Hah! Take that stinkin camera!

KaLea Thoits

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It thought it could outsmart me....
I spent all day yesterday taking photos so I could update my website with loads of new goodies that we have made but I haven't gotten around to cataloging. Opened up Gimp to start editing to find all my pictures were icky yellow and using the auto white balance feature in Gimp helped slightly... but made the pics semi unbearable to look at due to the brightness. I thought that perhaps all of this was due to using the "museum" setting on my camera.... what with semi crumby light and all that. Turns out that was not the case as I found out this morning when I came out to retake all of my pictures from yesterday... with an additional light source to boot!
After a quick google search of "pictures too yellow" and a scan through the camera's manual (why would I have read it already... I know how to point and shoot!) I figured out how to adjust some settings. Luckily I spent some time a couple of years ago as an admin assistant/photographer/listing person for another jewelry designer and was able to learn some about cameras and taking pictures, especially of jewelry *without* using a photo tent thingy. A good deal of that came back to me today as I was fighting with the camera to get something resembling decent pictures for the website.
So.... I have my settings figured out, have a handful of new pics to use on new shopping carts pages (that I have to create), and have decided that I might well just redo *all* the photos of in stock items on my site! That is once the batteries charge *again*. Now to just get Gimp to stop crashing and build all the new pages.... some days I wish I had a web person :type:
I have a feeling that it is going to be a VERY long night.... especially considering that my daughters have a holiday concert tonight :doh:

*I forgot if there aint pics it didn't happen... so here's one to prove that I figured out how to take the pics so they come out reasonably professional looking. The piece is a custom rosary that a very dear friend of my ordered for her elderly mother-in-law. Made with fresh water pearls and larger glass beads, each representing the birth month of a member of the woman's family (her self, her husband and 4 children).
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Well, you see Kalea, this time it did happen;) and it is gorgeus.:thumb::thumb:

I have to get to know how to take better pictures as well, but I must admit that it is not my first priority now.

Besides my camera is just a pocket one with not many manual features. I just aim and shoot, and if it looks wrong shoot again:dunno:
 
I used photo shop when I worked for the other designer, I can't afford it currently... hence using Gimp =)
 
I appreciate the compliments on the piece.... some I enjoy making more than others and I am sure that it shows at times.
Ted, I wish I had a dang model! I'll keep saving my pennies for one of them :rofl:
currently I am using Chuck's camera which is a Sanyo point and shoot deal... nothing super schwank, but it's a 10megapixel and has some other fun features. It works great for "regular" type pics. Luckily it has a P mode so you can play with the settings... just not as much as the Nikon D-something that I got to play with before. After working with one for a while I decided that I really wanted one for myself, but then talked to a friend who takes thousands of really amazing photos every year who convinced me that I don't need a SLR for what I do so now I am looking at a Nikon Coolpix P90.
Ok back from the concert... must take pics until the batteries die again so I can recharge them.
 
I might suggest a refurbished Pentax K200? You can get one sans lens for $380 - a little more than the Nikon in question, but worth every penny. Because it supports the forty-year-old K and MX lens mounts, there's a huge number of lenses available for it, and if you don't mind manual focus, you can get some terrific prices on macro lenses.
 
Real nice picture ! I like the way the details are highlighted and reflect light but there are no shadows.
Nice work too. I should bring my daughters by your store sometime they would love your style.
 
Thanks for the suggest Joseph though by the sounds you are talking about a digital SLR which is what I am avoiding in not going with the Nikon D40.
I'd love to have you stop by with your daughters Bob.... most of our stuff is much nicer in person and it's always a plus to be able to pick stuff up, try it on, check out the finish etc :thumb:
 
Kaila,
I use a Fuji Finepix S5200... has most of the features of an slr, but it's a fixed lens... it's a much better camera than I am a photographer... my step son is a free-lance photographing truck driver... he uses both a D50 and D80 Nikon with all the bells and whistles... I don't think I'll ever get as good as him, even on his worst day.
 
Gimp is actually a pretty decent program, with lots of open source support. Lots of tutorials out there too.

I'm just a hack at it, but it's definitely fun to play with.
 
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