C.C.P.I.C.S. - Class 01 - Introduce Yourself

[pierces]

Welcome to:

C.C.P.I.C.S.

Cruise Critics Photo Instruction and Creativity Series

(No direct sponsorship by Cruise Critic or any employee therof.)

 

 

This is an independent effort by the regular posting community on the Photo Discussion board to provide instruction to new photographers just getting their feet wet and inspiration to experienced shutterbugs.

 

The original discussion thread is here if you want to take a look:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=778546

 

The idea is to provide an environment where people new to photography can learn by doing and recieve constructive criticism, suggestions and help from members who are well-versed in the art.

 

Each class will start with a page like this that will outline the subject and provide a link to the instructional materials chosen for the assignment. Forgive the silly group name, but it will make the threads easy to find!

 

The first assignment is "Introduce Yourself". The goal is to take a photo that represents "who you are", post it to a photo-sharing site and linking it to a post in this thread. Further details and instructions for first-time posters and linkers can be found here:

http://pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/Class1.htm

 

When you have your photo, reply to this thread and post it.

 

Let the fun begin!

[pengu1n]

Thanks for getting this started. I have a couple of questions.

 

1- Does it have to be a new photo, taken just for the challenge?

 

2- Can I use my smugmug acct or do you want everyone posting from the same website? (smugmug size will be either 600 or 800, or I can crop before uploading, if the 640 is mandatory.)

 

Thanks!

[pierces]

Thanks for getting this started. I have a couple of questions.

 

1- Does it have to be a new photo, taken just for the challenge?

 

2- Can I use my smugmug acct or do you want everyone posting from the same website? (smugmug size will be either 600 or 800, or I can crop before uploading, if the 640 is mandatory.)

 

Thanks!

 

Yes on the new photo. One of the goals of this project it to get people out, kick-starting their creativity and taking photos!:D

 

Any account you can link from is fine. We chose PicasaWeb because of it's ease of setup and upload for those who are new to the whole process. the only request is that submissions be between 640 px and 800px on the long side so the details can be seen clearly.

 

Dave

[SheilaNC]

Dave,

I've had problems linking to Picasaweb before and I think I remember that others did as well. Does this work now?

[Kane]

Sort of an inconvenient happening on this project kick-off, but Picasa Web seems to be down today. I'm a regular user and can't get into my own account/albums.

[Kane]

It is back up. The problem was with redirects, which probably means they were relocating to a new server or a backup server.

[pierces]

Dave,

I've had problems linking to Picasaweb before and I think I remember that others did as well. Does this work now?

 

Take a look at the class document here: http://pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/Class1.htm

 

I outlined a couple of ways to link. The second one is pretty easy.

 

Dave

[Kane]

O.K., I'll give it a shot (pun intended) ... I'm always open to learning "stuff".

 

Who "I am":

 

 

The intent was to show both clean and dirty ... when I framed the shot, the reflection of the ball and grass came as a bonus.

 

P.S. - I used "Link method #2" to resize

[pierces]

O.K., I'll give it a shot (pun intended) ... I'm always open to learning "stuff".

 

Who "I am":

 

 

The intent was to show both clean and dirty ... when I framed the shot, the reflection of the ball and grass came as a bonus.

 

P.S. - I used "Link method #2" to resize

 

I'll take time later to critique technically, but the bottom line is: I like it!

 

Dave

[bakechef]

Well the lighting was challenging, but here it is. My passion is cooking especially baking, this is my trusty Kitchen Aid, I also happen to be a cake decorator by trade.

Mike C.

[mclou]

 

My office covers my 2 favorite things - genealogy research (the cause for all the clutter on the desk and table) and travel (photos on the walls along with my shot glass & magnet collections in the background). I bought a Canon S5 IS a few months ago and have a lot to learn. Previously used a Sony DSC-W7 always on auto setting.

 

Linda

[cruzegirl]

Dave,

Can we link directly from Photobucket or do we have to use Picasa? I already have photos on Photobucket... And do they have to be resized?

[pierces]

Dave,

Can we link directly from Photobucket or do we have to use Picasa? I already have photos on Photobucket... And do they have to be resized?

 

 

Anywhere you have them is fine. The recommended size is between 640 px and 800 px on the long side.

 

Dave

[cruzegirl]

Ok, here's my contribution. I hope it's the right size. It was linked from Photobucket with the size listed. I used my Olympus Stylus 600 for this shot in an Olympus underwater housing.

