Ok, this is the part of the show where I answer some of those questions that you've been leaving for me in comments or my email inbox! Today's questions all relate to photography so please keep in mind that I'm no professional!! I'm just tellin' ya what works for me! Here we go...
What kind of camera do you have?
- It's a Nikon D40 digital SLR camera and I loooove it. Very easy to use right out of the box. Minimal set up to get going. Easy functionality. Finding answers to questions in the manual is even pretty easy. Takes great photos without a lot of know-how. And, it's not ridiculously expensive. For most photos, I just use the lense (18-55mm) that came in the kit but it also came with a zoom lens (55-200mm) so on occasion, I'll use that if we're out at a baseball game or looking across the ocean at a volcanic island or something! Ha!
How do you get your photos to look so good?
- First of all, thank you for that question! Makes me feel pretty darn good....I am on a quest for great photos! So not there yet, but I'm learning. And they're a heck of a lot better than they used to be! Trust me on this one!
- I have two tips for you here and the first is huge. You need a basic photo editing program - sometimes your computer or camera might even come with one. I use Photoshop Elements (for MAC, but they make PE for a PC too). When you edit a photo in your program, you need to first 'adjust levels' or maybe even 'adjust contrast'. Just clicking one of those two buttons usually makes a huge difference in brightening up an otherwise dark photo.
- Also, make sure that when you're shooting a picture of your card or layout, that you have your camera set on the 'macro' setting. It's usually the little symbol that looks like a tulip. Check your camera -- it's probably there and you didn't even know it! This button makes the camera focus on small objects up close so it will greatly reduce that frustrating blurriness.
What do you use for lighting? (especially when natural light isn't an option)
- I recently bought a photo light tent and I LOVE it. (This link is for the one I have but I will tell you that I got mine brand new, on ebay for less $$) It is basically a white canvas box that you put your card or whatever in for photographing. It has lamps that you set up on either side of the box to shine the light thru the canvas. This is supposed to give you pretty true-to-life colors in your photos and so far, I've found this to be the case.
Again, I'm no pro at this stuff - not even close. I'm just like you and I've had some of the same issues and I've asked others some of the same questions! But hopefully these answers will help you and please, don't ever hesitate to ask if you have any other questions. I'm happy to help if I can!