bugmeister

One way to test... set your camera on a tripod or other flat surface and level it to a true horizontal using a spirit level, not the one that may be on the tripod because that is only a guide, a proper one with a bubble perhaps. Then put the spirit level on a horizontal surface to make sure that is also horizontal as the subject. To avoid heavy finger syndrome, use the timer on your camera or a remote release to take a picture of the spirit level and the surface it's on, then check the horizontal in PS or whatever you are using. The main reason for doing it like this is to make sure both camera and subject are at exactly the same angle. If the sensor itself is tilted, it will be evident in the picture. There are other high-tech methods but this should be possible on pretty much any camera, and if it's tilted you need to decide if it needs servicing or if you can live with it.

Here's a question for you... What method do you use for selecting hair if you need to edit a background, whether it is a simple blur/darken/lighten or a replacement?. I've watched many videos and none quite work for me, I've probably worked through about 50 methods on youtube and vimeo so I thought I'd ask you lot. Smooth hair isn't a problem, a bit of masking and feathering and I can manage that, but here's an example of what I'm trying to deal with this time. The background isn't too bad on this but the hair is typical of the problem. Software options... CS1, CS6, GIMP, Paint.net Full shot so you can see the background, and 100% crop for the hair problem. The 100% crop is pixel peeping, so that's not print resolution, but hopefully you get the idea.

Lovely picture by any standard and a very good choice Well done BP.

Hehe it seems like that at the moment, but that's a summer phase, not many bugs to be found in the depths of winter, but we don't hibernate along with them (although last winter I wished I could) Take whatever you feel happy taking, experiment as well, and step outside your comfort zone sometimes, try something new, and forget about labels.

As regards copyright, The first principle is that if you take the picture then you own the copyright.. but...... If your picture contains a trademarked image or icon (think the 'coke' bottle), then although you own the copyright to the picture, you may be infringing their copyright so could not use or sell that picture without their agreement. On the other hand this sounds more like a potential commercial venture in an organised venue so.. If you are on private land or at a private or owned venue, then the owner or event organiser has the right to prohibit photography or as is more usual, to prohibit commercial photography. They may have made arrangements for commercial rights with someone else. Unfortunately people with DSLRs, especially with distinctive white lenses, are often assumed to be professional photographers. A polite conversation pointing out that you are a hobbyist who takes pictures for fun is often enough to reassure them and can lead to interesting chats with the actual pros (who sometimes have the label but are not what I call professional in attitude) If it's something like a rally, you could take as many pictures as you want out in the forest, but to make commercial contact with the drivers may be difficult as the stage ends and marshalling areas will probably be controlled by the organiser so limiting your access, anyway. What I tend to do is have some cards always in my pocket with my name/number/website (and a pretty picture) and I will give that to anyone who asks, and explain that I do this for fun/camera club/interest/whatever, but unless I am specifically doing it with the hopes of selling pictures, I don't mention that. If they then go and look at the website and see something they like, my email is also on the card. It's also worth contacting the organisers directly to find out their way of working, it's a lot more reliable than asking a mate and you may be pleasantly surprised.

It's actually a very good image of something we don't normally look at very closely.

Jellyfish?

Nor do I most of the time, but I have a website I can use to host mine so the size doesn't really matter too much (oo er)

Yikes! It's not your camera than can do it, it's the editing software on your computer. You should find it on the file menu, where you should see save / save as / save for web (or possibly save optimised) All it does is strip the data that is normally stored along with the picture, and then optimise the saved image for web display (resolution/filesize/quality etc) so your file is smaller than it otherwise would be. Originally from the days when connections were slow and you wanted to keep file sizes as small as possible to reduce loading times

Greetings, neighbour (I'm not far from Long Melford) Grab a chair and a coffee and get comfortable.

Oh Yes! Well chosen. Excellent and well worthy PotW

Greetings Paul, pull up a chair and get comfortable

Any or all of the above I'm often adjusting aperture or shutter on the fly for repeat shots, and often moving slightly to adjust the background objects or people

As already said, the keeper rate depends on so many things. If it's a still life that I set up and light, then there are often some test shots before the one or two that I keep, but they are planned chuckers anyway so the actual keeper rate will be up to 100%. At an event (or a wedding) the keepers vary from about 30% to zero. Formal wedding shots go about 30% because I always take 3 of each to allow for people blinking. Candids... about 20% Events... recent history says anywhere from zero to 25% and yes I did have a recent event that I shot and chucked everything because it just didn't 'work' for me. An event is very much out of your control apart from the few posers that you may get and even those often don't work.. Macro in the field averages about 10% on a good day. The slightest breath of wind can ruin a macro without you even being aware that it moved the subject. There are a couple of things I keep in mind. It doesn't matter if you take multiple pictures to get one good one of a subject, but probably only one will ever be used of that subject and that occasion/time. Seldom will anyone want, for example, ten panning shots of their car going past you. But by taking the ten, you get the one that's best. If you can set things up, then one shot should be enough. p.s. this weekend I took 1033 shots at 2 different events... keeper rate looks to be about 15% on Sat, 35% on Sunday and that is down to a lot of factors such as light conditions, interest factor and subjects.

Greetings and welcome to the madhouse

Tres bon (or something like that) Well done BP, and good choice Kate

I'll come back to these if nobody else jumps in, but the first thing that comes to mind is the white balance which could be adjusted in RAW particularly for the flash shot..

Yayyy well done John A couple of excellent shots, not surprised they used them especially with the local connection.

I use it for pictures that especially make me look and think wow, but I'll also use it for comments or other posts that I think are relevant and helpful, either to me or to the original poster or both (my criteria and choices may be different to other people's). It is a common situation on forum and photosharing sites that pictures get lots of views and few comments*. Here we have the option to comment and also the like button gives us the option to say 'me too' even if we don't have something specific to add to the discussion. *We do have the "image critique" section here if people want specific feedback or more in-depth analysis. It's not used much, but maybe viewers and commenters are a bit reluctant to give criticism at a useful level on pictures that aren't in there (or unless the poster says that's what they want)

I think that hits the nail on the head. It all depends on why you're (thinking of) doing it, and what return you'll get from it.

Strewth (as my Australian friends say) That seems rather steep when these days virtually all the technical knowledge is available online. On the other hand that works out at maybe £40 per day for the tutor to show you how to put it together (hopefully from experience) and explain the details as well. Many day courses are double or triple that, so maybe it doesn't sound so bad when taken in perspective.

Nope, not on the D3200 according to the manual and a couple of websites.

Fabulous shot, John and an excellent choice Annie

That's well caught, and very impressive as well as a bit scary

Well done Martyn, a very thoughtful lady in a well captured picture. Good choice, Richard.