Photgraphy and Flickr

[Strider]

Over the last 2 years I've been finding myself devoting myself more to photography than to computers and I've been posting pictures on my Flickr account. Fickr has groups where people can show their photographs to other and I decided to to start my own group called Photography Group Club, so if you have a flickr account (If you don't have a flickr account and are into digital photography it's a great way to share photographs and flickr has free accounts) feel free to join my group. Photography has exploded over the last two years, specially with DLSR cameras becoming affordable to the average consumer. You don't have to have a DSLR even a point and shoot digital camera can take fantastic shots, I know first hand for my father took a great shot with his P&S digital camera. So don't be shy and share you photographs with other people and you might pick up some hints or new techniques along the way.

[Cricket]

I can't access Flickr from work (it's blocked) but will check out your group when I get home. I just got a DSLR (Canon EOS XTi) and have been spending more time with it and less time on the forums too (been spending a lot of time over at the Photography-on-the.net Canon Digital Photography Forums). It's a very time consuming hobby right now (trying to learn how to use it, taking the pictures and doing post processing work on the pictures with GIMP)...but it's also challenging and lots of fun.

One thing that had me confused at first was the Canon took pictures that looked worse than the ones I took with my Olympus C-750 P&S camera. But then I learned that P&S cameras do more in-camera processing of JPEGs than DSLRs so they come out looking "better" (P&S shots look sharper where the DSLR shots look softer). I'm learning how to increase the sharpness of the pictures with GIMP but I was told I could also increase the sharpness, contrast and saturation levels in the XTi through one of it's menus and that would help a lot and I won't have to rely on out of camera editing so much. Just gotta find the time to experiment.

And I'm being warned about wanting to get more "glass" and accessories...LOL...I have two "kit" lenses now and I do want to pick up a couple of "faster" lenses for indoor pictures. And I want to get a good flash and a bunch of filters and more lenses...LOL...this is turning into a very expensive hobby. Have you spent a small fortune on your photo equipment yet?

Anyway, I'll check out your group when I get home. I'm not using any photo hosting service yet and may sign up with Flickr (my friend just signed up a few weeks ago and said she likes it).

Cricket

[SonicVanguard]

I started using Flickr a few years ago - but I got tired of their lower resolution policies unless I upgrade my account. So I moved everything over to Google's Picasa service - so I only pay if I need additional storage with no restrictions to file sizes. I also like that I can browse my PhotoAlbum with my TiVo service - very cool little feature.

Although looking at your group might make me resurrect my Flickr account. Unless of course you start the same group over on Picasa.

[David M]

I used to do a lot of photography and it is real easy to get caught up in purchasing longer and brighter lenses..easily to the tune of a few thousand dollars.

Picasa is wonderful for organizing and sharing photos and it's free. Photoshop Elements I think is the best bang for the buck image alteration software.

Towards the of my infatuation with photography (I now just like photography ), I got tired of hauling around an SLR and a camera bag with all my lenses and sometimes a tripod or monopod. I now just carry around a 5 Meg Canon point and shoot. I find I take MORE pictures now of more important things and my camera is always there in my front pants pocket or the glove box of my car when I need it. Eventually with photography you learn that so much of it is not really the equipment but your knowledge of light, composition, artistry and so often plain old dumb luck. Expensive equipment sometimes helps though but not too often. A good camera won't take good pictures for you...thats done by yourself through lots of experimentation. I can just hear the Nikon executives yelling at me now.

Photography classes and books are a good thing since so little of good photography has to do with learning how to use the equipment itself

I store all my photos on a 750Gig external drive backed up onto DVD's. I don't care for the idea of being reliant on an internet business to retrieve and store my photos with drive space being as cheap as 20 cents per Gig now.

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/hard-drives/p/11/

http://picasa.google.com/

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by David M Photoshop Elements I think is the best bang for the buck image alteration software.

What about GIMP? It's free.

Cricket

[David M]

Hi Cricket..I don't know. I have not been taking photos as a hobby for a few years now.

http://www.gimp.org/

Given it is free, it just might be the best bang for the buck.

[Cricket]

GIMP is said to be as powerful as Photo Shop...but...it's just as hard to learn if not harder. I've been messing with it through several versions and I probably know about 0.01% of what it can actually do...LOL...I'm thinking of getting Photo Shop Elements but only because I'm hoping it's easier to use.

Strider: Do you shoot in RAW or JPEG? Are you doing much post processing after you move the image files to the computer if you shoot in JPEG (I think you have to do some kind of conversion if you shoot in RAW...still learning all this stuff). What photo editor are you using?

I looked at your pictures and saw some really nice ones and some really eye catching ones. One of the alligator pictures looks kind of over exposed though.

Thanks for sharing!

