It sounds to me like your camera may be doing its light reading not based on your subject but other aspects like the background. A trick I often use is to pick something larger that is similar to what I want to photograph, half pressing the shutter so the camera makes it decision about focus and lighting and then reframing on the subject you want to photograph before squeezing the button that extra bit to take the actual photo.

I will often use this trick when I want the focus to be on something in the forground. I focus on some large something about the right distance away and then swing around the camera.

Other tricks I have used are to get more light into the picture. You may be surprised how much extra light you actually get on a subject by reflecting light onto it from something as simple as a piece of butchers paper or other large white object.

 

[herptrader]

Tripod dear, tripod.

You may be quite surprised how cheap a dinky little tripod is..

 

[BiteAndSqueeze]

Tripod. You can't hold a camera still by hand with a long shutter speed.

Some new cameras actually have an inbuilt flutter adjustment whihc compensates for hand movements but a tripod would be a lot cheaper. Then you only have to ask the snake to hold still long enough

 

[nuthn2do]

Tripod and remote
Manual focus when shooting through glass
Larger aperture=faster shutter speed
More light=faster shutter speed
Higher iso rating=faster shutterspeed
Tell me what brand and model camera you've got and I'll let you know what you can tweak

PS If it helps it's a Nikon Coolpix 3100

Duh

 

[westhamsc]

well zoe i told you to get a canon with the DIG!C processer instead of that crap one you have

my pics are taken with the canon power shot A400 from memory it cost about $250 ish or i got mine for $300 with two 64mb cards a tripod and a photo editing program but i prefer to use photoshop for editing

 

[Hickson]

Zoe, just remember that if you shorten the shutter speed manually, you alter other settings (eg. very narrow depth of field, or darker image overall). Also, see if your camera has settings for different light sources - incandescent bulbs, fluoros etc. If it does, then playing with that might produce some results.

And remember, if your zoomed in as far as you can go, any camera/hand movement is going to be even more magnified than normal.



Hix

 

[pugsly]

Good point Hix, I dont use zoom at all, I take the picture as close as i can and then I just resize it after i take it by zooming in on the already taken picture.

Sorry Zo i'll stop posting for ya..mmmm..naaaa lol

Well it sounds to me like a good excuse to by a new camera to me! although 3.2 mp and 3x optical is standard, ya going to have to fork out a bit for those slr's, i use a Fuji 5500. 4mp 10x optical. Works great!

 

[OuZo]

WOAH :? My brain just died :shock:

Tripod and remote
Manual focus when shooting through glass
Larger aperture=faster shutter speed
More light=faster shutter speed
Higher iso rating=faster shutterspeed

Was that Swahili? Yikes lol no offence and I really appreciate the help but I don't get it lol. But I would like to get it cos it sounds very helpful! Ploise Exshplain

Zoe, just remember that if you shorten the shutter speed manually, you alter other settings (eg. very narrow depth of field, or darker image overall).

Ok so adjusting shutter speed messes with things I don't understand = don't mess with shutter speed

I will try to stop zooming...I gotta take good pics now so Pugs and I can have a Pic-Off lol :lol: :lol:

Oh and I still don't know what an slr is :?

 

[SnakePower]

Hi Guys!!! Great to see you back on line!!!

Zo, if you go into the camera settings, there should be a way to increase the ISO/ASA rating.(This is the films light sensitivity setting. On old film cameras you choose this buy purchasing the film rating you want, on dig. you can tell the camera what sensitivity you want) On It would be set most probably on around iso 100. If you increase it to 400 that might do the trick! If you can set higher go higher for faster speed, the only thing is the faster the rating, the less definition... more pixilated.

Cheers and happy picture taking!

Brett.

 

[pugsly]

Hey a Pic-off Bring it on!!

I got ya covered woman! lol

 

[westhamsc]

i'll win i have lernt to use my camera proply now so look out for some more great pics

 

[nuthn2do]

Ok Ouzo i've checked the specs and really your only option is more light, the low light capabilities are pretty much fixed on that model coolpix. A couple of 100 watters (watch the heat output), move outside or using flash is about the bottom line.
If you're shooting into the enclosure try getting the lens right against the glass and use the flash. This will help prevent washout caused by flare, might take a bit of messing around but you'll see a difference.
Don't rush out and buy a new camera to solve this problem, it won't.