Big Hugs for all of DG African Violet AllKind Hearted Souls

I don't know what to say. There are not enough words to say Thank you and That I appreciate each and everyone of you, all your kind hearts.
Thank you so much for my camera ! WOW what a surprise. Now you all need to come here and help me learn how to use it ! It's going to take a lot of reading and practice .
I'm not good at these thing I'm sure I'll be asking for tons of help is you all can't come over :))
And the extra card WOW ! I would never expected the camera let alone an extra memory card wow !
Thank you all on our DG African Violet Forum Thank you Bunch and Bunches
Tons of hugs for all of you !
And I just got an email for my gift membership to Gesneriad Society [formerly the AGGS. . Oh my am I going to enjoy this ! And what I can buy seeds and stuff too ? So much to enjoy and learn :))
This is Chritmas, Valentines day, Brithdays presents forever and ever . I am breathless .
I can't Thank you all enough !
Allison

*Snoopy dance*

I don't know how so many people managed to keep it a secret -- we were so excited about the idea! You wouldn't believe all the Dmailing that was going on behind the scenes of the AV forum last month. :-)

You'll get the hang of using it... you can Dmail me any time, and I'll do my best to help. (My camera is a different model, but all the point & shoot cameras share some features, so we should be able to figure stuff out.) You know any of us will help all we can, because we can't wait to see your first posted digipic!

Extra thanks & hugs to those who did the organizing and the shopping/shipping! (I had a couple of names in that sentence, but then wasn't sure if they wanted to be anomynous, LOL.... but we know who they are!)

Allison, you've been so generous in sharing your love of AVs, both with the time you take in posting to this forum and with the generous boxes you've sent out. We're glad we found a way to say thanks!

You're a Treasure!

I could not have said it better! It's you we want to thank!!!
Now get busy shooting photos! We cant wait to see them!!
Hugs,
Laurie

edited to say I Snoopy Danced too!

This message was edited Jan 20, 2006 2:06 PM

WOW WOW WOW You all are so awesome ! I know Keyring was in charge of shipping and part of my gift came ( the card) a couple days before the camera and she Dmail me to expect a Surprise ! And she dmailed me for my email address I use all the time.
I don't know a lot about the Gesneriad Society [formerly the AGGS. I heard you say Laurie you joined.
I know Keyring must be a memeber ! I feel I'm in store for new adventures and loads of fun !
I am so grateful for all of you.

I know I am new here - but I felt you deserved a beautiful camera to share pictures of all you wonderful plants! I hope you have many years of sharing plants, leaves and pictures of them and all the friends and family you love!!!

Enjoy!!!

Anita

Thanks Anita, and all. It has a zoom for blooms too :))

LOL I was horrified when they decided to ship the card first!

Yes, I'm a member of the Gesneriad Society. I'm still waiting for my first issue of the journal this year, which should be the very first one under their new name. And the seed fund - can't say enough positives about it!

Okay, now some camera talk. For quick and easy pics of houseplant flowers, four settings to know:

- picture size. If I don't want to crop the photo using software, and all I'm doing is posting the pic on the web (ie, not printing), I like to set it to 3 megapixels. The smaller file size is easier to manage.

- White Balance settings - if taking pics of plants on the grow shelves (fluorescent lights), I set the white balance to incandescent (with the fluor setting, it looks too yellow on my camera)

- flash - I try to keep it OFF if there is enough light.

- macro - I usually have this switched on. You should be able to focus on flowers as close as 2.5 inches away.

Focal length can vary between cameras, and Allison might have to have hers a little further away, like 4 inches (thought I read that in her camera specs). Either way, the macro setting is good any time you're taking closeups.

Using the zoom in macro mode changes how close you can get the lens to the subject & still stay in focus. With the zoom lens fully extended, you may have to be 16 or 18 inches away from what you are trying to focus on. When you are not zooming in with the lens, you can put the camera just a few inches from the subject.

I generally use either zoom or macro mode but not both, because otherwise I get confused and my photos come out blurry.

If you have the macro mode switched on in your camera, you will probably see a little symbol that looks like a tulip. That helps me keep track of what mode I'm in.

I doublechecked the specs at fuji's site and I think they said 2.4" - something like 4 feet away is okay in the macro mode.

yeah, zoom and macro don't mix too well.... lol.

Thanks for checking, Keyring!

ALLISON...so exciting.......it is but a small way to say thank you for all that you do....we all love you!!..8).

allison...play around with the camera...it's fun and quite easy once you get the hang of it....if you need help...i can come and visit....you're only 176 miles away.....Bob

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You got it!!!! You deserve it!!!!! Now send us a picture! : ) HA HA

I got a camera for Christmas and I am technologically challenged, and I learned how to use it (now I have to figure out how to change the battery!).

It is great to know you - you make this a fun and friendly place to be. : )

Blessings, Pam

Allison, we've all been bouncing with impatience -checking DG 200 times a day to see if you got it yet! When I checked a minute ago, and saw that new thread, I was grinning like a crazy woman, and yelling to my DH - "She got it! She got it!!"
He came in and said "Who got what? Oh! Allison and the camera!"

Can't wait to see some pictures now of your babies, you, your dog, your DH - you name it, we need pictures of it!

When I first got a digital, I thought it would be hard to learn, but with all the brilliant folks on DG, somebody always knows the answer. And the best part is you can just delete all those pictures of your thumb and a purple blur that we used to have to get printed to find out they didn't turn out!

I'm so happy! You are a wonderful woman, and you deserve it a zillion times over! We love you!

