Calling all digital doctors

Elizabeth Schott · 01-30-2003, 07:56 PM

I continue my education, fascination and frustration with the digital camera. The greatest thing next to my Macintosh computer! It fits my lifestyle to a "T".

But it frustrates me when it does not do what the standard SLR with Tungsten lights or a few well chosen filters can do. But I am determined to make the new Digital technology work for me. You can

Josef Sy · 01-30-2003, 08:17 PM

Hi Elizabeth,

What is your digital camera?

I have a Canon G2 PowerShot and I find there is a whole lot of features that I don't and will not need. But I am aware of most of the more basic functionalities though like contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc. There are modes like artistic that you could take photos monochrome, sepia, etc.

It also depends on the make and model of the digital camera, too. Different brands have different sensors and this could make a big difference when it comes to color.

What I find helps is to experiment and find the best set up (for me is on fourescent daylight) and you can color correct it after in photoshop.

Click away.

Elizabeth Schott · 01-30-2003, 09:57 PM

Great question Josef, I did leave out that very important detail.

My camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P71, 3.2 mega pixels. It has a 3x optical lens, f=8.0-24mm 1:2.8-5.3

White Balance is Automatic, Daylight, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent.

Josef Sy · 01-31-2003, 08:37 AM

Hi Beth,

I asked a friend of mind at work (He has a CyberShot 4.0 mp) and he said to check the settings of the temperature/ hue setting. You might have the setting in "neon" instead of "daylight". I am not really familiar with the settings for Sony but I hope this will help you.

Cheers,

Oh, another thing I dont use and I recomend it, is not to use digital zoom. On my camera it is crap. The optical zoom usually is pretty good.

Mari DeRuntz · 01-31-2003, 08:59 AM

Hi Beth,

What I discovered with my digital camera, also a Canon (Powershot A20), is that it does NOT handle outdoor shadow. I've shot a couple of races where all the runners have come out the same blue shade that I see in your reproductions. Manual settings haven't overcome the decided blue cast.

I've had the most consistent digital results shooting the paintings outdoors; I hang them on the fence in direct sun, set up a tripod, zoom all the way in with the camera's mechanical zoom (Josef is right about the "optical zoom") and set the self-timer so there is no chance of my hand causing any camera movement.

Elizabeth Schott · 01-31-2003, 03:16 PM

Thanks guys, I have not used either of the zooms, because I know the digital zoom will cause pixel warfare, and honestly I haven't figured out how to seperate the two.

Mari, I have not tried full sun, nor the self timer idea, since you can't use a sync cord that sounds like a great idea! Althought I am starting to doubt sun in this area of the country ever appearing again. Josef I don't think my model has the temperature/hue setting.

I did go to the book store today and found a book called "Digital Photography, 99 Easy Tips" by Ken Milburn, it has an actual copy stand set up section - so I'll let you know if it works!

Elizabeth Schott · 02-12-2003, 10:47 AM

In my quest to figure out this digital challenge, I went to an old film trick.

I highly recommend spending the 5.95 to purchase a "Kodak Grey Card", especially if you use PhotoShop or another imaging software that lets you store White Balance levels. The color adjustment is a no brainier with this tool.

Kodak Grey Card

If you have ever been to the Post Office museum in DC, you might wonder why it is not on the wall with the clothespins. When first opening the envelop, I thought it was a piece of cut Matt board, but the board is to photographers specifications.

Mari DeRuntz · 02-12-2003, 11:04 AM

Thank you for that excellent link, Beth!

Linda Nelson · 02-12-2003, 11:15 AM

May I suggest two things?

When photographing your painting, try to have the lights coming at it from left and right, at a 45 degree angle. That decreases reflections from the surface.

As far as color correction, I HIGHLY suggest investing in a program ICorrect by Pictographics. It's phenomenal for quickly and accurately adjusting colors, and you can add to your changes by using the "curves" feature in your software (I use Photoshop).

I have a fabulous Olympus E-10 professional digital camera, and a Mac G-4. My father has the E-20 and a PC. He is a retired professional photographer, and has taught me a ton about the ins and outs of getting a great shot from a digital camera and how to quickly get to a color correct and tonal corrected output.

We have both struggled with your dilemma, and both have found the best success by using the ICorrect program.

Hope this helps.

Linda

Elizabeth Schott · 02-12-2003, 11:20 AM

This might give you an idea.