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Some of the folks on here seem to like a few of the pictures I've posted or linked in the past, so I thought I'd let you guys know I just posted a bunch of new ones on my Flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paleopete

I've been out on a few photo excursions recently, and got some good shots, or I think so, mostly flowers and insects, and of course the tiny flowers I hunt for all the time seem to pop up now and then. Some of these are smaller than a pencil eraser and really difficult to get good shots, since the camera is auto focus and seems to want to focus on the background, not the actual subject. Sometimes I take 30 pictures to get a decent one, and delete 25 of them...I often have to "fool" the camera by putting my finger by the flower and letting the camera focus on it, then get the finger out of the frame while holding the button halfway down to keep the focus where it is...

Very little digital manipulation is used, I crop or resize to get picture and file sizes down to something manageable - they start at about 3MB per shot - then increase the color saturation and contrast a little, since my camera seems to take pictures that are a bit washed out. NO other editing is done. No "photoshopping" here, just some minor enhancements with a simple viewer/editor named Irfan View. Quite good, small and free.

Hope you like...

Really nice pictures.
I'll have to show these to Jeanette when she gets home.

"...then increase the color saturation and contrast a little, since my camera seems to take pictures that are a bit washed out"

I wonder if this is a problem inherent in digital cameras. I've noticed the same frikken problem.

Takin' the wife out for Mom's Day...I'll check your pics out later, Billy. I need all the tips you can gimme!

Jeanette enjoyed the pictures too Billy.
Thanks for posting such beauty.

George - Thanks, glad you both enjoyed them. I'll be snapping plenty more real soon.

Philby - I haven't had time yet, but still planning to put together some tips for you, probably do it in notepad at home so I can just copy and paste. Usually don't have much time, like right now, about 15 minutes and I'm off to work.

I'm not sure if it's this camera or inherent to digital, or if you have to get a really expensive DSLR to get good color. Mine's a Samsung 7.2 MP, does nice in macro mode or inside 10 feet, but usually washed out, especially in bright sunshine. I usually try to get small objects shaded by kneeling over them and shooting into my shadow.

Loved the pics, Billy. You get to the heart of some really good shots. I think I definitely need some lessons.

My camera's an Olympus SP-560 UZ, for what it's worth, & I have exactly the same problems in bright light.

I'm looking to take some quality shots this summer from the canoe. We have those green herons up here, too. I'm surprized at how much of our plant & animal life parallels, considering the distance between us.

I also can relate to taking hunnerts of shots to get one or two good ones! I haven't taken any good ones of my work, yet!

Beautiful pictures!

You have a good eye for it too!

Very Nice.

What camera are you using. The contrast looks real good on my end.

I have a friend at SoundClick who lives in Australia who does the same. He spends most of his time hunting down exotic flowers to photograph. He has posted some nice insect and wild life shots. I used to do a lot of photography but lost the drive somewhere down the line.

Craig - Thanks a lot, I've been a photographer for over 30 years, have a couple of shoeboxes full of 35mm shots. Only a couple of dozen get shown though, it's the same with a 35mmSLR, you can expect to get a "good" shot about once in 30-50 attempts. Which is why I always try to get a dozen shots or more of anything I shoot, when possible.

A lot of the wildlife shots are just lucky ones, they don't sit still like flowers do. You grab every chance, take 150-200 pictures in a day and hope 2 or 3 come out good. I've been known to burn through a half dozen rolls of film in a day...many times...and get two really good shots.

Slacker - Samsung S730. Point and shoot digital, 7.2 MegaPixel. I keep a pair of 2GB SD memory cards in case I take loads of pictures. I keep it set to the highest picture quality, which means about 3MB per shot. If you could see the originals, you would know what I mean, the ones posted on Flickr have been adjusted to cancel out the washed out effect. Purple is pale, sometimes to the point of light blue, whites are almost always too bright, yellow almost always pale...drives me crazy. The only ones that get little or no adjustments are the ones taken in cloudy or shadowed conditions.

Most of the wildlife shots were taken by pointing it through a 20x - 60x spotting telescope, mounted with a bracket I made from a machinist's indicator mount. Digiscoping. That's how I got the shots of Green Heron, Snowy Egret, Blue Heron, Blue Wing Teal, Alligator, etc. The gator was a 5 footer about 40 feet away napping on a log. I lost the bracket, have another one now but my small tripod won't work right with it, so until I find the same tripod I had earlier, or similar, I can't do any digiscoping. This one moves too much.

Phil - You'll have some different flora and fauna there, but not a lot. The climate is very similar, but cooler, so you have Morels while we don't. But many of the birds and flowers will be the same as we have down here. They can usually handle a pretty wide range of climates and many are imported from Europe many years ago by early settlers.

