Happy Bird-Day, Cocka!!

August 22, 2006 at 11:15 +08:0008 (Red & White Matters)

 

My friend, Cocka is celebrating his 60s birthday soon and i had a problem thinking of the right present for him. After raiding his blog archive, i found that he has serious problem with his focus and framing skill with his current camera. Just take a look at the “feetless and headless” shots above taken by the man. It is time i get him an idiot-proof infrared camera that can “see” in the dark.

After combing Chinatown last weekend i found the right camera that suits his incompetency needs and my modest budget. It is a Sony and hope you like it!

The Sony camera is supposed to be idiot-proof and I took a sample photograph with my eyes closed just for a try out. Hei! the end product i would  say, is quite excellent. See for yourself at the end of this post

… for good measure a guide is also included for him.

Happy Birthday, COCKA!

THE HUMSUP GUIDE TO ACHIEVE SHARP DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS

The reasons for the lack of sharpness in your digital photos can be attributed to one or more of the following reasons:

• Camera movement.
• Lack of proper focus.
• Using a “soft” camera setting

Camera movement (or camera shake) usually comes from hand-holding your camera while using a slow shutter speed. To minimize camera movement while using slow shutter speeds of 1/25th of a second or lower you should use a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod with you, try placing the camera on a flat surface and using the camera’s self timer (obviously, this works best when there is not much movement in the scene). Sometimes, if the lighting conditions are marginal where your shutter speed is right at 1/25th of a second, if you have a very steady hand, you can try holding your breath briefly as you snap the shutter. You can also try manually increasing the shutter speed at the expense of using a wider aperture (lower f-stop). Generally, a higher shutter speed decreases the effect of camera movement, but the lower f-stop decreases the depth of field and requires more careful focusing.

Lack of proper focus is another cause for lack of sharp photographs. Fortunately, most digital cameras today comes with autofocus capabilities. In a few fixed lens cameras and in almost any digital SLR, the autofocus can be disabled allowing you to focus the lens manually. Greater care must be exercised to make sure the object that you wish to be the center of attention in the photo is sharply focused.In more inexpensive cameras, the only focus adjustment may be a normal and macro mode. The normal mode is usually represented by a mountain icon and the macro mode is usually represented by a flower icon. If your camera only supports these two modes, make sure it is in the proper mode before you snap the shutter to achieve the sharpest photos.

Poor lighting conditions may cause your photos to lack definition and contrast. You may notice that even when you use a tripod and with your camera handling the autofocus, your photographs may not appear as sharp as you might wish. This is especially true for available light photographs where you do not wish to use a flash. The fault for this lies not with your camera but with the scene itself. In cases like this, try increasing the available light shining directly on the subject. This can improve the photograph by allowing the edges to be more sharply defined against the background.

In camera sharpening can also affect the sharpness of an image. Some higher end cameras offer a sharpness adjustment that usually ranges from +2 or +3 to -2 or -3 with zero in the center. Increasing the sharpness can give you crisper looking images, and decreasing it will give a more “soft focus” effect. Some photographers like to use a soft-focus effect when taking potraits, especially of women, because it tends to smooth out the appearance of the skin. Increasing the sharpness will not compensate for camera shake or lack of proper focus. Many photographers choose to leave the sharpness setting at zero and perform any sharpening in the post-processing stage.

Hope you will take many pictures of the girls when you party & post it in your blog for our enjoyment!

Many happy return of the day!!