Pictures- good or bad?

[bighit8]

So I have an Olympus fe-280, just a point and shoot. It is 8 megs. Just wanted some tips on what to look for to get good pics. Some turn out really well, others blurry ( still shots).Some turn out dark or the colors just don't seem right. I know the camera takes decent pics, but what can I do to optimize the quality of the pics. Not upgrades, just general things you look for to get good shots.

[bighit8]

Good
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Not so good
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[Dusty]

Its all about light. The photo that is not so good is shooting into the sun. Try to set up the photo so the light is on the subject. So in this case you would need to turn to the right. The other trick with point and shoot is like with the focus, you set the camera for the area you want in focus, compose the shot, then shoot. You can do this with exposure. In this case point to the darker area, press you shutter part way down, then compose your shot and the exposure should read the first setting which would have been for the darker area, seeing the terrain better and giving it more color. Hope this helps

[jeffj]

The first thing I do when looking to compose a shot is to evaluate the light. Lighting is HUGE. Especially with a P&S like yours. With a P&S, you're really up against it if you try to fight the light because low lit areas of the shot will be more likely to exhibit 'noise'. Don't fight the sun if you can help it. Get it behind you if possible unless you are trying to be 'creative".

After I figure out where my light is coming from and how I want to use it, I look at backgrounds. An ugly BG will render a shot useless. Trash cans, outhouses, ugly fences, telephone pole and wires, people looking somewhere else, cars in parking lots or just cruising by are just some things that can ruin a background. Caution tape on a race course is also pretty ugly IMHO. I try to keep it out of shots if I am at a race. Same goes for banners and advertising signage.

OTOH, if I was at an event where they had a sign with the name of the race, I might try to work that into a BG.

Next, if I am shooting people on bikes, I try to get a lower perspective to shoot from if possible. If that means kneeling or sitting, so be it. I don't care for action pics taken from a standing position because they generally make the upper body look very big and the legs look tiny which is unflattering IMHO.

I also try to keep the camera level and fill the frame up pretty well, but still leave some room to crop a shot and not lose important elements of the shot. Keeping the camera level will help keep cropping to a minimum. The first thing I look to do when processing a shot is to level/plumb it. Slightly off kilter shots just gnaw at me a bit.

Those are a few things that can help you right off the bat.

As for the camera, you need to RTFM and play with the settings to learn to get the best from it.

As for what could have made a particular shot blurry, Id have to see it and be able to read the EXIF info to make the best guess as to why that shot didn't come out well.

Your camera does not have image stabilization, but has a setting that will "reduce shaking". What it actually does is to increase the ISO setting to speed up the shutter speed thereby hopefully eliminating motion blur.

Anyway, if you want to post up some shots, I can take a stab at what may have gone wrong. There are actually several people on this board that can probably help.

Here's one I took earlier today that I kind of like:

[bighit8]

I will post up a few bad ones in a few.Thank you for the help.

[jeffj]

Not any useful data attached to the pic, so I'll make some assumptions.

Well, the ambient light was not good to begin with, but even so there is still something there to work with if you have the tools (software).

But, if I wanted to take that shot and get the best from it, I would look to manually keep the ISO as low as possible which may mean needing a tripod of other way to keep the camera still enough to use a longer shutter speed.

Your P&S may not have enough manual controls, but you could look into some of the "night' settings and see how they work.

Anyway, I took about 20 seconds and a few mouse clicks to come up with this on your original shot:

[TCB]

Originally Posted by jeffj

Anyway, I took about 20 seconds and a few mouse clicks to come up with this on your original shot:

I love Shadow/Highlights, it’s saved my butt quite a few times

[bighit8]

I would say 90% of these were shot in auto mode because I don't know how to use the other features.

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[jeffj]

Originally Posted by TCB

I love Shadow/Highlights, it’s saved my butt quite a few times

Good call.

S/H is a blessing with digital cameras for certain. On this shot, I used it first, then some saturation boost and a little unsharp mask.

[bighit8]

Originally Posted by jeffj

Not any useful data attached to the pic, so I'll make some assumptions.

Well, the ambient light was not good to begin with, but even so there is still something there to work with if you have the tools (software).

But, if I wanted to take that shot and get the best from it, I would look to manually keep the ISO as low as possible which may mean needing a tripod of other way to keep the camera still enough to use a longer shutter speed.

Your P&S may not have enough manual controls, but you could look into some of the "night' settings and see how they work.

Anyway, I took about 20 seconds and a few mouse clicks to come up with this on your original shot:

Wow! I have the photo editing software that came with the camera. I think I have a Photoshop cd laying around somewhere, just haven't installed it.

[jeffj]

Originally Posted by TCB

I love Shadow/Highlights, it’s saved my butt quite a few times

Good call.

S/H is a blessing with digital cameras for certain. On this shot, I used it first, then some saturation boost and a little unsharp mask.

bighit, auto made is the devil

It's OK for sunny day snap shots and maybe social snapshots with the flash from short distance ( < 10 feet).

Most of these suffer from poor lighting conditions. The third one looks OK to me depending on what you were going for. The sensors on P&S digitals do not perform well in those conditions.

Looking at your manual, it looks like you need to explore the various 'secene' settings. You have settings for night, sports, sunset, indoor and several others that look like they would have helped the shots you posted.

If you have photoshop, especially the "CS" version or newer, learn to use it. If you want something cheap (as in free) try downloading Picasa from Google.

[bighit8]

BTW that pic you posted is cool.

[PacMan]

Pics are good, if POSTED in moderation.

[bighit8]

Originally Posted by PacMan

Pics are good, if POSTED in moderation.

Read the rest of the post, the pics were to get an idea of what I might be doing wrong.

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by bighit8

Read the rest of the post, the pics were to get an idea of what I might be doing wrong.

Wasn't referring to you or this thread. Sorry for the confusion.

I was trying to make a point though. I've found that if I shoot a ton of pics, the quality starts to suffer a bit. Maybe when I'm more selective I get better shots? Just a thought.

[bighit8]

Originally Posted by PacMan

Wasn't referring to you or this thread. Sorry for the confusion.

I was trying to make a point though. I've found that if I shoot a ton of pics, the quality starts to suffer a bit. Maybe when I'm more selective I get better shots.

I will let it slide this time, but next time......
Who am I kiddin, I will cower and never post again. I'm no fighter.

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by bighit8

I will let it slide this time, but next time......
Who am I kiddin, I will cower and never post again. I'm no fighter.

We gotta get this camera thing figured out so you can be the official group photographer for the Moab trip!!

[bighit8]

Originally Posted by PacMan

We gotta get this camera thing figured out so you can be the official group photographer for the Moab trip!!

Remember quality not quantity. No for real I would like to figure it out. Moab will definitely be my greatest MTB trip ever. Funny thing is I had a dream about it, hope its not the same on the real trip because I rode off a cliff in the dream. Ouch.Off subject again, damn.

[Red Hot Sloth]

Originally Posted by PacMan

Wasn't referring to you or this thread. Sorry for the confusion.
I was trying to make a point though. .

Must be referring to my thread?