Cricket

[David M]

Originally Posted by Cricket GIMP is said to be as powerful as Photo Shop...but...it's just as hard to learn if not harder. I've been messing with it through several versions and I probably know about 0.01% of what it can actually do...LOL...I'm thinking of getting Photo Shop Elements but only because I'm hoping it's easier to use. Strider: Do you shoot in RAW or JPEG? Are you doing much post processing after you move the image files to the computer if you shoot in JPEG (I think you have to do some kind of conversion if you shoot in RAW...still learning all this stuff). What photo editor are you using? I looked at your pictures and saw some really nice ones and some really eye catching ones. One of the alligator pictures looks kind of over exposed though. Thanks for sharing! Cricket

PhotoShop Elements is pretty user friendly. Many of the features are automated but you can also choose do many of the features manually as well. For my dumb analogy of the day .... Photo Shop Elements would be for Mac type people... Gimp would be more for Linux type people it seems.

[TwoRails]

I have to recommend Paint Shop Pro. I have had Elements thru version 3 and found PSP to be much more robust in it's versions of the time and there stopped buying Elements. Also, Best Buy has PSP on sale a lot of the time. For example, I picked up version 10 for $29 no rebate required, and just recently bought the newest version, "X2" for only $39 . PSP is a lot closer to Photo Shop than to Elements and is usually compared to Photo Shop.

Since Corel bought out Jasc, they have have made PSP a lot more user friendly and is almost "too easy" to use where it use to be rather difficult for many to learn. It has a lot of hand holding like Elements but still has retained all the full blown manual features as well.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by TwoRails I have to recommend Paint Shop Pro. I have had Elements thru version 3 and found PSP to be much more robust in it's versions of the time and there stopped buying Elements. Also, Best Buy has PSP on sale a lot of the time. For example, I picked up version 10 for $29 no rebate required, and just recently bought the newest version, "X2" for only $39 . PSP is a lot closer to Photo Shop than to Elements and is usually compared to Photo Shop. Since Corel bought out Jasc, they have have made PSP a lot more user friendly and is almost "too easy" to use where it use to be rather difficult for many to learn. It has a lot of hand holding like Elements but still has retained all the full blown manual features as well.

My wife used PSP a few years ago (I forget which version it was) but I never tried it out. Been trying to learn GIMP for the past two years but it isn't exactly the easiest thing to use. I'll go take a look at the latest version of PSP when I have time. Thanks for the info TwoRails.

Cricket

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by David M I used to do a lot of photography and it is real easy to get caught up in purchasing longer and brighter lenses..easily to the tune of a few thousand dollars. ...snip... Towards the of my infatuation with photography (I now just like photography ), I got tired of hauling around an SLR and a camera bag with all my lenses and sometimes a tripod or monopod. I now just carry around a 5 Meg Canon point and shoot. I find I take MORE pictures now of more important things and my camera is always there in my front pants pocket or the glove box of my car when I need it. Eventually with photography you learn that so much of it is not really the equipment but your knowledge of light, composition, artistry and so often plain old dumb luck. Expensive equipment sometimes helps though but not too often. A good camera won't take good pictures for you...thats done by yourself through lots of experimentation. I can just hear the Nikon executives yelling at me now. Photography classes and books are a good thing since so little of good photography has to do with learning how to use the equipment itself ...

Agreed. I've been telling folks that for a long time. I got burned out many years ago in carrying around a couple of bags of gear everywhere I went. Nothing was automatic back then, either, so when a chance shot would arise, you had only just a second or two to grab the right camera, or switch lenses, get out the Gossen Luna Pro, adjust the camera, manually advance the film, and then take the shot.

After a long period of dormancy, I bought a digital camera and never looked back. (...until recently) I made many steps from my "Jam Cam" to my current Sony H9 point-n-shoot (a fantastic camera, BTW). There isn't much a good point-n-shoot can do now-a-days that a DSLR can (more below) for a majority of shooting situations.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by Cricket My wife used PSP a few years ago (I forget which version it was) but I never tried it out. Been trying to learn GIMP for the past two years but it isn't exactly the easiest thing to use. I'll go take a look at the latest version of PSP when I have time. Thanks for the info TwoRails. ...

One way to look at it is that $30 or 40 isn't that much in case you don't like it, and if you for some reason you don't like it.... you can always give it as a birthday present or the like (you don't have to register it to use it) -- I'm sure you'll like it, however, and it has built-in RAW support for many cameras, including your Cannon, Nikon, Olympus, etc. Corel also made it a heck of a lot faster than Jasc's version.

Originally Posted by Cricket ... I just got a DSLR (Canon EOS XTi) and have been spending more time with it and less time on the forums too ...

Nice camera, Cricket. In the few reviews I've read on it, it takes better photos than the Nikon equivelant. I decided to get back into more serious "snap shot" taking and recently picked up the Olympus Evolt E-510 as an early Christmas present to myself, but the XTi was my only other consideration.

