Bought a new Camera! :woohoo:

[BigMike]

Yup, that would save me editing time. This afternoon I am going to go out and get some more supplies I think. I also want to add two more lights to reduce the shadows.

[MiniSimp]

I also want to add two more lights to reduce the shadows.

Won't be necessary as long as you don't point your light on your subject. Direct light is bad.

If you can, build a light box like this:

[BigMike]

You know I was going to build a nice booth during my spring break using pvc pipe, but too many other things came up and I did not have enough time.

Currently, I am working on other projects that are more important than taking new pictures, so at the moment I am not really stressed for a nicer photo setup, but I will be soon.

Those suggestions do help And I saw a kit that I could buy, but I just figured I could build my own for much less

[MiniSimp]

I just figured I could build my own for much less

Deffinetly, don't buy one. If you have to use tracing paper to diffuse, or a low thread count white sheet, like a 50 thread count K-Mart special.

[MiniSimp]

Try to shape the box like this, it lights up the front of the subject more.

_______
|         |
\_      _/

[BigMike]

My camera doesn't take the best close ups though.

This gave me a good idea.

Here is my new Camera's ability to take close up shots.

Here is the penny I am taking a picture of:


And here is my best close up shot of the word "WE":

[BigMike]

Hey,

I've been learning alot with Curves in PS. I mainly use "Hue/Saturation" (Ctrl+U) for the bulk of my color corrections, but using the "Curves" feature for each of my layers has proved to be far more useful.

Consider the following two photos: The first photo I was *finished* but still didn't really like it much. Then I played with the Curves of the left photo and produced the second photo which looks much better.
Please note that I had already reduced the saturation of Blues and Cyans by -100% and yet it still had a blueness to it which was only remedied by using the Curves feature.




Also this was done with some GARBAGE white paper that I no longer use, so I spent a lot of time to get the background edited out, which is still visible in some areas. This will not be necessary for me on future photos.

Curves are pretty sweet

[lilbuddy]

Curves are pretty sweet

Agreed 

[BigMike]

Curves are very nice

[YotaJosh]

Congrats on the new purchase! I bought my wife a S3 IS for Christmas, but I've been using it more than she has. I  that camera. Well worth the money. We've just started playing with all the bells and whistles, and glad to see some good advice in this thread. 

BTW - what's the make and model of you're wide angle? Gotta link to it?

[BigMike]

Mini.......

Got a quick question.

What does this mean? I am getting a blue haze or shadow around the corner of my images when using direct sun light.

This is the corner of a bellhousing, magnified X2 to show you the blueness. This has happened for a while, and I usually just turn the saturation all the way down for the Blue channel to eliminate it, and then once I resize my image to 500 pixels or so, it is no longer visible.

But I was just wondering....... My 58mm lense has threads for a filter, I just have not purchased any yet. What filter would work to get rid of this blueness?

Thanks

[BigMike]

what's the make and model of you're wide angle? Gotta link to it?

Sorry, no link, and I don't remember the manufacture.. The only writing is "Digital Visions Japan 58MM 0.5X Digital Lens" and the lower lense reads " W/MACRO" So its a wide angle lense with a macro lense. You will need the S2 58MM lense adapter to use the 58MM lenses.

[MiniSimp]

Wierd.
Were you using a flash filter?
Camera flash or external flash?
What other light sources were there?
Copy and paste the exif data here and email me the original file [email protected]
Was that adjusted at all or straight off the card?

[BigMike]

Were you using a flash filter?

No, I currently do not own any filters.

Camera flash or external flash?

No flash, in doors with the roll-up door open exposing direct 3pm sun light to the subject.

What other light sources were there?

Weak Flourescent lighting roughly 30 feet overhead.

Copy and paste the exif data here

I can't find any place to copy the information, so here it is written out:
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
Exposure Program: N/A
F-Stop: f/8.0
Aperture Value: f/8
Max Aperture Value: f/2.7
ISO Speed: 80
Focal Length: 7.3 mm
Flash: Did not fire
Metering Mode: Pattern

Was that adjusted at all or straight off the card?

Not adjusted, original file straight off the card.

[MiniSimp]

Onlt thing I can suggest is if you have to shoot in direct sun, try a UV filter.

[BigMike]

Thanks! I will try to get one next week