Watcha doing today?

[brokensword]

You will have to catch me first ladywbroom.gif

ever play 'Mouse Trap'?

So much fun! I just bought it for my Grandsons for Christmas...Operation is another fave:)

ohhhhh, you just know if lil queenie gets 'mousetrapped, we'll be 'operating' alright! heh heh

[j.w]

You know that pie in the face game.................it's made just for you Kingy boy!

Pie face.gif

[j.w]

Well I discovered I have a bit of a zoom on my camera and the babies are just about ready to leave the nest. They came out and did a pose for me and I said goodbye to them in case they are gone in the morning

[brokensword]

Well I discovered I have a bit of a zoom on my camera and the babies are just about ready to leave the nest. They came out and did a pose for me and I said goodbye to them in case they are gone in the morning

two cuties, for sure, lil Queenie! Btw, I've been meaning to ask; what settings are you using on your cam/pics? For the most part, they all seem like they could use more contrast and even some sharpening. I bet if you look at your cam settings, you might see something off. Might be the exposure mode is set on something that lowers/raises a parameter. With your royal pardon, this is what I get in Photoshop with your pic. It shows a graph of the relative shades of black (think of it like shadows and highlights, black and white, with everything else being a shade of gray). You WANT your pic to have the full range and your chart (called a histogram, actually) shows ALL the colors bunched up in the middle, so you don't really have any black or white, just shades of gray, which pushes all the detail into one corner and it's not as crisp as it could be. So, I altered that parameter in PS and the resulting pic shows (along with the NEW histogram). This is what your cam should be aiming for and I think is missing!

The second set shows the original (fixed re histogram) with sharpening.

(hoping I'm not offending, just trying to show you the potential)

[j.w]

Sorry but I don't have a clue on what to do w/this camera. It's just a Canon Power Shot SD 1200 IS digital ELPH
I can see the settings but can't get to some of them. It won't go there to contrast so I reset everything to factory settings. You fix it,lol! Wish I could hand it to you and let you do it but can't. I have the instructions but not sure i can figure them out. It is just set to Auto and you are just supposed to point and shoot. I think there is nothing that can be done. Here is a shot I just took inside and the flash was auto on. I think the outside photo's sometimes don't look good cuz of the way the light is shinning as I can't have the sun behind me when I take that bird nest shot. Know what I mean?

[brokensword]

Sorry but I don't have a clue on what to do w/this camera. It's just a Canon Power Shot SD 1200 IS digital ELPH
I can see the settings but can't get to some of them. It won't go there to contrast so I reset everything to factory settings. You fix it,lol! Wish I could hand it to you and let you do it but can't. I have the instructions but not sure i can figure them out. It is just set to Auto and you are just supposed to point and shoot. I think there is nothing that can be done. Here is a shot I just took inside and the flash was auto on. I think the outside photo's sometimes don't look good cuz of the way the light is shinning as I can't have the sun behind me when I take that bird nest shot. Know what I mean?

yes, I know what you mean; that interior shot looks great. Hmm, wonder at the difference? It's like you took two diff cameras and took two different pics. Are you cropping the pic (of the robin nestlings?) or is it straight from the cam? Too, some cams have a digital zoom and they are inferior to an actual optical zoom; I wonder if that's where the issue is. Can you take some pics outside with sun in front, sun in back, close up and something distant. Then I can compare. Too, take a pic without the zoom and then take the same pic using the zoom. I bet that will show a difference. For a lot of 'cam focussing/problem solving' issues, taking pics of brick walls comes in handy, so if you have one of those, try that. Stand about 20' away or so. But, what you just posted looks really fine; I just can't figure out (yet) why the nestlings came out as they did. Too, I can remember your other pics of your cats and they too had that low contrast problem. I wonder if your interior pic is helped by the flash? I'm betting that's what's giving you much better contrast--the flash being used.

So, if you wanna do some experimenting, I maybe can help! Let me know!

