Canon PowerShot S1 IS -- Sunrise Photos

Renee typed:

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The photos display better at high resolution on my computer. Let me
know if you'd like the settings from the EXIF data on any of these (if
you don't want to download the hi-res pics to see them). I used
different zoom levels -- you can see the more colorful ones were taken
at close-up zooms. I also played around with some of the other
settings and creative modes, and used exposure bracketing. Practically
all the photos posted are at -1 stop -- I think they looked the best.

These were done without any post-processing, so I guess there's still
room for improvement.

Taken from a rocking ship, and though the IS helped, some of the
photos that came out blurry were deleted. And it was hard keeping some
of the horizons level, too. The camera was placed on the ship's rail
while taking the shots to steady it, but I don't know if that's the
best way on a moving ship.

I'm still new at this and hope to get feedback, so you're welcome to
leave comments here or on the site. I also thought this would be
helpful for anyone who might consider buying the S1, and to see
another aspect (good or bad) of what an amateur can do with it.

Sorry for such a long message and thanks in advance for looking!

Renee

Nice photos. One suggestion - try some experimenting with fixed ISO set to
50 or max. 100. On some photos there are some visible noise present. I found
out that it's best to have ISO set to 50 constantly and results are quite
excellent. If you have on auto, camera pretty quickly sets it to high value.
However, low ISO results in longer exposure times in low light conditions,
but especially in low light noise comes out and becomes visible.

Renee typed:

If you'd like to take a look, go to
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T2D7326D8

If you don't want to register, choose
Already A Member
Email Address:
Password: guest

The photos display better at high resolution on my computer. Let me
know if you'd like the settings from the EXIF data on any of these (if
you don't want to download the hi-res pics to see them). I used
different zoom levels -- you can see the more colorful ones were taken
at close-up zooms. I also played around with some of the other
settings and creative modes, and used exposure bracketing. Practically
all the photos posted are at -1 stop -- I think they looked the best.

These were done without any post-processing, so I guess there's still
room for improvement.

Taken from a rocking ship, and though the IS helped, some of the
photos that came out blurry were deleted. And it was hard keeping some
of the horizons level, too. The camera was placed on the ship's rail
while taking the shots to steady it, but I don't know if that's the
best way on a moving ship.

I'm still new at this and hope to get feedback, so you're welcome to
leave comments here or on the site. I also thought this would be
helpful for anyone who might consider buying the S1, and to see
another aspect (good or bad) of what an amateur can do with it.

Sorry for such a long message and thanks in advance for looking!

Renee

Nice photos. One suggestion - try some experimenting with fixed ISO set to
50 or max. 100. On some photos there are some visible noise present. I found
out that it's best to have ISO set to 50 constantly and results are quite
excellent. If you have on auto, camera pretty quickly sets it to high value.
However, low ISO results in longer exposure times in low light conditions,
but especially in low light noise comes out and becomes visible.

Just my preference, but I like the shots that are framed with 2/3 sky and
1/3 water rather than 50/50. The sky is more interesting anyway than black
water. Those are some nice shots.

Alan D.


"Renee" wrote in message
om...
If you'd like to take a look, go to
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T2D7326D8

If you don't want to register, choose
Already A Member
Email Address:
Password: guest

The photos display better at high resolution on my computer. Let me
know if you'd like the settings from the EXIF data on any of these (if
you don't want to download the hi-res pics to see them). I used
different zoom levels -- you can see the more colorful ones were taken
at close-up zooms. I also played around with some of the other
settings and creative modes, and used exposure bracketing. Practically
all the photos posted are at -1 stop -- I think they looked the best.

These were done without any post-processing, so I guess there's still
room for improvement.

Taken from a rocking ship, and though the IS helped, some of the
photos that came out blurry were deleted. And it was hard keeping some
of the horizons level, too. The camera was placed on the ship's rail
while taking the shots to steady it, but I don't know if that's the
best way on a moving ship.

I'm still new at this and hope to get feedback, so you're welcome to
leave comments here or on the site. I also thought this would be
helpful for anyone who might consider buying the S1, and to see
another aspect (good or bad) of what an amateur can do with it.

Sorry for such a long message and thanks in advance for looking!

Renee

Just my preference, but I like the shots that are framed with 2/3 sky and
1/3 water rather than 50/50. The sky is more interesting anyway than black
water. Those are some nice shots.

Alan D.


"Renee" wrote in message
om...
If you'd like to take a look, go to
http://makeashorterlink.com/?T2D7326D8

If you don't want to register, choose
Already A Member
Email Address:
Password: guest

The photos display better at high resolution on my computer. Let me
know if you'd like the settings from the EXIF data on any of these (if
you don't want to download the hi-res pics to see them). I used
different zoom levels -- you can see the more colorful ones were taken
at close-up zooms. I also played around with some of the other
settings and creative modes, and used exposure bracketing. Practically
all the photos posted are at -1 stop -- I think they looked the best.

