Canon G12

[thughes]

As anyone who has seen my pitiful attempts at photographing the practice attempts I have tortured y'all with knows, I really needed an upgraded camera. I figured if ya'll are nice enough to look and comment the least I could do is try to upgrade my photos. Based on the advise given in Lee's thread about cameras, I've purchased a Canon G12.

I know less about photography than I do engraving (man that's a scary thought isn't it) so any advise you guys that take these beautiful photos can give to shorten the learning curve a little would be greatly appreciated. If there is a relatively short simple book or write up just covering the basics of what we try to do would be great. I am definitely not an enthusiast so I will probably just leave the dang thing on auto but I don't know anything about how you get a good photo of something like engraving.

Thanks for the help
Todd

 

[SamW]

Todd, here is the "secret" to my successful photos. Most of the photos I have posted are taken with this setup including all the ones in the "rose and scroll by any other name is..." thread.

If it is expensive, I am pensive...if it is cheap I beep...if it is free its me!


Two coat hangers, two pieces of wood dowel and some butcher paper taped to the "frame" and hung under the three bulb light fixture over my vise.

 

[BrianPowley]

There's got to be a ton of info on the 'net that would help you just by GOOGLE.
I think you'll find that like anything else, good photography is the final result of many hours of understanding photographic principles.
Most really good, I'm talking professional quality, photographs are not accidents.
Those people have taken the time to understand things like light values, exposure times and depth of field and how each one of those elements affect the end result. Of course there's trial and error and some of that is fun, but usually leads to just another way you can't do it.
To take really good pictures you need to understand what you are working with: Light. And there are plenty of resources on the internet that spell it out so easily.
Back in the day, before digital and "auto" exposures, I used the S.A.F.E. method: Speed....Aperture....Focus....Expose.
These days,it's hard to beat the imaging software and features, but I still use the digital camera in manual.
Most cameras come with an owners manual and there's more than a squillion ways of finding out how to use them.
Heck, that's even half the fun sometimes. And the best part is you can see your results instantly and delete them. Before, you waited a week to get your pictures back---AFTER YOU PAID FOR THEM---to find out you screwed it all up.
Learning good photography is also a fun journey.
Happy Hunting!

 

[Sam]

I wrote a comprehensive article called Photography For Engravers which was in a FEGA magazine issue. I would encourage you to read that article as it will explain nearly everything you need to know to get up to speed quickly. And Sam W's light diffuser looks great! Remember that it starts with lighting, not the camera. Get the lighting right first or nothing else is going to matter.

~Sam

 

[thughes]

Thanks for the info, I'll start there.

 

[Martin Strolz]

Sam: The article appeared in Issue 87.
Todd: Highly recommended reading. Even for experienced photographers.
The G12 will bring more details onto your screen than you may wish for...
Martin

 

[rod]

Thughes,

Everyone has a neighbor or friend who can take pretty good pictures, and who will love to try your new Cannon G12. Go for a walk with them, and have them get you started with distance and close up shots to get your feet wet ... how wonderful that we do not need to buy film these days, so practice is cheap. With that bit of one on one with a friend, the great tips from the two Sam's here and others, you will soon be having fun, and a little bit of success gives incentive to get more.

Reading the manual seems like you need a PhD, and can be daunting. Start with automatic settings, and blessedly the G12 clicks to close up "macro" automatically as it senses close objects.

Then read only one page a day of your manual, no more, and practice what it tells you on that page.

The two Sam's photos show, for example, where intelligently chosen camera settings and lighting really pay off over my hasty auto settings, as I dash around the Reno show. For example, a quick close up marco shot, hand held, is a gamble, and has very little depth of field, so you will see in my close ups that only part of the object is in focus, unless it is all on a flat plane.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rodcameron2/

That is only one difference between between careful and hasty shots. Another is, use the tripod whenever possible, looking at that small viewing monitor to review your picture can be misleading. The picture can look pretty good, but wait till you see it on your computer monitor, focus can be embarrassing.

You are going to have fun.

I like Sam W's white umbrella! Excellent idea. Bright highlights are the bane of casual engraving shots. Even, diffused lighting starts to get results. While you are thinking about some kind of 'light tent', cut an opaque one gallon water bottle in half, and put a hole in the top for your camera. Place your small engraving on the table, put the half bottle over it to act as a light tent, to give gentle diffused light, stick your camera in that hole you cut, and you have the poor man's start to controlled lighting, plus it will hold the camera steady.

A final word about the Canon G12, remember good old steam radio in your car, where you had a knob for each individual control ( well maybe you don't but many of us older people do!). Now today with the miracle of a tiny electronic chip that will handle a hundred different commands, our car radios and other devices take a lot of head scratching to pretty much program them to work, the logic path can be frustrating. Well, point and shoot cameras are miracles but not really a control knob for every any more. The Cannon G12 is an in-between size and quality camera that has an encouraging larger number of control knobs to make quick adjustments, compared with a point and shoot, as well as excellent large sensor, etc. Resist the temptation to be overwhelmed at this stage, and soon it will make more sense.

Its a start, and there is more. There are many excellent photographers on the forum, but as the lads said, there is a ton of stuff online, and read Sam's Engraver article on taking good pictures. .

Good luck!

Rod

 

[Sandy]

Sam W.
You are amazing. The stuff you think up is great.
Thanks for the time we spent together in Reno.
Sandy

 

[thughes]

Thanks everyone for the info. Martin, I realize that I'm not very good yet, but if I'm gonna post pics for comment, I guess I ought to have the nerve to show it all. Hey, I can always delete if I don't have guts enough to post

 

[Chujybear]

The camera has a stabizer built in, but one trick I use is the two second delay. I find it helps, even (ecspecialy) with hand held shots.
I do mostly jewellery so I just use an icecream bucket with a hole in the top to poke my lens throgh, and two light sources. I've seen better pictures of my pieces , but I take better shots than at least one of the galleries that represents me. Set on auto. No post