I didn’t tell you that I had taken many disappointing photos on my Arizona trip. The composition, the color… they all good to my standard, but the noise were unbearable. Looking at those photos, my first thought was to get a different camera 😉 “This camera and I just don’t get along,” I said to my husband. But my second thought was that even if I’m going to buy a new camera, I still want to fix the problem between this camera and me. It’s war.
I calmed down (from my disappointment) two days later and decided to take a “soft” approach; I figured that my camera and I might need some bonding time. In an effort of getting to know the camera better, I started taking photos in manual mode (first time in my life). Had some surprises, but I began understanding my camera side of story.
Yesterday was a great day. It was a little windy, but 60+ degree! I couldn’t wait to take my camera out for a walk in the park. On our way to the Root River Park, I looked at the gray sky, brown trees, and wondered if any photo would turn out good.
The conclusion? We had a great time; it was a good exercise (both physical and mental); the photos turned out good (I mean much less noise!); and most importantly, I don’t think I will get a new camera soon. 😉
I would like to use this following photo, a piece of ice hanging over the rock, for Cee’s Odd photo challenge 😉
HHC Blog 
Congrats on bonding with your camera! 🙂 4th and 5th are my favorites
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Thank you, Lynda. I didn’t reply your comment? I am so sorry. In my mind, I talked to you several times… Anyway, please forgive me. This old age thing… Thanks for visiting and thanks for your comment. Have a great day!
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These are great photos. So you are in the 60s today. I think you will be warmer than us. We are cloudy and I think only 50s. 🙂
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Thanks, Cee. 60+ yesterday; 30 to 40+ today; tomorrow, who knows? But it’s a sunny day so we went out to have fun anyway 😉
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Wow, I like these photos, especially the first one! the leaves and weeds are beautiful. Manual setting, very cool, Helen. 🙂 I only use Av or Tv. 😉
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Thank you, Amy. Manual setting wasn’t as bad as I thought 😉 For many years, I couldn’t understand why anyone would like to use manual setting. Now I do… because, sometime, auto setting fools us. But I did learn that as long as I don’t use auto ISO, I will be ok even if I don’t use manual setting. 😉
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For daytime ISO is 100 to 200 (?) I know night time is different. I have been doing some readings, slowly 🙂 Thanks for the info, Helen!
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I set it to 200, but some people use 100. I read somewhere that up to 800 should be ok, but since I had so much trouble with noise, I decided to stick to 200 and turn auto-ISO off 😉
I haven’t played a lot at night time. My problem was that the camera set ISO very high and speed high too. It would be much better to use slower speed (as long as it is > 1/60 ) and lower ISO. I think I am going to use auto-ISO at night (I set it off at daytime) and set maximum ISO to 800. I’ll let you know if I learn more 😉
Thanks, Amy.
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Thank you, Helen! I wish I could do daily practices. 🙂
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Oh wow Helen.. good for you to do some exploring with the dials.. I need to do that myself..You go girl… Great photos!
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For a long time, I didn’t feel comfortable changing settings. Then I’d reached that “I got nothing to lose” point… 😉 Thanks, Roberta. Hope your husband is feeling better.
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They are going to insert a pic line in his shoulder to clear up the infection they discovered last week when they opened up his shoulder. He might be coming home tomorrow and will have to administer the medication himself. After it clears up they will put a new implant in.. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I have been hesitant to change anything on my camera but am getting better at it.. (:
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Hope your husband will go home tomorrow, and feel better and better!!! And you have to take care of yourself too!
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Thank you Helen! I got my hair trimmed today. I feel at least five pounds lighter…lol! I wish…
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I am a real slacker. I take all my photos with my iPhone. My husband bought me a used (but beautiful, Nikon and I have no idea what to do with it. That was three years ago. It sits, on manual, but it might as well be a paperweight. I am clueless. Nice shots, Helen.
