For Gourd and Others .. Photography 101

This is the first installment. I thought I would break it up into 3 or 4 pages instead of all at once. Feel free to ask questions, disagree, or comment.

http://www.xeramtheum.com/ForGourd.htm

X

Just glad you're doing this, X - thanks

Great information, X!

Joseph

I am holding my breath waiting for the next installment.
I have this fuji finepix s3000 ahd cannot take a close picture without it being blurry. I have missed many great sots because of this.
thanks X

great Info., thank you. Now, where is the best place to get a good, reasonably priced(cheap) camera?

Thank you so much, I'll go check it out right now.. I've been reading my manual too and getting more comfortable with it.

Threegardeners, I got mine at best buy. It was around 500 dollars .. if you don't want to spend that much money .. find one that will at least do macros. The universal macro icon is a flower. Ask for the cheapest camera that will do macros.

X

Thank you!!!

X, I love your idea. It is good for the memory to study over details such as these! Karen

Homework. I want you to take this picture and crop it using the rule of thirds. You may take any portion of the picture you want. Don't worry about clarity of your finished project.

If you don't have software that will allow you to crop pictures, then scan it and crop it in the scanner. The picture is small enough for download and wont overload your computer.

For those on dsl with heftier computers, here is the same picture but at almost 2 megs.

http://www.xeramtheum.com/hwl.jpg

You have my permission to download the pictures. Click on the image and when it comes up, right click on it and select Save image as.

Post your best results here.

X

oh I'm embarrased, I don't know how to crop.. I think that Dave's automatically crops when i upload. I did find the 9 blocks on the camera.

Oops. Pardon me for that blip. I'll cover that in detail in the next installment. For now, give a few minutes for a crash course in this thread.

X

oooh , i tried it, found the scissors on the fine pix program.. I don't know if it came out right, or if I got a complete square.

I guess I did not do it right.. but I can copy..lol.

You got it! Remember you don't have to use the whole picture .. just bits.

For those who don't know how to crop, type crop in the help files of your software. The picture below shows a crop.

X

I`m unsure if I went by thirds but here`s a try. :)

Here is one more for those who have whimsical taste. :)

This message was edited Oct 2, 2007 10:50 AM

Karen, good job there..

Here is one (By George, I think I got it)..lol

I shoot almost all my MG photos in macro....

I've been using the macro too.. here is another cropping practice photo.. I guess there is no way to enlarge these once we crop them. Is there?

There should be a "re-size" option on your software, but you will probably get a grainy result.

Here it is at 200%...not really that bad.

here is the original photo

The original photo is either a small file or Davesgarden automatically reduced the size of the file when you uploaded it.

I have been studying mine and I notice all of mine seem to be in the bottom part of the picture.... Do you all use a tripod? My macro lens is heavy and I wondwer if I tend to drop it a bit...
Here is an example...

Changing the quality/number of pixels in the camera will affect size. That will be on the next installment.

X

If your subject is in the bottom, you are raising the lense too high.

Here's my shot at it.

Joseph

ok...here's my version...criticism welcome :)

Here is the way I like it best. The string of flowers leads the eye nicely, but in the original photo it just leads the eye to the left. So I flipped the photo and rotated it so the line of flowers leads the eye from the lower left to the upper right.

and here it is cropped a little closer.

oooh, you guys are good. I need to practice some more.

This is one of my favorite captures...not because I like the subject but I just like how the reflection in the water leads your eye right to the blooms.

I wonder if people in cultures that read right to left automatically scan photos the opposite of us?

Oh I have much to learn!!!

Oh i really like that picture beth! .. That's an interesting question too!

Your picture is a text book rule of thirds.

X

What a great idea, X! And such an attentive class! I'm on the road with only the company computer...so can't participate right now. I expect this to be the best dressed forum on DG!

One can just imaging what this fall's photo contest will include!..........

Arlan

hows this?

Here's my attempt: