Lisa MB Lisa MB

Focus... fohhhhh-cusss...

That Ricë... she just got me to post an impromptu tutorial on how to avoid glare when you're taking a photo.

In the comments section of the last post, she demanded that Evil Greg spill with the anti-glare information. Basically, you use a tripod/timer combo.

Here's Evil Greg:

In most cases, the glare is caused by the flash. If you turn off the flash, though, the exposure time has to be a lot longer to compensate for less light and 99.999% of people will get a blurry picture if they hold the camera in their hands, because they can't hold it perfectly still for long enough.

So you put the camera on a tripod, focus it on the item, turn off the flash, and set it to a 5-second timer. That way any shaking you caused when you clicked the button is gone by the time the camera shoots the photo, and the tripod holds it perfectly still.

I tried to do a little meta-photography to illustrate. (Don't laugh -- I have a shaky hand and only one tripod.)
You're looking at our "new" camera, a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS Digital Elph. (I used our "old" camera, a Canon PowerShot S200 Digital Elph, to shoot the "new" camera.) It's attached to a cheapie Samsonite tripod. For simplicity, I'll pretend you have the same.
Go to the big circular control to the right of the screen, the one above the "Disp." and "Menu" buttons. First, press the "flower" on the left side, to tell the camera you're zooming in. Then press the bottom of the big button, the part that has the multiple rectangles:The camera displays "Single Shot" in addition to a 10-second timer, a 2-second timer, and a custom timer (you set your preferred lag time).

Press the rectangles again to get to the 2-second timer.
Then quickly press your shutter button (you know, the one you normally press to take the picture). Your camera will probably show a blinking light and/or chirp at you; this is the camera saying, "Ready... set..." and then two seconds later, the camera takes the picture!

Like I said, your camera will likely be different, but that's about how I managed it. Here's a zoom shot without the tripod/timer combo:And then with the combo:
Much better.
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Lisa MB Lisa MB

Nine or ten to go

I'm working on an ATC that incorporates this photo I took at a nearby park this past autumn. I love the little seed pods (?) against the red leaves and the blue sky. Great weather that day; crisp and clear, but slightly overcast so there weren't too many shadows.

At this point I'm in the home stretch: I believe I have ten more to go and then I'll be done with the 27 (oy!) ATCs needed for the Artfest ATC book. However, I might make a few extra, if I decide to keep a few more. It kinda depends on how well I'm able to take a picture of them for my records. One has a tiny glass tube on it, and I think I'll be able to keep the glare off. If so, I'll actually part with it. (I don't have any more glass tubes, so I'm not going to make a duplicate one. Trying to use the stuff I got!)

UPDATE: Not quite as many ATCs to go as I thought -- I've been knocking out two most of the times I sit down long enough to make "just one and then I'll go to bed." And believe me, I procrastinate plenty: The only reason I'm this far along is because I started in December and I have at least two other projects I need to finish by Artfest.

Thanks to Julie for the compliment on my photo. You should see hers -- last year she took a photo a day for eight months, and I totally got hooked on what was going to pop up next. It was like a visual version of the "shuffle" feature on an iPod.

Also, Evil Greg reminded me how to take a decent picture without glare from the glass tube. He's my Shell Answer Man.
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