Point and shoot strikes again...

[slinky]

Whilst up in Llanberis at the weekend, I took this...

PICTURE

Used my Sony Cyber-shot U (2Meg) ...

Really pleased with it..

Apologies for the size.. I'm in the office and don't have access to Photoshop!

slinky

>>> Edited by slinky on Monday 6th September 22:35

[Ian_H]

Fantastic shot, well done


Cheers
Ian

[agent006]

Very nice. Not a fan of the boat in the middle, but that's more to do with it being a bit of a manky boat.

[simpo two]

I think that's a good example of where you can break the 'laws' of composition and put the subject bang in the middle. Any schmuck can buy an expensive camera, but compositon is instinctive.

[slinky]

how about this one?
And this one

slightly different composition...

slinky

>> Edited by slinky on Monday 6th September 22:36

[simpo two]

Nope. Sky too bright, subject too dark: you've fallen off the edge of point-and-shoot land!

[shadytree]

simpo two said:

Nope. Sky too bright, subject too dark: you've fallen off the edge of point-and-shoot land!

With my limited knowledge, I would say a Neutral Density filter would have helped the detail and clarity.

[Zad]

shadytree said:

With my limited knowledge, I would say a Neutral Density filter would have helped the detail and clarity.

Even with an ND filter the auto-exposure would expose for the bright sun and clouds, ideally a graduated grey would be used to reduce the contrast between the clouds and dark foreground. If possible, add a little extra over-exposure. This would tend to white out the clouds but would more correctly expose the foreground. I know my old 1.3MP HP digicam allows some control over exposure compensation, so this cam may too.

Turning up the brightness on my monitor, I can see that a lot of the boat detail is still there, so an hour or so with PaintShop Pro or other free/cheap package would be worthwhile.

Mike

[slinky]

cheers for your input guys...

The camera used was the Sony Cybershot U20...



Which doesn't really allow any "control" over the image, short of cheap image effects and some focusing...

I'm really pleased with that first shot, and would agree that the second shot is too "Bright", like I say, it was just... "Oooh that looks nice, let's take a quick photo"

I'm no professional, and wouldn't even say I was any good at taking photo's.. just lucky!!!

On the other hand, Mrs S is a dab hand with a camera and seems to have a really good eye for it.. It looks like christmas and birthday may well be kind to her, so we're looking into digi cams around the 400 pound mark, what would be the best "starter" item?

I'll convert the piccies to links, it'll make reading this thread a little easier!!!

Cheers,

slinky

[simpo two]

ND will simply make the whole scene darker. The problem is the big difference in brightness between sky and foreground. A graduated ND to darken the sky would help, but at the end of the day a camera can only make one exposure and you have to decide what's most important. With a compact you can help it to expose for the foreground by pointing the camera down a little while you half depress the shutter release -this usually locks focus and exposure. Then re-frame and fire.

Another thing to consider is this: once an area is burnt out, it has not recoverable detail. By contrast (no pun intended!) ahadows can conceal details that can be lightened. Hence if in doubt, underexpose slightly. Or use a tripod, take the same pic twice and use PS... but we are leaving point-and-shoot land again!!

[badbeachbuggy]

I've got a U20, great little camerea for keeping in your pocket! Especially when you add a dash of Photoshop

[badbeachbuggy]

[bilko]

Wow!!!!!!!!!
second from last is national geographic quality and the rest are pretty damn good too.
Vivid colours and lots of action in the angles.
should rename this thread to how to make happy snaps look good.
Thinking on though, some do lack the depth and emotion that a good SLR can give but i really wasn't expecting such a high caliber of pics as the ones you have presented us with. Well done.

[bilko]

slinky said:

Whilst up in Llanberis at the weekend, I took this... PICTURE Used my Sony Cyber-shot U (2Meg) ... Really pleased with it.. Apologies for the size.. I'm in the office and don't have access to Photoshop! slinky >>> Edited by slinky on Monday 6th September 22:35

Excellent picture!
The contrast is a bit light but that may be my monitor. I don't believe David Bailey ( is that sir?) could have composed it better himself.

[slinky]

Many thanks Bilko...

I've dropped a copy off with the printers, so I'm looking forward to Monday to see how it comes out...

Like i've said, I'm just lucky with this shot..

That, however, doesn't stop me being as pleased as punch with how it came out!!!

slinky

[slinky]

badbeachbuggy, I'm off to Montreal next week for a wedding, so I'll be taking the camera with me, and I'll try to get some shots..

I'll let you know what comes out..

slinky

[Mrs Fish]

Nice pic Slinky very good.

I have a little cybershotU too

Took this with it whilst in Africa.



We too are going to look for a better quality camera around the £400 mark, let me know what you get when you get it

[murph7355]

Some lovely pictures from such a small camera (and some great PS tweaking ).

You can tell where they fall off though by the noise in some of the images (dark areas with colour fuzz, the blue skies look a bit noisy etc).

Have said it many times before, but Canon have a superb range of point and shoots. The S50/S60 give plenty of control and great sensors that'll show little noise.

If size is key, their Ixus range is very good too.

[badbeachbuggy]

Thanks for the nice comments guys

I know what you mean about the pics lacking depth and the darker areas showing distortion though. I've got to the point where I feel restrained by the lack of control now. This camera has really got me into photography though and now I'm saving up for a digital SLR

>> Edited by badbeachbuggy on Sunday 12th September 13:20