It was hard to find just one to describe me. And yes, I took it. I've been practicing my long arm shots.

 

 

About me. I love the ocean, sunsets/beach and scuba diving. Though this is a snorkler photo, I am a diver.

[cruzegirl]

FYI for anyone using Picasa as I didn't see it mentioned. If you use Picasa, you've downloaded the software and uploaded your photos to it. If you see a folder you don't want on Picasa, be careful about deleting. It deletes it from your my pictures on the computer. Just thought I'd share. :p

[pierces]

Ok, here's my contribution. I hope it's the right size. It was linked from Photobucket with the size listed. I used my Olympus Stylus 600 for this shot in an Olympus underwater housing.

It was hard to find just one to describe me. And yes, I took it. I've been practicing my long arm shots.

 

 

About me. I love the ocean, sunsets/beach and scuba diving. Though this is a snorkler photo, I am a diver.

 

 

Tsk, tsk...you were supposed to take a new picture!

 

I guess we can let it slide since arranging a dive for this little assignment might be a chore!

 

Good job on following the theme!

 

Dave

[cruzegirl]

Tsk, tsk...you were supposed to take a new picture!

 

I guess we can let it slide since arranging a dive for this little assignment might be a chore!

 

Good job on following the theme!

 

Dave

 

lol....I had a feeling I'd get reprimanded on the photo not being "new". But as you said, going right in the ocean to get a shot is not that easy. But at least I took it.....lol..... I was in the pool today and almost took it there. But the pool would not have been the same affect........;)

[pierces]

FYI for anyone using Picasa as I didn't see it mentioned. If you use Picasa, you've downloaded the software and uploaded your photos to it. If you see a folder you don't want on Picasa, be careful about deleting. It deletes it from your my pictures on the computer. Just thought I'd share. :p

 

This is true. Remember that Picasa is an organizational tool that makes it easy to move, rename, make new folders and all the stuff you would have to do in regular folder view...including DELETE (it does use the recycle bin , so you can still recover them).

 

If you don't want to see a particular folder, go to File > Add Folder To Picasa. Find and highlight the folder you want to hide and click on the "Remove From Picasa" radio button on the right. You can always add it back in later by clicking "Scan Always". You can also right-click on the folder and choose "Remove from Picasa without deleting the folder.

 

Dave

[PollyPenguin]

Here's my intro picture. It tells you I'd rather be in jeans than just about anything else (but unfortunately must wear "business appropriate" clothing for the day job), I love my purple slippers, I'm all about relaxing and I enjoy spending time on my computer. If I could have figured out how to include my dog in the photo, I would have, but a 60-pound Black Lab just is NOT a lap dog!

 

Thanks for the second set of instructions on posting from Picasa. That was the set that worked for me. I'll have to continue exploring with the first set to see if I can get that method to work.

[c-to-sea]

We live in a wooded area where several types of owl nest and raise their

young. This youngster, born this spring, was left in a nearby tree. We knew

because the robins always make a great fuss whenever one is near their

area.

The pic was taken with a Fuji Finepix S700 on AUTO. 1/208 shutter speed,

f4.4. Full 10x zoom. Original was 3072x2304, resized to 800x600.

The challenge was the bright sky through the branches, affecting the metering.

I use a program called ACDSee Photo Manager, v 10.0. Adjusting the

mid-tones brought out the owls features without altering the background

too much.

I also use Photoshop Elements 3.0 but find ACDSee good for minor editing

like this. P.E. takes forever to load and I don't feel an urgent need to

upgrade to a newer version right now.

The picture was downloaded to TinyPic, which I have found quite adequate for

most internet postings.

 

[pierces]

We live in a wooded area where several types of owl nest and raise their

young. This youngster, born this spring, was left in a nearby tree. We knew

because the robins always make a great fuss whenever one is near their

area.

The pic was taken with a Fuji Finepix S700 on AUTO. 1/208 shutter speed,

f4.4. Full 10x zoom. Original was 3072x2304, resized to 800x600.

The challenge was the bright sky through the branches, affecting the metering.

I use a program called ACDSee Photo Manager, v 10.0. Adjusting the

mid-tones brought out the owls features without altering the background

too much.

I also use Photoshop Elements 3.0 but find ACDSee good for minor editing

like this. P.E. takes forever to load and I don't feel an urgent need to

upgrade to a newer version right now.

The picture was downloaded to TinyPic, which I have found quite adequate for

most internet postings.

