New and having problems

MattCanning

MattCanning

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Name
Matt Canning
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Hello,

I bought myself a canon powershot g9 in the week. I really like the overall look and feel of the camera. However I am new too photogrophy. I am having trouble just taking a simple shot outdoors. The images seem either too bright or too dark.

I have been told not too take the ISO over 400 as this causes noise on the images. Is this correct?

I have played with shutter speed and aperature and still cannot get a good enough image. Here is a few for example, which I took today. Any advice will be very much appreciated

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn115/matt_clio172/IMG_0162.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn115/matt_clio172/IMG_0160.jpg

I have compared these too some images taken on the net with the G9 and there is a big difference. It looks like it was taken on my 2mp camera phone lol.
 
what are you comparing it to?
looks ok to me, but the image size doesnt show much to be truthful, either crop a 100% at 800 pixels, or post a link to the full version
 
oh yeah, reduce the pixel to 800 on the longest side, before the pixel police turn up
 
hmm, looking at it, if that is full size, you need to up the image size on the cam a bit, should be in the settings somewhere
 
What are the best settings for shooting outdoors? Iv got the full version on my memory card but these have been scaled down.
 
what are you comparing these to?
 
The Pro photographer that comes to take our car pics at work, stands at least 25 - 30 feet away from the cars when he takes pics as it gets a better perspective and more balanced shot............
 
What settings are you using? What's your apature, shutterspeed and ISO?
 
the exif data shows -

Make: Canon (http://www.canon.com)
Camera: Canon PowerShot G9
Lens: 7.4-44.4mm
Software: Firmware Version 1.00
Dimension: 1024 x 768*px*(0.8 MP, 4:3)
Focal length: 7.4*mm*(equiv. 35*mm)
Aperture: F3.5
Exposure time: 1/250"
ISO speed rating: 200/24°
Program: Manual (Manual)
Metering Mode: Evaluative
White Balance: Auto
Focus Mode: Single-point AF
Image Stabilizer: Off
Flash: Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode

The weather looks like its dull and overcast so you will not get bright and vibrant pictues, the 2 nd picture looks like the part of the car is in shadow.

this has had a brightness and level tweak.

car.jpg
 
Yeah it was a very dull day too be fair and raining slightly.....

Is it best too shoot in RAW mode?
 
I always shoot in RAW. Try it and see what difference it makes. I think you have DPP with the G9 and the latest incarnation of the software isn't to bad.

Also look at the histogram of the image. This will tell you if your exposure is OK. With RAW you need to have histogram well to the right of graph. Don't worry if the image looks wrong on the screen. If in doubt shoot a couple of pictures with different exposure settings , then decide which is the best when you get home. This is the beauty of digital.

Also keep a watchful eye on how the subject is lit. The eye /brain combination handles highlight and shadows quiet well, unfortunately this subjective evaluation does not happen in photography.
 
if you shoot in raw the photos will need processing to get the best from them. ie colour saturation, contrast, sharpness etc
 
For that photo I would have shot it at a higher shutterspeed. For outdoor conditions 1/250 is too slow, shoot as high as you can possible get away with before you underexpose the image, they will come out crisper and sharper.
 
Watch your background too, there are far too many distractions there. If you can't move the car to a better location then open the aperture right up to narrow the depth of field and throw the background out of focus.
 
I'm sure you will get past your problems soon. Just wanted to say a well done for attempting the shots on Manual. You will learn a lot in a short time if you persevere. 'Auto' may get a reasonable picture but controlling the settings yourself can get the picture exactly how you want it.
 
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