[j.w]

Sorry but I don't have a clue on what to do w/this camera. It's just a Canon Power Shot SD 1200 IS digital ELPH
I can see the settings but can't get to some of them. It won't go there to contrast so I reset everything to factory settings. You fix it,lol! Wish I could hand it to you and let you do it but can't. I have the instructions but not sure i can figure them out. It is just set to Auto and you are just supposed to point and shoot. I think there is nothing that can be done. Here is a shot I just took inside and the flash was auto on. I think the outside photo's sometimes don't look good cuz of the way the light is shinning as I can't have the sun behind me when I take that bird nest shot. Know what I mean?

yes, I know what you mean; that interior shot looks great. Hmm, wonder at the difference? It's like you took two diff cameras and took two different pics. Are you cropping the pic (of the robin nestlings?) or is it straight from the cam? Too, some cams have a digital zoom and they are inferior to an actual optical zoom; I wonder if that's where the issue is. Can you take some pics outside with sun in front, sun in back, close up and something distant. Then I can compare. Too, take a pic without the zoom and then take the same pic using the zoom. I bet that will show a difference. For a lot of 'cam focussing/problem solving' issues, taking pics of brick walls comes in handy, so if you have one of those, try that. Stand about 20' away or so. But, what you just posted looks really fine; I just can't figure out (yet) why the nestlings came out as they did. Too, I can remember your other pics of your cats and they too had that low contrast problem. I wonder if your interior pic is helped by the flash? I'm betting that's what's giving you much better contrast--the flash being used.

So, if you wanna do some experimenting, I maybe can help! Let me know!

I'll do some of those shots and show you what comes of it. The bird photos are kinda w/the sun in front rt of me. Says in the cam instructions not to take photo's w/sun in front of you but had no other choice.
My hubby took a photo too w/his phone and his came out even worse than mine w/that sun in front of us.
No brick walls around here anywhere. My zoom is just a push button on top and then I click the 12x to get even closer. That's all I got for zoom. If I don't zoom on the birds you wouldn't see them as too high up and far away and can't get closer. Maybe camera is just old 2010 and wearing out? I'll try the no zoom photo and then a zoom one so you can see.

[brokensword]

Sorry but I don't have a clue on what to do w/this camera. It's just a Canon Power Shot SD 1200 IS digital ELPH
I can see the settings but can't get to some of them. It won't go there to contrast so I reset everything to factory settings. You fix it,lol! Wish I could hand it to you and let you do it but can't. I have the instructions but not sure i can figure them out. It is just set to Auto and you are just supposed to point and shoot. I think there is nothing that can be done. Here is a shot I just took inside and the flash was auto on. I think the outside photo's sometimes don't look good cuz of the way the light is shinning as I can't have the sun behind me when I take that bird nest shot. Know what I mean?

yes, I know what you mean; that interior shot looks great. Hmm, wonder at the difference? It's like you took two diff cameras and took two different pics. Are you cropping the pic (of the robin nestlings?) or is it straight from the cam? Too, some cams have a digital zoom and they are inferior to an actual optical zoom; I wonder if that's where the issue is. Can you take some pics outside with sun in front, sun in back, close up and something distant. Then I can compare. Too, take a pic without the zoom and then take the same pic using the zoom. I bet that will show a difference. For a lot of 'cam focussing/problem solving' issues, taking pics of brick walls comes in handy, so if you have one of those, try that. Stand about 20' away or so. But, what you just posted looks really fine; I just can't figure out (yet) why the nestlings came out as they did. Too, I can remember your other pics of your cats and they too had that low contrast problem. I wonder if your interior pic is helped by the flash? I'm betting that's what's giving you much better contrast--the flash being used.

So, if you wanna do some experimenting, I maybe can help! Let me know!

I'll do some of those shots and show you what comes of it. The bird photos are kinda w/the sun in front rt of me. Says in the cam instructions not to take photo's w/sun in front of you but had no other choice.
My hubby took a photo too w/his phone and his came out even worse than mine w/that sun in front of us.
No brick walls around here anywhere. My zoom is just a push button on top and then I click the 12x to get even closer. That's all I got for zoom. If I don't zoom on the birds you wouldn't see them as too high up and far away and can't get closer. Maybe camera is just old 2010 and wearing out? I'll try the no zoom photo and then a zoom one so you can see.

sounds good; if nothing else, perhaps I'll see what type software you have (or can get) to fix any photos that end up as I'm describing. Not very hard to fix, actually, just need a program that can adjust 'levels'. It would be part of a photos software, usually. IF you're interested!!

