Indianapolis Hall of Fame; 1911 Cole Model 30 Torpedo front.JPG (1/1)

Thanks for the interesting pictures, Leroy. I couldn't help wondering
why you didn't use the flash or a higher ISO value for these pictures?

André.

On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 00:56:28 +0000 (UTC),
(Leroy Curtis) wrote:

In article >, André Ritzinger
> writes
>Thanks for the interesting pictures, Leroy.

A pleasure, as always.

> I couldn't help wondering
>why you didn't use the flash

Because I find that the flash will often highlight the foreground of a
large object (Like a car) and leave that background too dark. This could
well be down to my inability to use it properly, of course, and I'm
using the camera's built-in flash, rather than a more sophisticated
accessory, which perhaps could be "bounced" (I'm familiar with the term,
but unsure of how to actually do it). How do you know that I didn't use
a flash, BTW?

>or a higher ISO value for these pictures?
>
The truth is, I didn't think of that. The camera's set to automatic, and
it chose an ISO of 100. I guess manually overriding the ISO setting and
using, say, 400, would improve things without making the pictures noisy
or grainy? I'd value your advice, since I've always marvelled at how you
manage to take so many clear, bright indoor photos.
--
Regards

Leroy Curtis

Please replace "nospam" with "baram" in my address if you wish to
reply by Email

Well, first off: when a picture is taken the camera writes down the
used settings together with the picture file. This is called "EXIF
info" and you can view this info in IrfanView (a popular free picture
viewer) by clicking the "i" icon below the menu bar and then the EXIF
info button in the Image properties window that pops up. That's how I
know which settings you've used. I usually strip the EXIF info from my
picture files when I upload them; that saves a few kB.
Then a view tips: modern camera's like yours can use ISO settings up
to 400 without much loss of quality. I use ISO 200 as standard on my
current camera and ISO 400 for indoors. More importantly: select a
setting in which the camera can increase the ISO value automatically
when necessary if your camera has that option, which is very likely.
Some of your pictures have shutter times as low as 1/15 seconds, which
can be avoided that way.
When shooting manually it's very hard to keep your camera steady at
shutter times below 1/30 seconds. Actually I would advise 1/60 seconds
as a minimum for modern SLR cameras.

As for using a flash: I always use a flash, on all my pictures indoors
or out. Not everybody likes the effect but I find it saves time in
selecting the proper lighting settings in varying conditions. With the
built-in flash the effect of highlighting the near portions is fairly
limited as long as use choose the fill-in flash lighting setting
(which is probably automatically selected at your current
"multi-segment" metering mode when you leave the flash popped out and
deselect the compulsory non-flash mode). If you still feel the flash
highlights too much then select aperture priority mode and select a
relatively large aperture like f 4 or lower for indoor situations (at
ISO 400). That way the portion of environmental light on your picture
will increase (beware that the depth-of-field will decrease).
Bouncing a flash only works with external flashlights. Then you aim
the head of the flash at an angle of about 60 degrees and bounce the
flash off the ceiling. Usually this only gives a good effect if the
ceiling is not too high and bright. This is hardly ever the case at
car shows or museums in my experience.

I hope this will be of some use to you. Just experiment with different
settings in an indoor situation and see what works best. If you'd like
more advise I'd be happy to help you.

André.

On Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:07:49 +0100, Leroy Curtis
> wrote:

>In article >, André Ritzinger
> writes
>>Thanks for the interesting pictures, Leroy.
>
>A pleasure, as always.
>
>> I couldn't help wondering
>>why you didn't use the flash
>
>Because I find that the flash will often highlight the foreground of a
>large object (Like a car) and leave that background too dark. This could
>well be down to my inability to use it properly, of course, and I'm
>using the camera's built-in flash, rather than a more sophisticated
>accessory, which perhaps could be "bounced" (I'm familiar with the term,
>but unsure of how to actually do it). How do you know that I didn't use
>a flash, BTW?
>
>>or a higher ISO value for these pictures?
>>
>The truth is, I didn't think of that. The camera's set to automatic, and
>it chose an ISO of 100. I guess manually overriding the ISO setting and
>using, say, 400, would improve things without making the pictures noisy
>or grainy? I'd value your advice, since I've always marvelled at how you
>manage to take so many clear, bright indoor photos.