... One thing that had me confused at first was the Canon took pictures that looked worse than the ones I took with my Olympus C-750 P&S camera. But then I learned that P&S cameras do more in-camera processing of JPEGs than DSLRs so they come out looking "better" (P&S shots look sharper where the DSLR shots look softer). I'm learning how to increase the sharpness of the pictures with GIMP but I was told I could also increase the sharpness, contrast and saturation levels in the XTi through one of it's menus and that would help a lot and I won't have to rely on out of camera editing so much. Just gotta find the time to experiment. ...

Yes, it will take a while to learn. When I tried out the Fuji S9100 I burned off 600 photos before I got the camera where I wanted before deciding I didn't like it and took it back for the Sony H9. Many P&S cameras, however, also have the same settings for contrast, sharpness, color vividness, and so on, it's just that many folks don't delve into it as "auto" is all they need. Heck... I even have a buddy that has a D50, 2 D70s, and a D80 and doesn't use anything but Auto and admitingly doesn't know anything about the "scene" modes and the like.

After you have it set for general use, you won't have to do too much out of the camera editing, if any. You will find yourself setting up the "controls" to fit you're particular needs at the time, too. (like exposure compensation and the like)

... And I'm being warned about wanting to get more "glass" and accessories...LOL...I have two "kit" lenses now and I do want to pick up a couple of "faster" lenses for indoor pictures. And I want to get a good flash and a bunch of filters and more lenses...LOL...this is turning into a very expensive hobby. Have you spent a small fortune on your photo equipment yet?

It's an easy trap to fall into, and the main reason I've avoided DSLRs for so long. Way back when, I even had my own lab for a couple of years, developing my own film, loading film cassettes from bulk rolls, and doing my own enlarging / printing in B&W and color, etc. (digital editing is far more fun, quicker, and a whole lot easier.) And, yes, I already want a dozen "accessories" that didn't come in my two lens kit.

Not to sound hypocritical to my post above (#11) but there are indeed things you can do with a DSLR that you can't with a P&S, or are very difficult at least. Just the simplicity of focusing on what you want is a major advantage for example. Spending too much money on specialty lenses is another. The speed gap has narrowed considerably, though (my H9 can take 2.2 FPS until the card is full for example).

I'm a long way from being a serious photographer and am amazed at what I have forgotten (what's an F-stop?? LOL ) but am content at the moment in just trying to take better "snap shots." It'll take a lot of practice just to become "familiar" with all the features of the E-510.

[glc]

I use Irfanview for basic photo editing and PSP for more advanced functions. I have PSP 8, it does what I need. I never cared for Photoshop or Elements due to its reliance on their proprietary .psd files. I remember having to work in .psd then exporting to .jpg, no direct save as .jpg option. I don't know if Adobe has made this easier because I haven't tried any newer versions. Yes, PSP wants to save as .psp by default (my version does anyway) but all it takes is hitting the drop box to change it each time.

[TwoRails]

The default for a new image is still .pspimage, but will automatically save in the same format that an existing photo is, so if you open a jpeg, it'll save as a jpeg. Naturally you can save to any format you like with the same simple drop box list.

For simple editing, I use the original format, but for more serious editing, I use the pspimage format as you can keep the original in tack yet make all the adjustments you like. On example is last week a friend of mine wanted a shot of is house to have green grass instead of the brown grass in his winter shot. It was easy to "play" with different results in the pspimagie format without having to load and edit multiple copies of the original jpeg. Layers is a wonderful tool

[Strider]

I'm inviting everyone who has a Flickr account or wants to join Flickr to join my group

Photography Group Club
Please TAG your photo : "Photography Group Club"

[Strider]

I use Photoshop CS3 for my photo editing and I shoot in Raw (Sometimes I shoot both Raw and JPeg format).


I'm inviting everyone who has a Flickr account or wants to join Flickr to join my group

Photography Group Club
Please TAG your photo : "Photography Group Club"

Sorry for the double post...oops

[TwoRails]

Glad to see I'm not the only one that happens too -- Haven't messed with the RAW mode yet, as PSP X1 didn't support my camera yet, but X2 does. I'm pretty impressed with the Super High Quality (SHQ) mode of the E-510 though and will probably reserve most of the RAW shots for when I'm going for the National Geographic shot -- Definitely going to play with it some though.

[SonicVanguard]

Originally Posted by glc I use Irfanview for basic photo editing and PSP for more advanced functions. I have PSP 8, it does what I need. I never cared for Photoshop or Elements due to its reliance on their proprietary .psd files. I remember having to work in .psd then exporting to .jpg, no direct save as .jpg option. I don't know if Adobe has made this easier because I haven't tried any newer versions. Yes, PSP wants to save as .psp by default (my version does anyway) but all it takes is hitting the drop box to change it each time.

