Can anyone help me learn to take better pictures with my camera?

Austin

I have a

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodak-12-M...i_sku=12456597

I have no clue how to manually change the way it take pictures. I only have the basic options and I don't know how to go in and change the settings so I can get better pictures of my fish...

Any ideas?

rsn48

Well, I'll ask the obvious - have you read the manual?

stephanieleah

i don't know about this camera in particular, but if it has the options to turn the flash off (i can't imagine the poor fish with the flash) because everything looks better without the flash, imo. you just have to take a hundred pictures to get a dozen good ones, and the slower shutter speeds makes the fish blurry almost 100% (but check out my pictures, no flash on any of them...just takes patience and persistence).

also if there is a macro setting for close-up shots, that is what i use for shrimps and stuff that stays still. you get more details that way.

all that said, i WISH i could take pictures that accurately portray what i actually see when i look at my tank. ain't happenin' with my cheapo camera

Austin

rsn - Nope I haven't read the manual. I found the manual online and it's likeee 80 pages. 79 and a half of the pages are probably useless to me. Who actually reads manuals? :p

leah - I tried macro and messing around with my camera but it doesn't help any... =[ I'd like the same thing as you, to take pictures of how it actually looks... rather than fish being just a blur.

LMychajluk

People that take good pictures?

Seriously, photography is alot about balancing and compromising. For example, to 'freeze' a moving fish, you need a fast shutter speed, but in order to do that, you need to open the aperature more to get the equivalent ammount of light, which in turn may blur the background. Or, you can add flash to increase the light, but flashes have a 'range' as well, so that may not be an option at longer distances to your subject. It's all about getting the light you need for the picture you want to take.

Get a book on Photography, and learn how different aspects of your camera's settings affect the photographs. It will help you take the best photos with your current camera, and guide you in what to look for in your next camera based on your needs. Here's one good book...
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Book-Pho...7629024&sr=8-2

small echinda

Yeah i can only imagine reading about 50 pages. possibly all of them if you don't have an understanding of photography and lighting in general.

Bacchus

that little flower on the dial of your camera is for your macro settings....that will help you take nice up-close shots of your fish

adwride

To help turn your photography from amateur to professional...

http://austinwridephotography.blogsp...y-tips-to.html

Amriel

just Use Macro Mode and have Good lighting when taking the Pic and Use Cameras that can Capture the Picture Clearly Even when it's Moving E.g Cybershot and Samsung Cameras.

Mean Harri

Like others have said you will want to shut off you flash. It's best to take pics of your tank with just the tank lights on. For close ups of inhabitants you can select macro mode. If your fish are quick darters and don't stay still very long you may try the sports selection for faster shutter speeds. Likely you will get low light warnings and depending on how stingy the operation is it may or may not take a picture in sports. If you can manual mode at all you can select your aperture and shutter speeds. Or at least go in to S-mode if you have it and speed up the shutter speed if fish are blurry. Messing around with different settings and seeing what the changes have done is key. Have fun.

I am looking at your camera manual online. If you want more color try playing with your white balance. Open shade should provide warmer colors. I would also switch to macro focusing when taking pics of fish. It won't try to focus on too big an area and should increase sharpness. Also, try changing your exposure metering to center-weight or center-spot. This will decrease the area in which the camera meters for exposure settings. You could try, if the camera will allow it, upping your ISO speeds. Generally leaving this at auto works well. Upping it too much can cause photos to be grainy.
The best info is to play around. Change setting, shoot, change again, shoot and compare. Soon you'll figure it out.