Great topic! Would love to hear more: what cameras do people use, tips and tricks to taking better pictures, etc. I have found if resolution is set too high the pictures take longer to load. Any advice on resolution?
You are so on top of great subjects, all what bloggers need to know.... I love to take my own pictures, I play with light (no flash) and believe me, I have a very simple Canon SD 900, and I see the limitations, eventually I would like to own a digital camera with a powerful zoom an wide angle. You can simply pull out greater details...I love that! Thanks you all! Victoria
What a great discussion. I need to take a class on taking quality photos, that was a good suggestion. While I am guilty of taking pictures with a flash on, I have to agree with Joni, I like the way I look in a picture when the flash is on :)
What a great discussion! I use a Nikon D40 with an 18-55mm wide angle lens, a 55-200mm zoom, and a 60mm macro. No flash, edit in iphoto or Photoshop. There are lots of great photography websites with tutorials: Darren Rowse's Digital Photography School and Photojojo are two of the best.
I'm really enjoying The Skirted Roundtable. Thanks so much!
Mary - thanks for pointing us to some good online photo classes online as well. I should take a refresher!
Katiedid - I always take all my pics in high resolution (300 dpi) but when photoshopping will reduce the image size down (72 is usually good for quick online loading). This gives you the option of a quick loading, yet high quality image.
Enjoyed this post! Would love to hear more sometime about techniques/tips for getting great shots. Another topic I'd love to hear you guys discuss would be the decision to advertise or to not advertise on one's blog...and if one chooses to advertise, how to choose which products to advertise. Thanks for all the interesting topics you've covered so far! Susan
Thanks ladies for more great listening. I agree, the blinds from Target are the best for the money. They now feature a muslin backing (sold seperately) for privacy. Have a good week & i look forward to more great gab from you gals!
What about doing a segment on the diversity of design blogs? From Vincente Wolf down to little ol bloggers like me- how it opens us up to other cultural blogs; fashion, art, writing, etc?
Also, regional blogging; maybe a couple of bloggers from Atlanta or from Texas...from Australia even as guests?
I nominate Katie to be your next guest...:)Maybe Brooke could join her for a regional pow wow?
Keep it up...I look forward to having coffee with you all at the beginning of every week :)
Good discussion! I've been a fairly serious amateur photographer since I was a teenager. Used to have my own darkroom in the old days. I have tens of thousands of images for business and recreation that I have taken on my hard drive. I love photography!
I have a Nikon D300 which is amazing. I can give you a few very simple tips.
First...when taking interior shots, see that the lines are plumb and level, meaning, in most cases, you want straight lines across and straight lines up and down, so notice that in the camera before you take the shot.
Second, whether or not you have controls on the camera, always take a number of images, manipulating the camera or the light in the space so that you can choose, later on, the images with the best light.
Third, the reason for #2 is to avoid bleached out highlights. An age old rule in photography is to expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may. That means that once the highlights (e.g. detail you want to save in most cases) are bleached out, that detail cannot be regained in the image later on with post processing (in the computer). Look for the possible troubled highlights before the shot is taken and adjust as necessary (your position, lighting, etc.) The simplest thing to do in this case is to adjust the camera toward a brighter area, which will let in LESS light into the camera, allowing more detail into the highlights. Multiple shots is the way to go.
Fourth...play with post processing. Exposure manipulation, constrast, color, sharpness are all wonderful tools to easily and greatly (and sometimes frustratingly) enhance your images.
This is a topic very dear to my heart. I love photography! Thus the length, sorry!
Something that struck me, is when one of you said something about not stating who took the photos your using. Now, maybe I need some clarity on this, but to use a photo and not give credit to who took it, is to act as if it is your own, and that would be copywrite infringment. And that would be especially wrong if you are making a profit on your blog. Personally, I go to a lot of work to take nice photos and edit them and post them to my blog (or Flickr), which sees no revenu, for others to enjoy. I don't want to ask someone to take down my photos, I love that others want to use it, I would just like for them to give credit to me for having taken the photo.
As for the photographer that asked to have his name taken off of the blog, that just seems rediculous. Free advertising. And you were obviously praising his work. That seems funny to me. Obviously someones going to know your blog is not his studio website...
Christina - thanks for your input. I agree, we should credit photographers/sources as much as possible. However, I do think that it depends on the context whether not referencing the source makes it seem like the the bloggers own work. I think if someone went to a designer show house and wrote a post about it, but used the professionally shot images from the local newspaper without credit, that would clearly be misleading. However, if one is talking about a magazine image and the style or designer of a room or product, then it's fairly obvious the blogger didn't take the image, regardless of lack of attribution.
Hi Ladies, I am glad I found you and this series of discussions. I have been blogging a little over three months and have been experiencing many of these same issues you are discussing. Thanks for coming up with these great topics and sharing your thoughts. ~Cathy~
Comments
I love to take my own pictures, I play with light (no flash) and believe me, I have a very simple Canon SD 900, and I see the limitations, eventually I would like to own a digital camera with a powerful zoom an wide angle.
You can simply pull out greater details...I love that!
Thanks you all!
Victoria
Have a great weekend!!
I'm really enjoying The Skirted Roundtable. Thanks so much!
Mary
www.dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com
Katiedid - I always take all my pics in high resolution (300 dpi) but when photoshopping will reduce the image size down (72 is usually good for quick online loading). This gives you the option of a quick loading, yet high quality image.
Another topic I'd love to hear you guys discuss would be the decision to advertise or to not advertise on one's blog...and if one chooses to advertise, how to choose which products to advertise.
Thanks for all the interesting topics you've covered so far!
Susan
Have a good week & i look forward to more great gab from you gals!
What about doing a segment on the diversity of design blogs? From Vincente Wolf down to little ol bloggers like me- how it opens us up to other cultural blogs; fashion, art, writing, etc?
Also, regional blogging; maybe a couple of bloggers from Atlanta or from Texas...from Australia even as guests?
I nominate Katie to be your next guest...:)Maybe Brooke could join her for a regional pow wow?
Keep it up...I look forward to having coffee with you all at the beginning of every week :)
Best,
Michelle
I have a Nikon D300 which is amazing. I can give you a few very simple tips.
First...when taking interior shots, see that the lines are plumb and level, meaning, in most cases, you want straight lines across and straight lines up and down, so notice that in the camera before you take the shot.
Second, whether or not you have controls on the camera, always take a number of images, manipulating the camera or the light in the space so that you can choose, later on, the images with the best light.
Third, the reason for #2 is to avoid bleached out highlights. An age old rule in photography is to expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may. That means that once the highlights (e.g. detail you want to save in most cases) are bleached out, that detail cannot be regained in the image later on with post processing (in the computer). Look for the possible troubled highlights before the shot is taken and adjust as necessary (your position, lighting, etc.) The simplest thing to do in this case is to adjust the camera toward a brighter area, which will let in LESS light into the camera, allowing more detail into the highlights. Multiple shots is the way to go.
Fourth...play with post processing. Exposure manipulation, constrast, color, sharpness are all wonderful tools to easily and greatly (and sometimes frustratingly) enhance your images.
This is a topic very dear to my heart. I love photography! Thus the length, sorry!
As for the photographer that asked to have his name taken off of the blog, that just seems rediculous. Free advertising. And you were obviously praising his work. That seems funny to me. Obviously someones going to know your blog is not his studio website...
I am glad I found you and this series of discussions. I have been blogging a little over three months and have been experiencing many of these same issues you are discussing. Thanks for coming up with these great topics and sharing your thoughts. ~Cathy~