In article >, André Ritzinger
> writes
>Well, first off: when a picture is taken the camera writes down the
>used settings together with the picture file. This is called "EXIF
>info" and you can view this info in IrfanView (a popular free picture
>viewer) by clicking the "i" icon below the menu bar and then the EXIF
>info button in the Image properties window that pops up. That's how I
>know which settings you've used. I usually strip the EXIF info from my
>picture files when I upload them; that saves a few kB.
>Then a view tips: modern camera's like yours can use ISO settings up
>to 400 without much loss of quality. I use ISO 200 as standard on my
>current camera and ISO 400 for indoors. More importantly: select a
>setting in which the camera can increase the ISO value automatically
>when necessary if your camera has that option, which is very likely.
>Some of your pictures have shutter times as low as 1/15 seconds, which
>can be avoided that way.
>When shooting manually it's very hard to keep your camera steady at
>shutter times below 1/30 seconds. Actually I would advise 1/60 seconds
>as a minimum for modern SLR cameras.
>
>As for using a flash: I always use a flash, on all my pictures indoors
>or out. Not everybody likes the effect but I find it saves time in
>selecting the proper lighting settings in varying conditions. With the
>built-in flash the effect of highlighting the near portions is fairly
>limited as long as use choose the fill-in flash lighting setting
>(which is probably automatically selected at your current
>"multi-segment" metering mode when you leave the flash popped out and
>deselect the compulsory non-flash mode). If you still feel the flash
>highlights too much then select aperture priority mode and select a
>relatively large aperture like f 4 or lower for indoor situations (at
>ISO 400). That way the portion of environmental light on your picture
>will increase (beware that the depth-of-field will decrease).
>Bouncing a flash only works with external flashlights. Then you aim
>the head of the flash at an angle of about 60 degrees and bounce the
>flash off the ceiling. Usually this only gives a good effect if the
>ceiling is not too high and bright. This is hardly ever the case at
>car shows or museums in my experience.
>
>I hope this will be of some use to you. Just experiment with different
>settings in an indoor situation and see what works best. If you'd like
>more advise I'd be happy to help you.
>
Thanks for this, André. The camera is set to automatically select ISO
numbers between 100 and 400, but I'll try manually overriding that next
time I'm taking indoor shots and see if it helps; I'm sure it will, on
the basis of what you're saying here. Looking through the pictures
myself, I can see that one of them was shot at 0.5 sec, which I suppose
says a lot for the shake-correction program built in to the camera,
since the picture, which is the one of the 1914 Fiat, is reasonably,
although not perfectly, sharp.

I'll also try experimenting with the flash; the beauty of a digital
camera, of course, is that if something doesn't work, you can see that
that's the case straight away, and try again.

Thanks for the advice.
--
Regards

Leroy Curtis

Please replace "nospam" with "baram" in my address if you wish to
reply by Email

Ah, shake-correction, I hadn't thought about that. Then using a
shutter speed of 1/30 as a minimum is certainly a viable option.
By the way "a view tips" should of course have read "a few tips"; that
was a strange typo.

Good luck experimenting,

André.

On Mon, 9 Jun 2008 01:14:13 +0100, Leroy Curtis
> wrote:

>In article >, André Ritzinger
> writes
>>Well, first off: when a picture is taken the camera writes down the
>>used settings together with the picture file. This is called "EXIF
>>info" and you can view this info in IrfanView (a popular free picture
>>viewer) by clicking the "i" icon below the menu bar and then the EXIF
>>info button in the Image properties window that pops up. That's how I
>>know which settings you've used. I usually strip the EXIF info from my
>>picture files when I upload them; that saves a few kB.
>>Then a view tips: modern camera's like yours can use ISO settings up
>>to 400 without much loss of quality. I use ISO 200 as standard on my
>>current camera and ISO 400 for indoors. More importantly: select a
>>setting in which the camera can increase the ISO value automatically
>>when necessary if your camera has that option, which is very likely.
>>Some of your pictures have shutter times as low as 1/15 seconds, which
>>can be avoided that way.
>>When shooting manually it's very hard to keep your camera steady at
>>shutter times below 1/30 seconds. Actually I would advise 1/60 seconds
>>as a minimum for modern SLR cameras.
>>
>>As for using a flash: I always use a flash, on all my pictures indoors
>>or out. Not everybody likes the effect but I find it saves time in
>>selecting the proper lighting settings in varying conditions. With the
>>built-in flash the effect of highlighting the near portions is fairly
>>limited as long as use choose the fill-in flash lighting setting
>>(which is probably automatically selected at your current
>>"multi-segment" metering mode when you leave the flash popped out and
>>deselect the compulsory non-flash mode). If you still feel the flash
>>highlights too much then select aperture priority mode and select a
>>relatively large aperture like f 4 or lower for indoor situations (at
>>ISO 400). That way the portion of environmental light on your picture
>>will increase (beware that the depth-of-field will decrease).
>>Bouncing a flash only works with external flashlights. Then you aim
>>the head of the flash at an angle of about 60 degrees and bounce the
>>flash off the ceiling. Usually this only gives a good effect if the
>>ceiling is not too high and bright. This is hardly ever the case at
>>car shows or museums in my experience.
>>
>>I hope this will be of some use to you. Just experiment with different
>>settings in an indoor situation and see what works best. If you'd like
>>more advise I'd be happy to help you.
>>
>Thanks for this, André. The camera is set to automatically select ISO
>numbers between 100 and 400, but I'll try manually overriding that next
>time I'm taking indoor shots and see if it helps; I'm sure it will, on
>the basis of what you're saying here. Looking through the pictures
>myself, I can see that one of them was shot at 0.5 sec, which I suppose
>says a lot for the shake-correction program built in to the camera,
>since the picture, which is the one of the 1914 Fiat, is reasonably,
>although not perfectly, sharp.
>
>I'll also try experimenting with the flash; the beauty of a digital
>camera, of course, is that if something doesn't work, you can see that
>that's the case straight away, and try again.
>
>Thanks for the advice.

In article >, André Ritzinger
> writes
>Ah, shake-correction, I hadn't thought about that. Then using a
>shutter speed of 1/30 as a minimum is certainly a viable option.
>By the way "a view tips" should of course have read "a few tips"; that
>was a strange typo.
>
Yes, I guessed that :-) I shouldn't worry, your English is better than
my Dutch. I only know four words of Dutch, none of which would be
appropriate in this newsgroup.

>Good luck experimenting,
>
Thanks again, André
>
--
Regards

Leroy Curtis

Please replace "nospam" with "baram" in my address if you wish to
reply by Email