GLC the entire reason for the .psd file type is due to Photoshop's ability to save multiple layers. In the editing I do for video I can create an image with say 6 layers and save it as a .psd. I can then open that file in After Effects and each layer will become a different element for me to manipulate.

But it's fairly straight forward to save a .jpg - since version 7 (CS1) they've included a Save For Web feature. It's basically the same as Export, but you get a side by side view of the .psd and your new format (.gif, .png, or .jpg). You can change size, resolution, color palette, transparency...it's a fairly robust and easy to use feature. I really like that it's side by side - I can see my original and then play with the other settings to manipulate quality/file size to get an image I'm happy with.

[TwoRails]

I do believe he's using Paint Shop Pro (PSP) for "advanced functions." You explained it a little better than I did, but I was saying pretty much the same thing. PSP also has the features you mention, including a side by side for optimizing for Wed size and the like. Yes, layers are a great thing -- It can, besides saving to it's own format ( .psp & .pspimage), save / read Photoshop's .psd files.

edit: for others that may read this, PSP also saves to numerous other formats as well, as does Photoshop.

[TwoRails]

Strider, are you taking serious shots only? ... or are (possibly) interesting "snap shots" also accepted? I may have a snap shot or two I could post, but they may be a little off the wall. For instance, for whatever reason, I've found taking shots of mushrooms interesting...

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by glc I use Irfanview for basic photo editing and PSP for more advanced functions. I have PSP 8, it does what I need. I never cared for Photoshop or Elements due to its reliance on their proprietary .psd files. I remember having to work in .psd then exporting to .jpg, no direct save as .jpg option. I don't know if Adobe has made this easier because I haven't tried any newer versions. Yes, PSP wants to save as .psp by default (my version does anyway) but all it takes is hitting the drop box to change it each time.

If you open a JPEG and don't add any layers, Photoshop saves as a JPEG by default. I think this has been true at least since version 7. You can also use the non-proprietary TIFF format, but PSD is better because when you add layers, TIFFs get big very fast. And there is a reason why Photoshop is the standard. I'd be interested to see what kind of tools PSP has that are similar to Curves, Shadow/Highlight, Healing Brush, etc. on Photoshop.

And one more vote for Picasa -- I used Flickr once and didn't like it that much, but find Picasa to be very good. I currently use my Picasa account as a portfolio for my classes and when applying to internships.

http://picasaweb.google.com/difultonhoward

I haven't been using RAW yet, but I intend to start -- I now have a bigger CF card and since Picasa can read RAW images, I don't have the same problem as I did with the Windows photo interface of not being able to see thumbnails. RAW is very good at capturing large quantities of light information, and that means you're more likely to be able to bring details out of a photo in post-processing.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow .. And there is a reason why Photoshop is the standard. I'd be interested to see what kind of tools PSP has that are similar to Curves, Shadow/Highlight, Healing Brush, etc. on Photoshop....

Yes, PSP has all of those.

[Cricket]

I always wondered what "thefultonhow" meant and now I know. Thank for sharing your photos David.

Cricket

[TwoRails]

Didn't get to look at the shots earlier, as a hot "Honey-do" item came up, but yes, great shots!! Are you taking, or teaching classes, thefultonhow?

[Strider]

I found that there are a few contacts that I correspond to on Flickr and that is probably the main reason I'm sticking to it, plus I've grown to like Flickr. As for the online picture groups that I've tried is Smugmug and maybe it's because I'm used too Flickr but I really didn't care for it. As for pictures to my group I'll take serious pictures, funny pictures, portraits, etc... but the only thing I won't accept is Nude pictures for I want it to be a family oriented group.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by TwoRails Didn't get to look at the shots earlier, as a hot "Honey-do" item came up, but yes, great shots!! Are you taking, or teaching classes, thefultonhow?

I am majoring in photography in college. The three "VES" albums on that page are from the three classes I've taken so far -- 41a was the intro, and my final project in that class was Transportation Infrastructure; 40b was an intermediate class, and my project in that one was Auto Mechanics; and 96r, which I'm finishing up with right now, is Directed Research, and my project is on the South Station area of Boston. The fourth album is the best of my casual shots.

[Cricket]

Okay, signed up with flickr and joined the "Photography Group Club" today...didn't submit a picture though. Will do that after I figure out how flickr works.

I'm enjoying your "365" set.

Cricket

[TwoRails]

Now that my system is back up and running, I've got a Flickr acct... but I don't see where to join a specific group??... I can search and find " Photography Group Club" but can't find how to join it.

[Strider]

Should be on the left hand side when you click on Photography Group Club, I think it's on top it says "Click to Join?"...it might be on the bottom.

[TwoRails]

Ahh! I was trying to go thru the Home Page menus and such... thanks