Tuesday, March 2, 2010

What a difference play makes…

Holy cow… I was just over at The Pioneer Woman’s blog… I promise I don’t stalk her… there’s just SO much information there! Anyway, I was poking around in her photography section. Really, if you haven’t been there, go. Now. I’ll wait for you to come back.

A guest contributor in Ree’s photography section is IvoryHut. For those of us without big fancy DSLR cameras, this gal shoots with a point and shoot. Her pictures and a little advice from Scott Bourne were a few of the reasons I went with a Canon G11 and not a Rebel. They were basically the same price… but like I’ve said before, stuff’s gotta fit in my purse… and my Vera Bradley Hipster when we are traveling.

This particular post explains IvoryHut’s checklist for when she is shooting a pic. Folks, she shoots in MANUAL… can you imagine the balls she has??? Can you imagine knowing your camera well enough to do that?

I got out my little G11 and tested some of her suggestions… I don’t even freakin believe the difference. I’m sitting here at my dining room table with one of my daughter’s dolls that was left out. I previously thought the low light setting on this camera was da bomb.  I have my blinds open so it’s lighter in here than say my living room… but it’s still somewhat dark. Here’s what I just learned…

Disclaimer: the following pictures have been pulled straight from my memory card… no touch ups, no sharpening, NOTHING…

Low light setting:

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The dreaded AUTO setting:

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Not much  difference, but the light is more evenly distributed on the dolls face… if you look close… this is actually the first instance where I like the Auto pic better than the low light one.

And here is the long feared MANUAL setting… or that M on your dial…

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The color is much more true to life… the shadowing is more true to life… all in all a MUCH better picture.

It will for sure take more practice to be able to adjust my settings quickly… but BOY HOWDY! Look at the difference!!!!

Thank you IvoryHut for making me feel welcomed into the world of photography and more comfortable poking around in said world… even though I use a point and shoot.

3 comments:

Corine (@ComplicatedMama) said...

My husband and I have been playing with our Nikon also... it took us a year-- we're finally starting to learn what it actually does... is this sad?... probably.

The Old Painted Cottage said...

Thanks so much for the great links. I have a Canon Rebel (which I love) and now I'm off to go do some learning about the big M...

oxox
Jennifer

muralimanohar said...

Totally awesome. I'm the kind of person who flinches at too many words, which the majority of photog tutes have..so this simple breaking down into three points is right up my alley! :p Thanks! :D