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Hi everyone, I'm a beginer so please bear with me. I have a cannon Power shot A710, I take mainly snap shots of my children, but I would really like to get more into photography has a hobby and to learn how to take wonderful pictures of my children lol. I'm not super comfy sharing pictures of my children on forums so here are some random images. I would love any advice about how to get clearer images or on how to avoid over exposing.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...may2007081.jpg

this lousy shot but its a good example of the glare (over exposer??) I get a lot of.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...uly2007207.jpg

now this was taken with out a flash but it still looks glarey. It also seems grainy, that happens a lot when i don't use the flash.


http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...m7-8-07412.jpg

ok now this one was taken in very low light,with a flash, and through glass and it came out pretty darn good! how do i do that again? was it just pure luck? lol

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ril2007075.jpg
Is there a way to compinsate for all the light coming through the windows or do i just need to not shoot against light like that?

Thanks in advance everyone!

shoot in M, TV, or AV mode on your camera.

Try to avoid using the flash, and when lighting is good enough, use the lowest ISO possible.

Turn off AiAF and meter/focus your photo by pointing it at the part you want the camera to expose for and pressing down halfway on the shutter button, the LCD will show you a preview of how bright the image will be, if it's too bright or too dark, try something else, you can also adjust aperture and shutter speed manually, and when you hold down the shutter button halfway, it will focus and meter the scene, and a + or - next to a number will appear next to the shutter speed and aperture readouts, this is telling you what the meter thinks in relation to your chosen exposure value (ISO, aperture, and shutter speed combined)

As for compensating for light coming through windows, you can bracket the shots, (different exposure values) using a tripod, and then combine them in an HDR program, such as Photomatix, and then tonemap them to bring out the details in the bright parts as well as the dark parts. (alternatively, there is a modification for that camera that allows you to shoot in RAW, and you can get the details out of the shadows and highlights using the RAW files. (both techniques are similar in result, but require a good deal of editing with the computer, let me know if you're interested in trying it.)

Thanks meplease for bringing up a topic that I myself need to study. It's very nice to see Mr Yuck's informative response. Thank you! Mr Yuck
I'm here to learn

Image three is wild!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr Yuck

shoot in M, TV, or AV mode on your camera.

Try to avoid using the flash, and when lighting is good enough, use the lowest ISO possible.

Turn off AiAF and meter/focus your photo by pointing it at the part you want the camera to expose for and pressing down halfway on the shutter button, the LCD will show you a preview of how bright the image will be, if it's too bright or too dark, try something else, you can also adjust aperture and shutter speed manually, and when you hold down the shutter button halfway, it will focus and meter the scene, and a + or - next to a number will appear next to the shutter speed and aperture readouts, this is telling you what the meter thinks in relation to your chosen exposure value (ISO, aperture, and shutter speed combined)

As for compensating for light coming through windows, you can bracket the shots, (different exposure values) using a tripod, and then combine them in an HDR program, such as Photomatix, and then tonemap them to bring out the details in the bright parts as well as the dark parts. (alternatively, there is a modification for that camera that allows you to shoot in RAW, and you can get the details out of the shadows and highlights using the RAW files. (both techniques are similar in result, but require a good deal of editing with the computer, let me know if you're interested in trying it.)

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Thank you so much for the detailed response. :) I do try to aviod the flash and use a low ISO setting. The picture with the bowl is a prime example of how they come out though. I actually tried turning on the over head but it left a weird glare. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong or if I just need more practice. I didn't run that one through photoshop yet so maybe a noise reducer would help?. I have the corell paint shop pro X prgram but I'm not very good at it. I had no idea I could do RAW files with this camera, is it very difficult to use? Is the program I have good enough to use with a RAW file?

Check this out.

How cool does that look? Games on a camera even, and it's reversible if you dont like it.

Really makes me wish I picked up an A710 instead of the A570IS

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr Yuck

Check this out.

How cool does that look? Games on a camera even, and it's reversible if you dont like it.

Really makes me wish I picked up an A710 instead of the A570IS

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Hmmm that does look cool. I need to read through that again when my brain isn't so warped. I have one more question for you if you don't mind. I'm pretty sure I can buy extra lenses for the A710 is it worth it? Would htey be interchangle if I purchased a cannon DSLR later on?

Hi meplease,
I like shot 2 as the different circular objects form an interesting pattern. I guess the grain you mentioned is due to a high ISO setting. You can use a slower shutter speed or a larger aperture to shoot at a lower ISO setting; you can use a tripod if necessary. On the glare issue, a polariser may help; also shooting at a different angle is also a solution.
yoyo

You may be able to get lenses that will attach to the lens on the camera but you won't be able to use them on a dslr.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by meplease

Hmmm that does look cool. I need to read through that again when my brain isn't so warped. I have one more question for you if you don't mind. I'm pretty sure I can buy extra lenses for the A710 is it worth it? Would htey be interchangle if I purchased a cannon DSLR later on?

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The short answer is no. The size of the DSLR lenses for Canon I believe start at 55mm thread size and the focal length of a normal lens for a DSLR is about 29mm (full size film/sensor normal lens is 50mm). But the normal focal lens on your A710 is much shorter about 10mm because the normal lens for a camera is determined buy the film/sensor size. Another thing is the DOF will change between the A710 to DSLR for the same subjects.