Macro -got it

23 Jan '08 12:15 pm

Well,I was originally told to click on the flower icon to take close-ups,and was so disappointed that they all came out blurry,no matter how careful I was.
This morning I read the instruction book,(which I perhaps should have done in the first place)and discovered that the icon I should have been clicking on was'Macro'
After taking a successful(for me)photo of the flowers on my kitchen windowsill-outside I went and here are the results-we have had fierce winds for several days and plants are knocked to the ground everywhere.
Dixie.

23 Jan '08 4:31 pm

Nice pix, Dixie. Now you will be able to capture wonderful close-ups of your favorite pix. Insects will take on a whole new interest for you, because you wont have to get too close to see them close up.

If I may be so bold to say, you should do as I do. Set your camera to the maximum pixel count so you take the largest photos. Then you can crop them and reduce them in your computer. What image program do you use now? If you like I can point you to a very easy and good one (also free).

You have prompted me to dig out some pix of my own that are macro. I'll share some of my favorites.

Christopher

23 Jan '08 8:14 pm

What a joyful parade of happy flowers,Garden Gnome-learning how to do macroes certainly brings a new dimension.
I actually don't know what you mean when you say to set my camera to the maximum pixel count????? Embarassed

I can reduce photos on my computer but I don't know if it is a special programme-though I can reduce in order to post photos I wish I could crop them so that I could cut out parts I don't want.I would like to know of a programme that could help.
Something I would love to do for my family and me is to make a DVD of photos of my garden-I can do that,but I would so love to be able to include my favourite music with it-I can burn music tracks on to my computer,but how to put the two together????-I have nero. I have asked several people,but no-one can give any advice.
Dixie.

23 Jan '08 11:03 pm

Hi Dixie,

Lets see if I can make things clear. What you want to do is look through your maul and find the section on Changing the Resolution and Compression. You want your resolution set to "Large" (mine is 2048 X 1536 pixels) and you want compression set to Superfine/High Quality/Shoot higher quality images. Making these sort of changes means you will not be able to take as many pix because you will need more space on your memory card for each pic, but because it is basically free to upload your photos then this is no big inconvenience. I bought a 256 MB card for my camera and now I can take hundreds of pix before it becomes full. When you take big images like this you capture more detail and when you crop them, then the resolution is still sharp. You can always change the resolution back easily in order to take more pix, say, if you were on vacation and were running out of space on your memory card.

This program I will share with you is one I have been using for years and years now. I tried a bunch of them and a friend on a forum I was on told me of this one and it truly is good. It does the best job of reducing images and keeping the integrity of the original image intact, no loss of sharpness, color or detail. Easy to use, too.

It's called XnView (as in X-N-VIEW). XnView is a utility for viewing and converting
graphic files.

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownload.html

Once you have it installed I will give you a tutorial on what to do.

To make videos/movies on your PC. I use XP, do you? Go to "Start", "All Programs, "Accessories", "Windows Movie Maker"

Once that is open you can import images and video files, then arrange them in order on the Storyboard and add music and voice on the Time Line. If you have this program I can help you if you get stuck.

Stop scratchin' yer haid, an git to pushin' da buttons. Think

Christopher Wink

25 Jan '08 7:00 am

Dixie, my good friend!!! What a lovely surprise, to discover this Thread of yours!!! You just DID IT!!!! And.....HOW WONDERFULLY done!!! I just LOVE these blooms of your garden!! ALL of them, look SO gorgeous!!! SO tenderly captured!!! The colours are splendid, too!!

I am SO happy for your artistic discovery!!!

27 Jan '08 3:02 am

Great job Dixie! Your macros are beautiful. I got my camera out to see if I could figure out what you meant about the flower button vs. macro, but on my camera, they are one and the same. I did learn that when shooting macros I must depress the shoot button only halfway and wait until the camera focuses the shot. When it is ready a green box appears and I can then depress the shoot button all the way. If I forget to do this and snap the picture, it will always be blurry. I wonder if that is what was happening with your camera. I also loved the tutorial by Gordon. I want to download the software he suggested to see if it is better than what I have been using. I just can't seem to remember the basic step of checking my disk space on the hard drive to see how much is available. Anybody want to offer a suggestion here. I know it is very simple and has to do with the Run feature, but for the life of me I can't remember what to tell it to Run. Sometimes I feel like a complete idiot with the computer.

At any rate, I really enjoyed all the macros and your enlightening discussion.

27 Jan '08 5:11 am

thank you so much for going to the trouble of explaining so much information.Yes I was left scratching my head at first,but yesterday put my metaphorical toe in the water and ventured further.I found the button that said manual focus which put a square in the centre of the pic,but that may not be right.
Yes,Faith-I know about the half-way button,and I wait till it beeps then press it the whole way.
I do not have broadband,so was so disappointed to miss Christopher's winning show that was put on here last year-something about a fairground if I rememeber.So I can't take movies or view them,and things like Liza's cats just posted would not unload for me.
anyway,christopher-I will go back and work with the advice you kindly gave.
Dixie.

27 Jan '08 9:21 pm

I think you are not able to view video because you do not have a flash player. I had the same problem once. Download a free flash player here:

http://www.softwarepatch.com/internet/shockwave.html

The focus has nothing to do with the Resolution and Compression. You want to look in your mauel under "Changing the Resolution and Compression".

Also, are you using Windows XP? If not then what do you use?

Also, I believe you mean "Download" and not "Unload". Download means to copy files from the Net. to your computer. Unload is something you do in the garden with your wheelbarrow. Wink

Keep at it. Took me at least a year before I got the true hang of my camera, and now I am over 10,000 photos.

Christopher

28 Jan '08 5:23 am

thanks to the one who is happily toiling away !
Have been doing other things the last couple of days so am just catching up-i was amazed that I can get a flash player-I had thought that it would cost a lot.thank you for letting me know this.I have windows XP.I wonder sometimes if I am uploading downloading or just loading.
Will try.I hope this is encouraging others too.
Dixie.

29 Jan '08 9:29 am

It took me months (years?) to discover on my camera(s) first the macro close-up button and how to use it, and then how to upsize the pixels to maximum. Christopher's advice is excellent!

Dixie - the next step for you might be Photoshop. I know that Jacqueline has taught herself to use this programme and I'm sure she's got some tutorials. Then again you could attend a polytechnic for three months or three years to learn how to use it! It's a programme for experts and semi-amateurs as well as us keen amateurs! I am starting to learn some of its tricks. Like magic - you can get lovely greener lawns in the click of a button!

And I agree with Christopher about the insects. Something I most enjoy is watching the little bumble bees busy working their way over my flowers, setting and holding the camera just close enough and taking heaps of shots. When the bees are still their stripes are so beautiful!

By the way, are you having problems up there with rainfall - that is, not quite enough? Here the paddocks are dead dry and fire risk is high. There have been several grass fires around our place, the last one started by a friend on a tractor. He was carrying an extinguisher, but still the brigade had to be called.

Macro -got it

Macro -got it

A Whole New World

happy flowers

Wow!!!! Dixie's --- and Chris'! --- MACROS!

Here's to success!

thank you

Computer tricks

thanks again

Hi Dixie