Pretentious Snobby Bastard Fly Fishing!

Fly Fishing BS => The Gravel Bar => F.A.Q => Topic started by: Woolly Bugger on June 01, 2010, 08:03:47 AM

Title: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 01, 2010, 08:03:47 AM
Quote from: dnakamoto on May 31, 2010, 19:38:51 PM
Woolly what setting do you have set on that camera to get such clear vibrant pics?

Point and shoots are pretty bad for a number of reasons, one they try and cram too many piexels on a tiny chip, two they (at least my experience) tend to overexpose resulting in blown out highlights, three they have a lot of digital noise and they higher ISO (film speed) settings and four they have a limited amount of user control (no aperture priority, shutter priority or manual modes) Despite these short comings they can take a pretty good pictures (for the web anyway).

I use the settings on my Olympus 1030 SW (discontinued) camera to my best advantage.

Here is my technique

1. I set the exposure to -1/3 or -2/3 stop this ensures that the highlights will contain detail (check your histogram to make sure you're getting a good exposure)

2. I use the lowest ISO of 100 for the best quality image (however slow shutter speeds sometimes cause problems)

3. Get close to the subject. I use the macro (close focus) and super macro modes for all of the fish pictures. This mode helps create depth of field effects and sharp focus of my subject.

4. If I have to I'll use the flash in the FILL FLASH setting.

So far anybody can do this but the results from this create average looking photos that may appear a little underexposed. So on to the next steps, the post processing. I use to use Photoshop CS4 and open the photos in the RAW interface. Even thought they are jpgs Adobe Raw allows you to make adjustments using this interface. Now I'm using Adobe Lightroom (MSRP: $299) for the same reasons.  I'll outline the steps -- results may vary...

1. Adjust Color temperature (I thinks the auto white balance gives me cool results so I warm it up a bit) +3 to +7

2. Adjust Exposure (sometimes none but usually I brighten up the image to get good highlights but not blown out)

3. Adjust Fill Light amount. I use this rarely, but comes in handy in backlight situations (This opens up the midtones)

4. Adjust Black Level (P&S's don't have good deep blacks, so this adjustment it critical in getting a good histogram or full color range)

5. Adjust contrast ( makes the pictures snap) +10 to +40

6. Adjust clarity (similar to sharpening) +50 to +70

7. Adjust saturation (usually just a couple of points) +2


That's about it, my 10 11 step process to getting great photos from a crappy point and shoot digital camera... -0-

LOOK FOR A UNIQUE ANGEL, DON'T TAKE THE SAME OLD HOLD THE FISH OUT AND SHOOT DOWN ANGLE. TRY SOMETHING UNIQUE!

additionally I've been cropping the photos into a 16:9 fromat (all the kids are doing it)

lightroom also has a nifty graduated exposure mask that really helps with photos that have fill flash, which often results in over exposed foreground.

Lightroom also has an export mode that sizes the pic and adds the white border  y;


Easy?  :o

Well I enjoy my photography almost as much as fishing  8)

Aren't you glad you asked?  :o ;D

My usual adjustments in BOLD


got iPhoto? look at this http://www.applematters.com/article/making-adjustments-in-iphoto-09/ (http://www.applematters.com/article/making-adjustments-in-iphoto-09/)
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: flatlander on June 01, 2010, 08:26:16 AM
How do you like Lightroom vs CS4?  I'm still using CS2, which doesn't support the D300, so I've got to either upgrade to CS5 or look elsewhere. 
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 01, 2010, 08:38:01 AM
I love Lightroom! I not only is a great organizer of photos but allow non-destructive adjustments / cropping / and effects.
You can always select and image or images for editing in photoshop from lightroom.

Very easy to use / faster than using bridge and photoshop. I love the catalog structure. Version 3 is coming out soon. I just saw version 2 on ebay for $99 buy it now.

I'm still learning about all of the features.


Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: flatlander on June 01, 2010, 08:53:05 AM
The thing I hate about Adobe is the sidecar files.  I have been converting all my files to .dngs before processing, but I'm not sure I like that route either.  Tempted to look at Capture NX2, but hear it's slow.
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Trout Maharishi on June 01, 2010, 12:28:25 PM
"I use to use Photoshop CS4 and open the photos in the RAW interface|. How you do dat?

