Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Rantings and Ravings...

Have I ever mentioned that I HATE my camera ??? I sat down with the owners manual, hoping that I would discover something to make picture taking easier, but I did not :(
I did discover that there are several picture taking settings, but they all require that I hold absolutely, positively still, and that I reset/readjust each setting with each picture....ahhhhhh!!!!! How do you hold perfectly still when you are taking pictures of live, moving animals...both horses and kids??!!!
The main problem that I have is when my camera thinks that there is not enough lighting, which is MOST of the time. Even when I adjust it to the darker scene setting, the pictures come out under--over???--exposed, and blurry--lots of fun, let me tell you!!--or parts of the picture will look great, while other parts look light and fuzzy. Does anyone have any helpful information here? Do you all have to change your camera's setting hundreds of times? Today, at Katie's lesson, I must have taken about 50 pictures, and only THREE turned out half way decent! needless to say, I am VERY frustrated.
OK, I am done venting, and I will now move on to happier thoughts :)

These are pictures of Waska and Bo, after me and Amber got back from a four hour ride. Waska has the bestest horsey expressions ever. See??? Even he doesn't want me to be angry at my camera. "It's alright Mel. Count to 10, take a deep breathe and relax." Bo on the other hand just wishes that I would stop my whining and go home!
"Please stop your bellyaching Mel. It gets really old."

Oh look...here is one of the three pictures that semi turned out from Katie's lesson today. See how her face is all blurry looking???? Why????
The barn that Katie rides at is known for its Dressage and jumping horses/trainers. There is also a well known Arab trainer there, and Eric and I like to harass her horses...not really..lol!!! This is a HUGE 1/2 Arab that has quite the personality. I of course had to take a picture of him, because every one who knows me, knows that I have a weakness...I mean special place in my heart...for any chestnut horse with lots of chrome... but especially the Arabians :)
Even his mug shot is blurry...grrrrrrr!!!!Sometimes hazy and blurry look good. For instance, take this handsome TB gelding, whose owner was getting him ready for a lesson. Maybe it is my inexperience with pictures, but I think that it looks nice...lighting and all. A trailer was pulling up outside, and he was quite content to hang out in his cross ties and watch. Talk about long legs...good grief!Again...if any of you know any little secrets, please feel free to pass them on. My camera is a Kodak Easyshare C330, point and shoot, piece of @%$#. Until we meet again......

9 comments:

cdncowgirl said...

Hmmm... I've found the Easyshare's to be fairly, well easy, to use.
I have an Easyshare Z710 and a smaller (more portable) Nikon Coolpix S210.
I'm not a great photographer but even I get fairly decent pics with these cameras.
Is it possible there is actually something wrong with your camera? Have you dropped it? Was it damaged before you even got it?
I'd look into that.

Grey Horse Matters said...

I can't help you with camera shots and lighting, but what I do have for when the pictures come out wrong is a great photoshop, so I can tweak them one way or the other.
I would take cdncowgirl's advice and have the camera checked out. Maybe there is something wrong with it. At the very least if you take it to a camera shop maybe they can show you how to use it or which setting to put it on. Sorry not much help here.

Trail Riding Cowgirl said...

I am LMAO right now! This describes my camera experience totally. Have it checked out and start again.

Melanie said...

Cdncowgirl- Sounds good. I am sure that it has been dropped a time or two by my kids. My old camera was a piece of cake...never had any problems with it at all, but it is not digital, so I do not use it anymore.

Grey Horese- Any particular photoshop? I have one on my computer, but it doesn't seem to do a whole lot.

TRCC- So...you can share in my frustration...lol!!

20 meter circle of life said...

hmmm I just use my blackberry, I am not allowed to play with the electronics in the house. I think it stems back to when I brought home the new TV and the old TV was to heavy for me to lift and get to the garage, but turns out if you make a whole bunch of small TV pieces it can be moved very easily. I am now told that is not the correct way to move a broken TV. So no electronics for me!!

Beth said...

i think the pics are gorgeous and I know nothing about how to take them.

Cant wait to meet you next week. Should be a blast!

Ooh and I am like Jewel, I just use the crackberry.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Waska's expression is just so endearing! And Bo! Hah! He looks like he's telling you, "You're interupting my peaceful meal. No go AWAY, lady!" hehhe

That TB gelding's leg!! Whoooeee! He's got legs from here to the moon! I like the lighting of that photo, too.

Have no advice about picture taking. Ranchman John bought me a new camera for my birthday last year, and it took me almsot 6 months to finally pick it and take a photo with it...I'm that afraid of technology! haha
My old camera worked fine, albeit taking fuzzy photos with no zoom, so why change, right?

I love my new camera. What helped me was ripping out the bazillion pages of foreign language instructions in the booklet that came with my camera. What was left was like 5 pages of English directions. Much easier to deal with! hehe

I have a Canon PowerShot A560 w/ 7.1 mega pixels and a 4X Zoom.

It seems that the zoom and pixels make the biggest difference in quality of photo. Mostly I just use the Auto feature because if I use the indoor feature then, like you my photos end up over exposed.

Sorry I don't have any useful advice. I'm just a simple 'point-and-shoot' kind of gal! :)

Momma / Cowgirl said...

I have the same problem. I think you described an awful lot of exactly what happens to me. Unfortunately with me, it is user issues... LOL

I thought your photos here were just fine. I guess I am kind of a point and shoot person too.

happy horsin' around!

Tammy Vasa said...

I've been learning about taking pictures from the Pioneer Woman www.thepioneerwoman.com. The aperature setting on the dial has become my friend.

Enjoyed reading your blog. I'm a horsewoman, wife & mother of two boys (w/football pictures, too!) Have had a trail riding website for Nebraska riders for years www.horsetrailriders.com but recently started blogging www.horsetrailriders.blogspot.com. Figured my friends get tired of hearing me talk about all things horsey, so thought I'd talk to cyberspace! :)

Bookmarked your blog. Will check back.