I'm not familiar with your camera, but you can try and do what I do to counteract the washed out effect, pick cloudy days to take pictures, and with macro (close up) shots, position yourself so your subject is in your shadow, and make sure the light area outside your shadow is not in the frame.

Mine uses a focus mechanism that activates when I push the shutter button halfway. I can hear it whir as the lens focuses, and the rectangular framing area in the center turns green for focused, red for out of focus. It's normally white. I use that to fool the lens sometimes, putting my finger by a tiny flower to let the camera focus on it, then move it to take the shot. Otherwise it tries to focus on the ground several inches away, instead of the intended subject.

I bought a Canon A620 in about the same price range. I don't think many cameras in that range get consistently great shots. Some really fine, some somewhat washed out. It seems like they have the hardest time with contrast and saturation in really bright light. I did both of my vids with that A620 and they turned out as good as my JVC camcorder that cost twice the price. And the JVC is a current model. That was disappointing since I thought I was upgrading. Maybe I should have bought another point and shoot with vid option instead.

I do think you need to get into the more expensive cameras to get what you are expecting. I always wanted a really good digital camera but I could never justify the price. You have a good eye and the passion that photography takes. I think a higher priced model could be justified in your case. Todays cameras have better processing than our older ones.

I still get better shots with my 35mm Canon Elan, although I haven't used it for a good number of years. With all the cell phone built in cameras on the market today the camera industry has to try harder and sell cheaper to get any business. Much more so than in a few years back. So you can get more bang for the buck today.

Your editing skills make the picture quality quite nice. But you are pushing the limits of that camera. As you are aware, in electronics industry several years makes such a huge difference.

I feel about cameras like I do about guitars. If it is your passion, go for it.

"I always wanted a really good digital camera but I could never justify the price."




Buy used. A lot of pros sell their cameras as soon as a new model comes out. There are some good deals to be had on Nikon and Canon digital SLRs.


I spent over two grand for a Canon 10D when it was new - you can pick one up now for CHEAP.




Beautiful shots, by the way.

90 dB wrote:"I always wanted a really good digital camera but I could never justify the price."




Buy used. A lot of pros sell their cameras as soon as a new model comes out. There are some good deals to be had on Nikon and Canon digital SLRs.


I spent over two grand for a Canon 10D when it was new - you can pick one up now for CHEAP.




Beautiful shots, by the way.

I had my eye on that Canon 10D some time ago. But I didn't have the guts to go for it.
When I bought my JVC and compared it to my A620 I was so disappointed that I bought a Canon Vixea HF S100. Now I am REALLY happy. But these days you get a LOT more for the money.

You should go for it Paleopete. Your creativity is worth not being limited by your camera.
That 10D is a killer camera from the reviews I have read. 90 db gave a real sensible solution to your problem.

For what it's worth, digital is great, but nothing compares with slide film and a good film SLR. I am also a pro photog (medical photography), and have a collection of cameras and glass. If I were shooting for publication or artistic values, I would reach for my F1 every time.

Pete these are fabulous mate. You do have an eye for it, excellent stuff. The wasp however I would give a miss. Me end them go back a very long way, just like roosters
Nice one.

Slacker and 90DB - Yeah, I would love a good digital SLR, no way I can afford even a used one right now. I've looked around, nothing I can afford has popped up yet.

90DB - I still like my 35mm too, I have a Minolta that was one of the most popular with pros, can't remember the model now, and a half dozen Pentax - KX, K1000, ME, ME Super - And a couple of 70 or 80 -200 zoom lenses, a 28 and nice 50 for the Pentax, 45, 50 and 55 for the Minolta, and a 135 for each. Never got into slides much, but the ones I did came out really nice. Nothing beats a good shot of a rose with dew on it on the wall 5 feet wide...Just never got into slides much because of the hassle of setting up to look at them.

Chippy - Thanks a lot. The wasp was no trouble, I've been around them all my life, and found long ago that if you leave them alone, usually they will leave you alone too. I've taken shots of carpenter bees, honey bees, that Potter Wasp, a hornet, missed a yellowjacket, and a few others, all with no problems. And I'm usually no more than 6 inches away. In most cases, they only attack when they feel threatened, which means no sudden movements and don't mess with the nest. Same as most animals. Notice you don't see any pictures of snakes???? Hehe...I leave them alone unless I can digiscope from 30 feet away...

I've always had a good eye for pictures, got my first camera at about age 8 or so, a little Kodak 126 instamatic. My father developed his own film, I helped sometimes, or called myself helping...and have been into it ever since. my first good camera was the Pentax K1000, unfortunately it's not in working order any more, I need to look up some info on camera repair and see if I can replace the seals and lubricate it, probably got my best shots ever with either that one or the Minolta. I have experience in optical repair, (binoculars and telescopes) and passed up a camera repair class in the military, too busy partying...can you say DUMBASS????