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Ha ha… I am not that much better. This is the third camera my husband bought for me and the previous two were seldom used (he even carried the camera for me whenever we went out shooting photos 😉 . I used to wish that he just gave me the money instead 😉 Thanks, Gemma.
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I have a new camera with buttons and dials, and still am trying to find the time to learn about it, and practice with it. I hate that the manual is online. I do much better with something to read. So,I took the first step and printed out every page of that manual. It’s in a three ring binder now, and I put a page in the front with page numbers for the things I look up most. I think it will be a great help, once I actually spend some time with it.
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Do you like your new camera? I hope you do 😉
I agree. I don’t like online manual either. Your comment reminds me that I should print mine out too. What a great idea! Thank you!
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Helen–I am so happy you and your camera had a little talk. These photos are beautiful! I love the two photos with the ‘pods.’ Yay! I think this camera should be your keeper.
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Thanks, Lois. Usually I don’t like wasting money. Usually buying a new thing is my husband’s idea. But I honestly thought something was wrong with my camera. It turned out the problem was I didn’t know how to use it. Ha.
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Helen, I do not understand a single thing about cameras at all. I have a hand-me-down automatic and I dare not adjust any settings. If I can take photos like you do, I will quit my day job. Perpetua.
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Perpetua, I think you got the order wrong. I retired first and then I started photographing. In other words, don’t quit your job. 😉
I enjoy learning. I think that’s more fun than photographing itself.
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Okay then, I will keep on working to save $$ for a camera when I retire. Thank you, Helen.
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To my eyes, Helen, you’re doing a whole lot better than merely OK – you’re doing bloody brilliantly ! Keep it up mate ! 🙂
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Thanks, M-R. I think after seeing so many great photos from other bloggers, I have set my standard a little high. I am not there yet, but I know I can do it. Ha.
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Sighh … OF COURSE you can !
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absolutely amazing photos!! You are fabulous!
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Thanks, Tree. Have a wonderful day!
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I think the relationship between you and your camera is developing just fine. You have some beautiful photos to show for it 🙂
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Thanks, Joanne. After setting auto-ISO off, I am much happier with the camera 😉
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I need to take a lesson from your experience. I too have been discouraged by the results from the camera I purchased 6 months ago and long for a new one.
Perhaps I need to invest in some bonding time before I pull the plug on our relationship.
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Joanne, my first idea was to find a great photographer and take an 1-1 workshop from him/her (I was desperate.) I would like this photographer to take photos with my camera and then we can compare his/her photos with mine. I wanted to either prove that my camera was not good enough or I wasn’t good enough. 😉 Deep down, my many years experience as a computer programmer tells me it’s human error (my error), not computer’s (camera’s) fault. 😉 Be patient with yourself and learn more about your camera — that’s what I am going to do. Thanks for your comment.
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LOL! … my heart knows you are right and the problem is very likely the operator not the equipment 🙂
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Fantastic post. I am glad you took out time to understand your camera and it gave you wonderful results in the form of these lovely photos. Keep practicing this form of art.
BTW, I have seen so many splendid photos with nice composition from you. Not sure why this thought came to you of parting away with your camera. May be you upgrade your camera but thats for a later stage. As of now, enjoy spring with your buddy camera 🙂
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Thanks, Suyash. What bothered me was that the percentage of good ones was low, and I seemed not able to solve the noise problem. Now that I’ve disabled auto-ISO, I like it much better. I think I really should do more exercises to understand how my camera works. Getting a new camera wouldn’t help. But when I was frustrated, blaming my camera made me feel good. Ha.
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I can understand your situation Helen. Your camera was the easiest scapegoat. I am glad you were able to find the root cause of the problem. Coz ultimately finding the cause of the problem is like almost half of the problem solved. 🙂
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beautiful Helen (and I guess you can tell that I am catching up on some older posts today…)
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😉 I have given up on catching up older posts. So little time…
Thanks.
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