[Hyderabadi]

Video tutorials - Photoshop Makeovers to how to use the shutter and aperture:

http://www.5min.com/...rts/Photography

The site also has videos on various other subjects.

[Hyderabadi]

Couple of free cameras for you to practice on....

Virtual Camera (SLR):

http://www.camerasin....com/index.php#

SimCam:

http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/

[Hyderabadi]

Dont forget your 'WHITE BALANCE' !

Your camera manual should have instructions on how to set it, but here are a few links etc., on it's importance:

Quote

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, however digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB). An incorrect WB can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts, which are unrealistic and particularly damaging to portraits.

MORE: http://www.cambridge...ite-balance.htm

also
http://www.kenrockwe...hitebalance.htm

and

Quote

By setting correct exposure & white balance when you do your shooting it can dramatically reduce the time needed to adjust your images in Photoshop afterwards, therefore increasing productivity & providing a more predictable result.

MORE http://www.luminous-...s/dig-exp.shtml

Google on 'White Balance'
http://www.google.co...g white balance

[Hyderabadi]

Learning, learning... still learning...:



Fried chana in a news paper cone.. and beer..

[cyberhippie]

I have the white Balance on Auto most of the time works well for me.

[cyberhippie]

Here's a sample of what using different white balance setting on your camera can do to your photos.

Attached Files

•  white_balance1.jpg   24.61K   4 downloads
•  whitebalance_2.jpg   25.16K   2 downloads
•  white_balance_3.jpg   24.55K   3 downloads
•  white_balance_4.jpg   23.02K   2 downloads

[Hyderabadi]

CH, because of the composition and because it being Goa, those are amazing pictures.

I usually ("these days" as I've started calling them   ) take a picture of a white sheet of paper in the light I'm going to shoot in and set that as white balance....

[cyberhippie]

I've recently gotten to grips with the EVR gadget on my DSLR. Great for removing white splash on your photos. On my display I can see where there's to much light or white splash on the photo, I use the EVR steps to eliminate this (am I making sense to you Hyderabadi, as a rank amateur it's hard to explain without all the right jargon) brings out the blue in sky shots and definaition in others.

[Hyderabadi]

cyberhippie, on Jun 27 2008, 12:38 AM, said:

am I making sense to you Hyderabadi, as a rank amateur it's hard to explain without all the right jargon) brings out the blue in sky shots and definaition in others.

CH,You are, you are...   

You are talking to an 'experimenter' who gets lucky enough to take mediocre pictures and somehow get away relating them to India.. on this forum atleast and manage not to get flamed      

I am still curious about your experience with the 70-300 though.  It's on a list which will come out of safe keeping once the fuel prices go down here..

[cyberhippie]

I generally pretty happy with it, only the colour loss when taking long distance show is a limitation. It's light and very versatile for traveling photographers who don't want to lug around too many lenses.

I was told by a friend that the ratio 1: 3.5 - 6.3 wasn't great for clarity colour and sharpness, a range starting at 1.5 would greatly improve the clarity and colour capture.
Something to bear in mind when purchasing a lens. A lens with this range will set you back a few dollars but is, I'm told, worth it.

[cyberhippie]

Here's a long range shot that illustrates the colour loss problem I talk of. Note the graying of the sky where it was bluer in real life.

Attached Files

•  color_loss.jpg   20.82K   8 downloads

[Hyderabadi]

Umm..

Most times I minimally edit my photos, even the Beer & Chana one above (taken in a 'lightbox') is minimally edited, in Picasa...

Tried my hand at your picture, hope you don't mind. In Picasa, bit over done?:

[cyberhippie]

Nice!
Do you have the full Photomatix set up I've created some nice HDR stuff but with the free version you can't save in Jpeg so.............................

[Hyderabadi]

cyberhippie, on Jun 27 2008, 01:32 AM, said:

Nice!
Do you have the full Photomatix set up I've created some nice HDR stuff but with the free version you can't save in Jpeg so.............................

I have the full version of Photomatix... How did you shoot the originals? RAW (you know you can 'cheat' there ) or on a tripod with the over/under exposure?

[cyberhippie]

They are in Jpeg I shoot bracketed all the time so generating HDR is easy but I'd like to share one or two of them in Jpeg. If I send you them can you sort it out for me.

[Hyderabadi]

cyberhippie, on Jun 27 2008, 01:57 AM, said:

They are in Jpeg I shoot bracketed all the time so generating HDR is easy but I'd like to share one or two of them in Jpeg. If I send you them can you sort it out for me.

Sure!

Just sent you a PM.