Canon S3

[awoltoday]

That's of the barge "blowing up" during IllumiNations (one of my favorite things at Disney). Thanks for the compliments awoltoday and others!

Well, thank goodness! I was a little worried about what you & your niece did for fun! ... The A Team: Hannibal, BA, Murdock, Faceman, & DONALDSGAL!!

 

[donaldsgal]

Well, thank goodness! I was a little worried about what you & your niece did for fun! ... The A Team: Hannibal, BA, Murdock, Faceman, & DONALDSGAL!!

That's hilarious!!! I wish the tag fairy could see that one; I'd be proud to have that one as a tag! Too funny. My sister (a big A Team fan) will love that one!

 

[Amy]

In order to get blur, you'll need a slow shutter speed. So you'll prob. want to shoot in Tv mode, where you can choose your own shutter speed and the camera selects the aperture. I'd say to start around 1/40 and see what happens. Since it'll be daylight, you should also set your ISO to 80.

The way I choose which mode to use on my S3: if I'm just taking quick shots and don't have time (or don't want to bother) to figure out settings, I'll use Program mode. If I'm concerned about depth of field (like do I want just one flower in focus or the entire flower bed), I'll use Av mode so I can control the aperture. If I want movement to be blurry (like your teacups), I'll use Tv. If I want to stop movement, I'll use Sports mode.

 

[Gdad]

You could use an ND Filter (Neutral Density) - it is kind of like sunglasses for your camera.

 

[wdwmom2]

You could use an ND Filter (Neutral Density) - it is kind of like sunglasses for your camera.

Yep, that would be my suggestion. Cutting down on the amount of light entering your camera, allowing you a slower shutter speed without overexposing.

I have the ND 8 I got from Lensmate and am VERY happy with it!!

 

[figment52]

Great shots, donaldsgal!

What she said- those are some great shots. I love the one with the reflection in the mirrored table top.

Keep up the good work.

Sandy

 

[JR6ooo4]

also close down the aperture (higher number) and a proper exposure will take longer allowing some blur. Might need a tripod.

Mikeeee

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Instead of buying a ND filter for this one shot, you might try just using your sunglasses if they're pretty dark and neutral colored.

 

[awoltoday]

That's hilarious!!! I wish the tag fairy could see that one; I'd be proud to have that one as a tag! Too funny. My sister (a big A Team fan) will love that one!

LOL... I think the tag fairy is a little scared of me!

I'm a little embarrassed that I know who the A Team are and a little bit proud that I had to go look up their names

Maybe it's all of the cactus pictures that scares the tag fairy...

Photochopped to within an inch of it's life!

Okay, that should get the cactus pics out of my system.

 

[jpeka65844]

OK....probably dumb questions here...but here goes:

1. Why does sometimes, when I'm shooting in "auto" mode with the flash up, the shutter doesn't fire? I push the button, the flash symbol blinks for a few seconds but doesn't allow the shutter to fire? I usually have to recompose my shot and try again.

2. I'm having an awful time focusing while zooming. Any hints? Any settings I might've changed?

 

[daisy2]

I don't remember if I posted the following pictures on this particular board. So here they are. These were taken by me at Disneyland where Walt and Mickey are in the center of some beautiful flowers. It was a beautiful day and the bees were buzzing and pollunating.

 

[bigAWL]

OK....probably dumb questions here...but here goes:

1. Why does sometimes, when I'm shooting in "auto" mode with the flash up, the shutter doesn't fire? I push the button, the flash symbol blinks for a few seconds but doesn't allow the shutter to fire? I usually have to recompose my shot and try again.

I usually have this problem when I flip up the flash and immediately try to snap a photo. I think the flash needs a few seconds to warm up, so it doesn't let you take the picture until it's warmed up. I think if you continue to hold the button half-way down while the flash icon is blinking, it will eventually give you the green focus brackets indicating it's ready to shoot.