Oh my I love you all too ! I'm so excited about the camera and the Membership too !
I am ready all you wrote slow and the book and will play around with it all day tomorrow !!
2.4 inches from the plants are good heh? So much fun. I'll take pictures of Jill's Electric Cowboy in bloom and MsC's White Madonna and her Pride's Pink Trail in bloom lol. You'll all get sick of looking at my pictures. Thank you bunches and bunches..Hugs to all of you, Allison

We're so glad you like it Allison!! Hurry up and take some pictures for us:)

this feels like Christmas to me......lol.....

Oh you got it! I've been on pins and needles waiting for you to get it! It's great to hear that you like it! I can't wait to see some new pictures. We all do love you and you deserve it! I could never get sick of looking at your pictures.
Hugs to you!

Enjoy Allison.... of course our we had an ulterior motive, so we could see all your "stuff!!" Thanks for all you have done for the AV enthusiasts here. (Including me!)

{{hugs}}

Sanna

Thanks Sanna :)) Nice to see you ! Did you post your picture with all our smileys :))
I know now I have to take a lot of pictures :)) I'll be a happy snoopy danceing picture taker :))

Thanks you Amy, and Janice and everyone ! Christmas everyday Bob in DG's African Violet forum :))

Question please. With my camera I just put the 16mb card that came with it. Or should I put 256MB card you all got me ? What's the difference ? Thanks, Allison


This message was edited Jan 21, 2006 1:01 AM

Allison, Like 2Zeus, I checked several times daily to see if you received it yet. So glad you did! Like many others have said, you are a very generous person and your many kindnesses have found their way back to you. Have fun taking pics!

Thank you Stephanie ! Your so wonderful.
I hope I can take a lot of good pictures to share ! I've been reading and reading my book but not sure if I got any where.'
Then I was just thinking my Hospice volunteer comes Mondays and she is a Photographer and I bet she can help me out too !. My one CNA that carries her camera with her all the time got hurt and is out of work so she can't. Candace should be coming to see me Monday !
Stephanie how do you do it three little kids all your plants and pets ? The kids don't tear your plants apart.
I thought you could give some idea , help to greenthumbs who can't have Av's with three kids .
Maybe you can give some help to Mom's sense you are a Mom of three Super Plant Mom !

Allision, the only difference between your two memory cards is size. You'll be able to fit about a hundred photos on the 256 MB card (more if you reduce the resolution from 5 megapixels to 3... the more resolution, the larger the photo files will be on the card). The 16 MB card will only hold a few photos, but of course you can always download them to your computer, delete them from your card, and take more pics.

Have you taken a photo yet? As somebody said, you can learn a lot just by playing with the camera... and you won't wreck anything by pushing its buttons.

Put the batteries in, put a memory card in, and press the "on" button. Check out the view on the screen! There should be a toggle somewhere for the zoom... play with it and watch the view change as the lens moves in & out. Point the camera at something and press the button on top to take a picture. YIPPEE!

Once I found the "on" and "take photo" buttoms on my camera, the next thing I figured out how to do was to "review" the pictures so I could see the photos I'd just taken on the LCD screen. And then I learned how to "delete" the ones I didn't want. My DH likes to read through the entire manual before he does anything, but I like to look up one thing at a time as I go along... otherwise, I get lost!

critter..i'm with you....ALLISON..one of the great sites that can help you is DP PREVIEW
....they will have your camera there..forget which fuji you have...but go to the following link...look up your camera and it will explain in great detail along with pics....please let me know what fuji it is so i can look it up as well...thanks...here's the link

http://www.dpreview.com

Allison..i check the Fuji A350 which is what i think you have...it is a very nice camera...i didn't find the review as anticipated...but many other sites are there..just google with Fuji A350....i did note in the specs that it's wise to get the rechargable batteries if you don't have them...charger and the NIHM batter kit is about 15.00 at walmart i think...than you can use the batteries over and over and not have to buy the "throw a ways"...you will have so much fun with this great camera...Bob

Allison:
I can feel your enthusiam clear to Illinois! LOL Take lots of "trial pictures"...you'll get the hang of it. And of course, we DO expect to see pictures of all your ga-zillions of violets. =0)
Nary a more deserving person than you. You're an angel.

Thank you Betsy ! But I don't have zillions of plants...just a lot of babies growing they come in and go out as I enjoy growing thembut not a lot of room. But I do keep a few for myself !
Yes Bob that's the camera I got ! Thanks for the info.

Late to the party, as usual!

If anyone derserves the gift it is you. Thank you for all that you do for us.

I am so happy you got it! And I am so happy you like it!
Now put it to good use! We expect something for this you know!
We expect LOTS of photos! :)

Ali, here's a link to the company web site - there you can watch a little video demo
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/digitalA350Overview.jsp?item=I829285&dbid=829285&urltype=overview&NavBarId=I829285

Also, one of the great features of these digi cameras is the Macro option. I'm just learning to use mine better, knowing the actual distance I need to be to get it to focus - turning off the flash to use it etc. (flash washes out the photo and looks like a big white blurr on my shots)

Here's a shot of your manual with the macro button underlined and pointed out so you can see which one to use. This allows such great close up shots of petals, babies etc.

Here's a sample of what I meant. The image on the left I used the flash. on the right, I had turned it off. Used the natural light of a light bulb.
Macro was turned on so I could get that close.

Thanks Laurie !
I took a few pictures then it said card full. lol Guess I better put other card in as it filled up fast. I'm not sure what mode I had it in Auto , maybe auto flash as it came on ?
Ok Picture one Streptocarpus Cynthia

Streptocarpus Christmas Morning

Another Christmas Morning

MsC's White Madonna

White Madonna pic 2

wow...great allison...so pretty....

Rebel's Splatter kake Sported to Rebel's night breeze but green edges but blossoms are getting old not a vivid now.

One of my A. Cygnet's