I have CS3 and have looked briefly on a way to open the photos in the RAW interface, can you point me in the right directions as to how I might do this?

i.e. click on this, then click on that etc?
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 01, 2010, 13:06:44 PM
Quote from: Trout Maharishi on June 01, 2010, 12:28:25 PM
"I use to use Photoshop CS4 and open the photos in the RAW interface|. How you do dat?

I have CS3 and have looked briefly on a way to open the photos in the RAW interface, can you point me in the right directions as to how I might do this?

i.e. click on this, then click on that etc?

File -> Open As -> Camera RAW
   ;)

while you're at it you might want to check and make sure you have the latest version of Adobe RAW .

Help -> Updates




If you work from Bridge (File-> Browse In Bridge) you can work on multiple files and if they are similar you can sync the settings from one to the rest by using the synchronize command
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: jwgnc on June 01, 2010, 14:26:30 PM
 :o

We are all glad you do enjoy photography that much.  The rest of us will just have to keep sending in our snapshots.
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 01, 2010, 15:11:32 PM



[attachimg=1]
before -- straight out of the camera, just resized

[attachimg=2]
after -- adjustment as listed above  :P


Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: WRector on June 01, 2010, 15:42:13 PM
That's some good stuff!  Thanks for the info  y;
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: rbphoto on June 02, 2010, 07:34:23 AM
Some excellent info in that post, there!

BTW, Lightroom is essentially Adobe Camera Raw with a few tweaks here & there as well as some other goodies.  It's a phenomenal editing program that specializes in speeding up the workflow when dealing with large quantities of photographs.

However, it works great for folks who want to do some fine tuning, like WB.

I would classify it as companion/complementary software to Photoshop, and if you like CS4, try CS5 on for size!!!

Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: dnakamoto on June 02, 2010, 08:29:03 AM
Thanks Woolly!  You may have just single-handedly improved the quality of pics on the forum!  0:0
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Trout Maharishi on June 02, 2010, 08:34:06 AM
Thanks, my mac version didn't work quite like that, but close enough. I notice I have a camera raw, and a photoshop raw. Any advice on which I should use? I have had Photoshop for about 6 months now, but have continued to use the editing software that came with the camera, boy have I been missing out. I think you should do a tip of the week every week on using it :D
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 02, 2010, 15:10:12 PM
here's a link to the full size image

http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/2338473242/photos/330957/p5270768 (http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/2338473242/photos/330957/p5270768)

:o
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: diaz dassie on June 02, 2010, 15:10:52 PM
Woowee, how much per hour for you to play fotog in dem hills? Nobody on my inlaws side has a steady hand (the drunken muppets!) and all on my side are back "hame" in UK...
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 02, 2010, 15:34:07 PM
i would catch twice as many fish if i didn't stop to take pictures..  y;
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: The Dude on December 28, 2010, 12:20:49 PM
As someone who has a complete dearth of photography knowledge,can you steer me towards a good photo editing program?  Let me lay the groundwork:  My photographic skills go no further than a point-and-click camera in the "auto" setting, with occasional use of the macro mode.  I can follow your first 4 steps below as far as taking your word for it and making the adjustments to the camera's settings without really knowing how each setting really affects the shot.  Then, when I saw your next 7 steps, I kind of got a bit in over my head.  My photo editing consists of using Picasa's "I Feel Lucky" button and the crop command.  Would it be worth it to upgrade to a more robust editing program or would I essentially be paying money for something that I wouldn't know how to use and just be wasting my money?  In other words: P&S is to DSLR as Picasa is to Lightroom.  If I don't know enough about photography to bother getting a DSLR, then I don't know enough to bother getting Lightroom?
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on December 28, 2010, 13:36:26 PM
a lot of peeps are using Photoshop Elements
This program is bundled with a lot of scanners and other devices

on sale now through 1/5/11 http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/ (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopel/)


you can't get the best result's by using AUTO controls / adjustments, including the I'm feeling lucky...
try the tools on Picasa's 'Tuning" tab...  look at the histogram

You have to use the tools individually to achieve the best results


oh, and there is also GIMP, the free photoshop, but there is a steep leaving curve, or so I'm told

http://www.gimp.org/ (http://www.gimp.org/)


Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: rjs123 on December 28, 2010, 21:41:31 PM
I really like Lightroom too!  Ive only got CS2 and really like the adjustments that can be made with lightroom.  What camera are you using these days on your fishing pics Keith?