 

 

I noticed that you included all of your camera and shot info in the post. A good idea that I forgot to ask pople to do!

 

We only have crows and little brown birds around here...

 

Dave

[Kane]

... to include the photo information. Here's the info, thanks to earlier postings about how to use irfanview:

 

Make - Panasonic

Model - DMC-FX12

Orientation - Top left

XResolution - 72

YResolution - 72

ResolutionUnit - Inch

Software - Ver.1.0

DateTime - 2008:06:12 09:55:42

YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited

ExifOffset - 420

ExposureTime - 1/800 seconds

FNumber - 2.80

ExposureProgram - Normal program

ISOSpeedRatings - 100

ExifVersion - 0221

DateTimeOriginal - 2008:06:12 09:55:42

DateTimeDigitized - 2008:06:12 09:55:42

ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr

CompressedBitsPerPixel - 4 (bits/pixel)

ExposureBiasValue - 0.00

MaxApertureValue - F 2.83

MeteringMode - Multi-segment

LightSource - Auto

Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode

FocalLength - 5.80 mm

FlashPixVersion - 0100

ColorSpace - sRGB

ExifImageWidth - 3072

ExifImageHeight - 2304

InteroperabilityOffset - 7704

SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor

FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera

SceneType - A directly photographed image

CustomRendered - Normal process

ExposureMode - Auto

White Balance - Auto

DigitalZoomRatio - 0.00 x

FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 35 mm

SceneCaptureType - Standard

GainControl - None

Contrast - Normal

Saturation - Normal

Sharpness - Normal

 

Maker Note (Vendor): -

 

Thumbnail: -

Compression - 6 (JPG)

Orientation - Top left

XResolution - 72

YResolution - 72

ResolutionUnit - Inch

JpegIFOffset - 8084

JpegIFByteCount - 6282

YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited

 

 

 

[pierces]

... to include the photo information. Here's the info, thanks to earlier postings about how to use irfanview:

 

Make - Panasonic

Model - DMC-FX12

Orientation - Top left

XResolution - 72

YResolution - 72

ResolutionUnit - Inch

Software - Ver.1.0

DateTime - 2008:06:12 09:55:42

YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited

ExifOffset - 420

ExposureTime - 1/800 seconds

FNumber - 2.80

ExposureProgram - Normal program

ISOSpeedRatings - 100

ExifVersion - 0221

DateTimeOriginal - 2008:06:12 09:55:42

DateTimeDigitized - 2008:06:12 09:55:42

ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr

CompressedBitsPerPixel - 4 (bits/pixel)

ExposureBiasValue - 0.00

MaxApertureValue - F 2.83

MeteringMode - Multi-segment

LightSource - Auto

Flash - Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode

FocalLength - 5.80 mm

FlashPixVersion - 0100

ColorSpace - sRGB

ExifImageWidth - 3072

ExifImageHeight - 2304

InteroperabilityOffset - 7704

SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor

FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera

SceneType - A directly photographed image

CustomRendered - Normal process

ExposureMode - Auto

White Balance - Auto

DigitalZoomRatio - 0.00 x

FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 35 mm

SceneCaptureType - Standard

GainControl - None

Contrast - Normal

Saturation - Normal

Sharpness - Normal

 

Maker Note (Vendor): -

 

Thumbnail: -

Compression - 6 (JPG)

Orientation - Top left

XResolution - 72

YResolution - 72

ResolutionUnit - Inch

JpegIFOffset - 8084

JpegIFByteCount - 6282

YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited

 

From the EXIF, the highlighted items should be enough.

 

Basic camera make/model, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, filter used would probably do. More info might be needed in later classes on request for problem solving.

 

We're off to a nice start!

 

Dave

[SheilaNC]

I'll be joining you all as soon as I come up for air. Working on a major project and had a houseful of visiting grandkids this past week for the Race for the Cure AND Father's Day....recovery is slow..... :)

[barbevrn]

Ok............there are so many hats that I wear, it was hard to decide which route to go. It suffices to say, I love cruising or I wouldn't be here. Wife, Mother, Grandma...........what to do, what to do???? Then, how to make a picture interesting without mucking it up........ Right or wrong, I decided to "put a slant on it" LOL The glitch in the upper right hand corner is not a camera glitch...I used my island counter top and needed to move my focal area just a teeny bit.

 

 

Panasonic DMC-FZ18

1/30 sec

f2.80

ISO 160