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A discussion on photography

xvart

Doing it wrong until I do it right.
Staff member
Moderator
Recently there has been a wave of blurry pictures being posted at Terraforums. And not just one or two, here and there; but, strings of the same plant over and over and over again, none of which are in focus. I'd like to take this moment, while I have everyone's attention, and ask nicely to please use better discretion when posting pictures.

Being as that I am not a skilled photographer, I can understand how it can be difficult sometimes to get a clear picture; however, posting a blurry picture typically doesn't help much, and only results in countless posts about how the picture is blurry and taking sever space.

I'm not trying to be an elitist picture snob. I just want to make sure that when looking for help, you get good help and not a page of comments about your picture being blurry. I hope some people who know more about cameras and photos will step in and make some suggestions, but until then, all I can say is you don't need to have a massive macro function and be zoomed in to see cellular mitosis. Step back, zoom out, and make sure the picture on the screen is clear and focused. Sharing blurry pictures only undermines you and whatever you are trying to accomplish by sharing that picture.

And, for Andrew's sake, we don't need 16 pictures (especially blurry ones) of the same thing over and over and over. If you take several pictures of the same plant from the same direction, pick the best one to share with us.

Thank you for your attention. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

xvart.
 
As another reminder, one should also resize their pictures before posting.:D
 
I'd encourage anyone who was trouble working their camera to post a thread saying so, someone here can definitely help. I'm on here quite often haha so I should see and be able to help, or of course you can PM me. I'm no photo pro, but I am a photography major so hopefully I can help at least with basic shooting :)

I second the resize thing also...

oh and if you dont have a macro just shoot the photo zoomed out with a highresolution you can always crop and resize the segment you want us to focus on...

and for those who do have a better grasp on the photo thing realize that you too can help andy by dropping the resolution on your images prior to posting, internet displayed photo's require very little resolution, so shoot as high as you can and then display as low as you can :) saving space for andy and everything

if you load your photo's through photobucket the website will drop the resolution for web media automatically so you can just disregaurd that :)
 
I was also going to say that cropping the photo makes the plant (or whatever) you're focusing on bigger. There are quite a few good free sites you can download to help make your pictures look better. For example, Google the Picasa2 program or the Gimp program, both are free and you can even sharpen your pics with those programs :) Good luck!
 
Oh, poo!

Based on the topic I thought we were going to meet somewhere and sing "L'Internationale" and use the lens filter and zoom lens as our emblem :(
 
:lac:
 
Based on the topic I thought we were going to meet somewhere and sing "L'Internationale" and use the lens filter and zoom lens as our emblem :(

Let's just say you were able to read between the lines. Keep digging and you'll uncover the meeting location.

xvart.
 
1) Use the macro function on your camera
2) If photo looks blurry on the lcd, don't take the picture :-))
 
  • #10
yeah! yeah!...resize your pictures!!!.....how do you guys do it anyway?????
....and if you realy want to save space then just post a link to the pics....how is that???
 
  • #11
....and if you realy want to save space then just post a link to the pics....how is that???

Mark - I don't want to give the wrong impression here. I want people to post pictures and not links. I don't want to discourage people from posting pictures at all. I want to discourage people from posting pictures that are impossible to see anything in (and posting a handfuls of them).

That's why I thought it would be good to have a discussion about it. There have already been several tips and I want to see them coming. It just discourages me when people are trying to help out someone with a problem and more of the discussion revolves around their pictures being way too blurry.

AND, if everyone comes back and tells me to shove it and that I'm crazy; that's fine, too. I'll happily sit through blurry pictures if that is what everyone wants.

xvart.
 
  • #12
Got it!.....and i think i know what thread you're talking about. Anyway....good to know space is an issue!
 
  • #13
and i think i know what thread you're talking about. Anyway....good to know space is an issue!

I'm not talking about any one thread in particular; although it may seem like that. It's something I've wanted to say for a while and finally just did. I want to be clear: I'm not on a crusade or anything. I just want people to get the help they are needing and save the sanity of everyone else! lol.

good to know space is an issue!

Well I can't say that it is an issue. I really don't know anything about the TF server. But why fill any space with several high resolution pictures of nothing? Catch my drift?

xvart.
 
  • #14
Don't use zoom, read the manual to your camera and get use to it's various functions. Holding the camera really close can result in blurry pictures and when taking pictures think about lighting and try to hold the camera still. When you take pictures take like 5-6 and use the process of elimination deleting the worst ones until you are left with the best. And then and only then upload it to the web and if you only have a cellphone a camera would be a good investment.

I do this every time I take pictures.
 
  • #15
I've noticed this too. If you have a digital camera, you should be taking MANY more shots than you need. Go crazy on every plant. Take each angle shot a few different times. Try with flash and without flash. Try taking pictures while hanging from a rope.... Do the best you can on every shot.

Chances are when you pop your card back into your PC, you'll be able to find a few shots that came out right. And if you don't....TRY AGAIN!
 
  • #17
All of us (i think) noticed this but not every one has a good camera or knows how to operate it. I think i have a good camera with macro and everything ...and still i'm taking tens of shots just to get 2-3 good ones (still not satisfied). it's truly frustrating but it's what you have to do....if you don't have much experience.
 
  • #18
I need someone to just come over and take pictures. I don't have a camera and end up borrowing from co-workers. Doesn't Photobucket automatically turn them into 600 x 480?
 
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