The fact I don't SEE the sun in your pics makes me think this can be avoided as I understand totally re taking pics in the sun; it can be murder re picture quality for sure. Again, I note you posted some of your cats and they too were not very contrasty and since they were lower (no sun should have affected those pics!), should not have been impacted.

[brokensword]

so, downloaded a manual for your cam and I can see why you'd be having issues; as you said, there is NO way to adjust settings like I'm talking about. And the cam is truly a point and shoot, so you're definitely limited. I think you WILL have issues with various conditions, and no doubt the sun filtering in behind the subject is going to hurt the quality.

So, since we can't really do better (in some situations, as your interior shot was just fine) re your cam, I think if you're interested, I can help with software that will enhance problems when/if they happen.

Googling again came up with this page re 'best photo editing programs for windows in 2022;

https://www.cyberlink.com/blog/photo-editing-best-software/327/best-free-photo-editors-windows

They're all free. Now, I KNOW the second one, Gimp, and would recommend this but realize, there might be a learning curve for you. That is, you really only need ONE part of Gimp, the 'levels' fixing function. Once you find this, you can probably ignore all else unless you get curious. Like say, maybe you want to increase the sharpening to make fuzzy look better (realize, you often can't make fuzzy better but it's worth trying; in your robin fledgling pic, I did sharpen and thought it helped). I HAVE Gimp and can see if that function is EASY to find. Problem might occur if the Mac version is different than the PC version, but we could try. Might even see if mrsbrokensword would load the same Gimp program on her work computer as it's a PC and then I could more accurately give you a list of where to go and what to click. Anyway, check out the free copy of Gimp and see if it's more than you want to deal with. For me, fixing photos is easy and I do it routinely because not all pics come out as you see in your mind, but since fixing is easy, I don't worry much when taking the original pic. That said, MY cam is more advanced and has controls for a lot of stuff, though I still just do everything to fix later, in post processing. You can still take the experimental pics, but I feel more sure what you're going to get now and think software is the way to go, if you're interested. Opens up a whole new aspect of photography and if you get into it, there's a lot more you can do re filters and effects. Part of the fun (to me) but not everyone is into this.

[j.w]

Thanks for all that info and looking into this for me @brokensword
My hubby mentioned too that I could use a photo fix site to adjust photo's. I have used the ones that came on my computer at times but I get lazy. I'm not big on delving into all this photography stuff but I will give it another try when I see that photo's really need it. I do have a tablet that is newer and takes photos but I find that awkward to use. Hubby says I could get used to using it but I don't really want to. The Queen like things easy ya know and is used to being entertained and waited on hand and foot! Will see how it goes w/this camera and fixes.

jester and queen.gif

[brokensword]

Thanks for all that info and looking into this for me @brokensword
My hubby mentioned too that I could use a photo fix site to adjust photo's. I have used the ones that came on my computer at times but I get lazy. I'm not big on delving into all this photography stuff but I will give it another try when I see that photo's really need it. I do have a tablet that is newer and takes photos but I find that awkward to use. Hubby says I could get used to using it but I don't really want to. The Queen like things easy ya know and is used to being entertained and waited on hand and foot! Will see how it goes w/this camera and fixes.

jester and queen.gif

of course, you COULD bring your camera prowess into the new decade by sourcing out a CURRENT camera (or even most phones now have really good cams included!) which would be a lot better than that Canon. But, I will leave that up to you. Fixing the 'levels' re histogram is really quite easy once you know which function of the software to use. Gimp really is a good program and can do a lot, AND it's free. Jus' sayin'!

and...
that better NOT be ME dancin' in front of that gif queen...!!!!



heh heh

[brokensword]

Thanks for all that info and looking into this for me @brokensword
My hubby mentioned too that I could use a photo fix site to adjust photo's. I have used the ones that came on my computer at times but I get lazy. I'm not big on delving into all this photography stuff but I will give it another try when I see that photo's really need it. I do have a tablet that is newer and takes photos but I find that awkward to use. Hubby says I could get used to using it but I don't really want to. The Queen like things easy ya know and is used to being entertained and waited on hand and foot! Will see how it goes w/this camera and fixes.

jester and queen.gif

plus, you should be able to transfer ANY pics from your camera to your tablet (so you can use the modern software), even if you have to email the pics to yourself and fetch them on your tablet! But I imagine a flash drive should do it.