2. I'm having an awful time focusing while zooming. Any hints? Any settings I might've changed?

I sometimes have this problem at full telephoto zoom range and either I'm having trouble holding the camera still or my subject is moving. I find at the telephoto zoom, the subject needs to be both very still and well lit in order to get an auto focus. When I'm halving this problem, if I zoom out a bit, it usually works better.

By the way, I love everyone's photos.

 

[bigAWL]

Ok, I've had my camera (S3) for a year now, and I have taken a few thousand photos with it already (mostly in full auto mode), but never really just took it out to practice. Well I did that today, looking for the local wildlife in my garden.

Here are a few of the better ones. These were all taken at full telephoto zoom on Av setting with shutter priority set to f3.7 except the little yellow bird which was taken at f8.0 (bird is also the only one cropped).

These guys are very shy, I was trying to get one that was more colorful, but he kept running away.

He also flew away as I tried to move closer

Not wildlife, but I like water - this is my pool.

Ok, now the interesting guys.

These first two shots are looking up into a mango tree.

This one is hanging in a palm tree.

 

[mickeymyfavorite]

No problem. Enjoy your camera and your vacation!

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me....

Hi, I got back on Thursday, and I got the camera the day before I left, I tok 720 pics, now I'm trying to figure how to get them on my computer, LOL I had alot of fun with the camera, I can't wait to share the pics. Thanks again for your help

 

[grandall]

This is my very first post on disboards! I can't believe I stumbled along this thread!!! I have been lobbying DH sooooo hard for an S5 for Mother's Day. We are going to WDW for the first time as a family in June and we are expecting #3 in August -- two great reasons for a new camera!! I have a rinky-dink Olympus FE-180 and it's OK, but I need something better. I'm a Creative Memories consultant with the custom framing kit, and some of my customers have better cameras than me, and it's embarrassing!!! Anyway, I wanted to thank you all for sharing your knowledge with a newbie and I will be back soon (hopefully after Mother's Day -- say a prayer for me!!).

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Hi, I got back on Thursday, and I got the camera the day before I left, I tok 720 pics, now I'm trying to figure how to get them on my computer, LOL I had alot of fun with the camera, I can't wait to share the pics. Thanks again for your help

What?!? Only 720 pics!!

How did you manage to show such remarkable restraint?

On our first trip to WDW with a new S3, I took 2500!

Looking forward to seeing some pics!!

 

[Amy]

This is my very first post on disboards! I can't believe I stumbled along this thread!!! I have been lobbying DH sooooo hard for an S5 for Mother's Day. We are going to WDW for the first time as a family in June and we are expecting #3 in August -- two great reasons for a new camera!! I have a rinky-dink Olympus FE-180 and it's OK, but I need something better. I'm a Creative Memories consultant with the custom framing kit, and some of my customers have better cameras than me, and it's embarrassing!!! Anyway, I wanted to thank you all for sharing your knowledge with a newbie and I will be back soon (hopefully after Mother's Day -- say a prayer for me!!).

Welcome grandall!! Good luck "hinting" to your DH! I have an S3 and I love it! Here's a thought.....have you tried telling your DH that the S5 will be a business expense? Maybe you can even deduct it on your taxes as a business expense? I have no idea how the business expense deductions work, but it might be worth a try.

Be sure to come back after Mother's Day and post your first shots! (You'll need to get your post count up to 12 or 15 before you're allowed to post photos.)

 

[grandall]

Very good tip re: the business expense angle, Amy! I'll be sure to casually mention it tonight during dinner...

Off to boost my post numbers...

 

[bigAWL]

A few more - this time at night. I tried a few different settings; trying to freeze these guys in the dark is challenging. I got the best results with Av set wide (lowest f number) and turning on the flash. Any other suggestions?

I've cropped and lightened these two (with fill-light using Picasa2)

I also started using GIMP, but haven't figured out how to do much with it, yet. Anyone know if it has a noise-reduction option?

This one was also at night, but in a more lit area... but still liked the results better with flash. (also cropped)

 

[Disneenut]

Hello fellow DISers, I am so excited i am getting my S5 in the mail tomorrow!!!

I hope i can join your thread! I will post some pics as soon as i take it out of the box!