Now..... When you gonna post  "Wooly's Guide To Catching Bigger Trout" ?
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on December 28, 2010, 22:44:07 PM
Still using the Olympus Stylus 1030 SW

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shoot the D200 on rare occasions too.

just bought they wifey a canon G12, and that thing rocks...
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Big J on April 26, 2011, 08:59:44 AM
Ran into this thread and glad I did.  I have the Pentax W90 and have been so disappointed with the dullness in the images, but I think it has helped fix it.  Will know for sure when I hit some water soon! Thanks!  bd;0
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: lostnwilderness on May 15, 2011, 19:03:58 PM
Holly Trout Terd Batman, what a thread.  Think I'm gonna have to transfer this to Word, print it out and study it.  I'll let you know when I'm ready for the take home test.

Seriously though, thanks for the wealth of information! bd;0
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on June 22, 2015, 09:12:24 AM
[attach=1]


Currently shooting with an Olympus TG-3 (TG-4 is now the current model and has RAW capture)

My current rig includes the CLA-T01 Conversion Lens Adapter Ring (http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-CLA-T01-Conversion-Lens-Adapter/dp/B00821BLX4 (http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-CLA-T01-Conversion-Lens-Adapter/dp/B00821BLX4)) and a Polarizing filter, and a lens hood! Unfortunately the lens hood causes vignetting unless I zoom in just a tad.

My current TG setting

Natural Color (other settings are Vivid and Muted)
Flash OFF
-.07 Exposure Compensation
ISO 100
Single Shot
16Mb
16:9

Compression Fine
Shadow Adjust Auto
AF Mode Spot
Image Stabilizer OFF ( my understanding is that IS can actually degrade performance / image quality, might need to investigate  this more...)

Post...

I'm using Adobe Lightroom CC 2015 now as my organizer/editor...

"Shoot for the highlights, develop for the shadows...." that's what I learned in photography class and the reason I set the exp. comp to -.7 (2/3 of a f/stop)

Here's my current process with lightroom

1. Adjust exposure if necessary
2. Bump the contrast; +10 or so
3. Adjust Shadows ( depends on the image... )
4. Adjust Clarity (+ 10 ~ 20)
5. Adjust Black level ( - 2 ~ 5) really depends on the image..
6. Kick up the Vibrance about + 8 ~ 12
7. Crop if necessary...
8. Export for the web....

 

Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Dougfish on February 14, 2016, 11:54:10 AM
Google killing off Picasa is official.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3033156/photography/google-kills-off-picasa-to-focus-its-efforts-on-google-photos.html (http://www.pcworld.com/article/3033156/photography/google-kills-off-picasa-to-focus-its-efforts-on-google-photos.html)

It's been fucked for months. I think they started killing it in September.
What's the best free alternatives? I'm cheap.
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on February 14, 2016, 17:58:45 PM
So the program will still work, it just won't be updated anymore, and the web storage will no longer be available

Are you looking for free web storage that can by posted in a bbs? I'm thinking photophucket or igmur for that!??
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Dougfish on February 14, 2016, 18:14:24 PM
Imgur works for me. Editing is the issue.
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Onslow on February 14, 2016, 18:20:13 PM
Doug, edit/finish on desktop, then store on imgur or Pbucket.  Editing on Pbucket has unpredictable outcomes, and more oft than not, the photos will be worse than the original. 

Thus far, Imgur has served me well.  Just not sure about overall capacity per user.

Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: Woolly Bugger on February 14, 2016, 19:15:54 PM
flickr is also a free option with 1 TB of storage... y;

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(https://flic.kr/p/gaNVGt)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/gaNVGt) by addicted 2 benching (https://www.flickr.com/photos/camelcitybencher/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: NCsporksman on February 14, 2016, 19:30:33 PM
 p;- photobucket

V:; Imgur
Title: Re: Woolly's guide to better Point and Shoot photography
Post by: troutfanatic on February 14, 2016, 19:39:57 PM
Photobucket sucks roasted goat balls.

I edit with MS Office Photo Manager for quick stuff and I have the apple app on the iPad.

A couple of free downloads I have played around with are:


Dreamlight magic photo editor.

Photo Pos Pro.

You can download them free from CNET.