SnapShot Archives - 04/11/2000
SNAPSHOT - PHOTO NEWS FROM BETTERPHOTO.COM
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Welcome to SnapShot, the weekly newsletter on the art
of photography from http://www.betterphoto.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
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Monday, April 09, 2000
* SPOTLIGHT: Win up to $5000 at OnlinePhotoContest.com
* BETTERPHOTO: New and Improved Q&A Photography Forum
* WEB NEWS: Two Cool Museum Exhibits - Dallas & Portland
* WEB NEWS: 2000 National Parks Magazine Photography Contest
* WEB NEWS: Scanning, Saving, and Printing Made Simple
* THIS WEEK'S TIP: Instant Flower Close-up... Just Add Water
* PHOTO Q&A: Indoors vs. Outdoors Exposure
* PHOTO Q&A: Photographing Jewelry
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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Enter Photos of National Parks at OnlinePhotoContest.com
The Grand Prize in this category is $1000 and the deadline is Saturday,
April 15. Other prizes include Epson digital cameras and Tamrac photo bags.
Other categories include Au Naturelle - Flowers; Australia; and
Photographer's Choice. The Spotlight category, My Best Pal - Human or
Animal, offers a prize of $5000:
http://www.onlinephotocontest.com
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WHAT'S NEW AT BETTERPHOTO.COM
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New and Improved Q&A Photography Forum
We have redesigned the question and answer forum at BetterPhoto to make it
much easier for you to find the answers you are seeking. The questions are
now categorized according to topic. Also, about 100 more questions have been
published that are just waiting for your expert answers:
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnATOC.asp
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PHOTOGRAPHIC HAPPENINGS ON THE WEB
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Two Cool Museum Exhibits - Dallas & Portland
>From February 1 to May 7, 2000, you can visit the "Degas to Picasso:
Painters, Sculptors, and the Camera" exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art.
If you are closer to Portland, check out "In Praise of Nature: Ansel Adams
and Photographers of the American West" through March 29:
http://www.dm-art.org
http://www.portlandmuseum.org
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2000 National Parks Magazine Photography Contest
National Parks invites amateur and semi-professional photographers to enter
the first annual photography competition. They are looking for striking
images of any of the national parks, preserves, monuments, memorials,
historic sites, seashores, or battlefield parks. Deadline is July 12, 2000;
you can submit up to five color transparencies or color prints.
http://www.npca.org/magazine/photo_contest.html
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Scanning, Saving, and Printing Made Simple
If you are frustrated trying to turn printed pictures into online images or
email photos to friends, let Sue Chastain get you started. This introduction
consists of three pages that explore the basics of scanning, saving, and
printing your images:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/weekly/aa111799.htm
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THIS WEEK'S TIP
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Instant Flower Close-up... Just Add Water
Spring is upon us and, even here in Seattle, the flowers are beginning to
bloom. However, even the most spectacular flowers can translate into boring
photographs when they come back from the lab. Add an element of interest to
your flower shots by lightly misting them with water before you shoot. You
can carry a small bottle around with for this purpose. Some feel this is
cheating so don't overdue it... But if you feel something is missing as you
stare at a flower through the lens, use your spray bottle and add your own
little touch of magic.
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CAMERA AND PHOTOGRAPHY Q&A
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Q. Indoors vs. Outdoors Exposure
I have a Pentax A3000 camera with a Pentax 50mm lens, the question I have
seems to lie in the picture I have developed lately. The outdoor pictures I
take are great! The indoor, well, not so great. All the pictures seem to be
underexposed, as in they cannot be developed by the professionals. The
pictures don't seem to come out clearly - very fuzzy, not sharp. I've
started looking around the internet to see if the reason is because of the
amount of light that I'm letting on each picture (aperture?). All I can
figure out about my camera is the lower the number on the lens, the more
light that is let in with each shutter movement. Do you have any ideas?
- Christine
A. Indoor pictures are often more difficult than outdoor; the sun usually
makes our lighting situation much easier. If you cannot rely on the sun as
you would in normal conditions, you need to either open up the hole
(aperture) to let in more light or keep the open up longer (slower shutter
speed). Your meter is probably trying to tell the camera to do one or the
other but the camera is refusing to cooperate for one reason or anther.
Either it has reached its limit on aperture (this is the lens number you
referred to) or shutter speed or it is broken in some way. The fact that
your meter seems to handle the outdoors okay suggests everything is in good
working order.
Do you have a flash? Are you talking about indoors at night or during the
day? Is there any way you can get more light into the room? What speed film
are you using? All these factors will come into play with solving your
problem. Hang in there.
- BetterPhoto.com
Response:
I do have a flash for indoor pictures when the lighting is bad. But I'm
afraid that even those pictures that are sure to turn out because of the
good lighting, don't. I'm using a 200 ASA film, which seems moderate for
outdoor/indoor pictures. Unfortunately the pictures I take indoors, don't
have as high quality as one should (or would want to) expect.
- Christine
Response:
If you continue to have problems, you may want to take your camera to a
local camera repair shop to have to fully checked out. If the camera isn't
worth much, the cost of repair may not be worth it; be sure to get an
estimate first. To find a repair facility, look in your local directory or
look for a pro camera shop that might act as a middleman.
If the camera and flash are in good shape, just keep trying different
things. Note that an on-camera (flip-up or pop-up) flash will often produce
unsatisfactory results; an external removable dedicated flash will be much,
much better. 200 speed film should be fine, esp. if the flash is giving off
enough light. Enjoy the progress!
- BetterPhoto.com
Respond to this question:
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnAredirect.asp?threadID=447
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Q. Photographing Jewelry
Do I need a filter? I'm trying to photograph very expensive jewelry (for
insurance purposes) and I can't get a decent shot with the amount of detail
I'm seeking. 1. - can't get close enough. 2. flash - bouncing off of gold
and diamonds. I've tried covering my flash with a Kleenex - that worked
sporadically. Got any suggestions?
-Dawn
A. To get closer, you will need a macro lens (if you can change lenses on
your camera) or macro function on your camera. The former is the better way
to go and you can often rent a macro lens to try before you buy. A 35mm SLR
will give much better results than a point & shoot camera but use whatever
you have at hand or can afford.
To soften the light, you need to diffuse it like you have done (very
creatively with the Kleenex). You can bounce the light off of some white
surface. You can use more than one light source and angle each so that they
are hitting your jewelry at 45 degree angles. Lastly, you can shoot outdoors
on a bright overcast day and avoid the harsh light of flash. If you choose
the latter option, you might want to hire someone to stand guard over the
expensive jewelry while you shoot ;^)
- BetterPhoto.com
http://www.betterphoto.com/QnAredirect.asp?threadID=404
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Ask a question or answer a few from your fellow photographers: http://www.betterphoto.com/qnaTOC.asp
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Until next week, enjoy shooting!
Thank you,
Jim Miotke
BetterPhoto.com
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