These were done without any post-processing, so I guess there's still
room for improvement.

Taken from a rocking ship, and though the IS helped, some of the
photos that came out blurry were deleted. And it was hard keeping some
of the horizons level, too. The camera was placed on the ship's rail
while taking the shots to steady it, but I don't know if that's the
best way on a moving ship.

I'm still new at this and hope to get feedback, so you're welcome to
leave comments here or on the site. I also thought this would be
helpful for anyone who might consider buying the S1, and to see
another aspect (good or bad) of what an amateur can do with it.

Sorry for such a long message and thanks in advance for looking!

Renee

"SleeperMan" wrote in message
...

Nice photos. One suggestion - try some experimenting with fixed ISO set to
50 or max. 100. On some photos there are some visible noise present. I
found
out that it's best to have ISO set to 50 constantly and results are quite
excellent. If you have on auto, camera pretty quickly sets it to high
value.




D a r n !

I forgot to try the ISO 50 setting like you told me!

However, low ISO results in longer exposure times in low light conditions,
but especially in low light noise comes out and becomes visible.

I thought that high ISO results in longer exposure time . . . because you'd
use it in conjunction with using a fast shutter (short exposure time) in
dark conditions. Now this is getting confusing

"Alan D" wrote in message
...
Just my preference, but I like the shots that are framed with 2/3 sky and
1/3 water rather than 50/50. The sky is more interesting anyway than
black
water. Those are some nice shots.

Alan D.



Yes, you are right! The sky IS more interesting than the black water. I
don't know why I didn't notice that when I was taking them. Looks like some
serious cropping is in order.

"Alan D" wrote in message
...
Just my preference, but I like the shots that are framed with 2/3 sky and
1/3 water rather than 50/50. The sky is more interesting anyway than
black
water. Those are some nice shots.

Alan D.



Yes, you are right! The sky IS more interesting than the black water. I
don't know why I didn't notice that when I was taking them. Looks like some
serious cropping is in order.

Are you familiar with the rule of thirds? Divide your frame into a
tic-tac-toe -- 9 squares. In this case, the sky would be the top two
thirds. For objects of interest like people or buildings, rather than
centering, you would put them on either the right or left vertical line.

Alan D.


"Renee" wrote in message
om...

"Alan D" wrote in message
...
Just my preference, but I like the shots that are framed with 2/3 sky
and
1/3 water rather than 50/50. The sky is more interesting anyway than
black
water. Those are some nice shots.

Alan D.



Yes, you are right! The sky IS more interesting than the black water. I
don't know why I didn't notice that when I was taking them. Looks like
some
serious cropping is in order.

"Alan D" wrote in message
.. .
Are you familiar with the rule of thirds? Divide your frame into a
tic-tac-toe -- 9 squares. In this case, the sky would be the top two
thirds. For objects of interest like people or buildings, rather than
centering, you would put them on either the right or left vertical line.

Alan D.


Yes, I heard about that rule. I thought it was just for people and other
objects of interest. I didn't realize you should use it for sunrises,
sunsets, and landscapes, too, where there is no specific subject. Thank you
for that tip, Alan.

Next time I'm going to give a little more thought to my composition instead
of shooting away like I did.

Renee wrote:

I thought that high ISO results in longer exposure time . . .
because you'd use it in conjunction with using a fast shutter
(short exposure time) in dark conditions. Now this is getting
confusing

There are three (?) items which one can adjust to change the amount
of signal coming out of the camera's sensor.

1. Aperture (the F-stop). A bigger aperture (lower F-number) gives
you more light. Everything else being equal, more light gives you
more signal out the back end of your camera's sensor.

2. Shutter speed. A faster shutter speed reduces the amount of light
falling on the sensor. Everything else being equal, less light gives
you less signal out the back end of your camera's sensor.

3. ISO. ISO is a measure of the amount of sensitivity gain that gets
applied to the camera's sensor. The higher the ISO, the more
sensitive the camera is to a given amount of light. Everything else
being equal, a higher ISO gives you more signal out the back end of
your camera's sensor. It also increases the amount of noise.

So, if you have your ISO set to a low value (like 50), you can get
a brighter image by either opening up the aperture or by using a
slower shutter speed.

Unless you're looking for a particular effect, you should probably
keep your ISO as low as possible and work with aperture and shutter
speed to get the exposure you want.

In dim conditions, you may end up with your aperture as wide as it
can go and still not have enough light reaching the sensor for you to
use a shutter speed that limits the effects from camera shake or the
motion of your subject. At that point you can either use a tripod
to limit the camera shake or increase the ISO, sacrificing a bit of
noise for a less motion-blurred image.

BJJB