My photos all seem to lack contrast and saturation.

Dewman · 08-04-2014, 01:23 PM

Originally posted by D4rknezz

Hi Dewman,

I know that you've got the problem solved. If you are adamant in shooting Jpeg, then the camera brand/choice becomes more important, as you simply have to find a manufacturer that does their JPEG the way you like it.

Thanks for the reply, D4rknezz. I'm quite happy with jpeg AND the way Pentax does it. If there's something I DON'T like about it, I can change that. Jpeg to me is somewhat like MP3 in the music world. With my rapidly deteriorating eyesight due in most part to a severe brain injury last year and my hearing loss, both have become obstacles I struggle with daily. I am very pleased with the progress I've made in the last couple of years as far as digital photography goes. I've learned a great deal from some of the members here. I've asked questions, read the owners manual, tinkered around with the settings, experimented, improvised and made a valiant effort to move out of the darkroom and into the new computer-aged "darkroom." Not always easy for an old dog, but it's been a rewarding challenge. I'm quite happy and proud of what I've accomplished. I'll simply leave RAW for those with more discerning eyes than mine and stick with MP3, leaving vinyl records for those with young, undamaged nerve endings.

Dewman
SW Idaho

builttospill · 08-04-2014, 10:15 PM

Originally posted by Dewman

Show me some photos you've taken. Then let ME be the one to judge if YOU are the one I should be taking advice from. Fair enough?

Dewman
SW Idaho

I would hope you would be able to judge everybody's opinions given here with a discerning eye. Some of the suggestions here are really good and I hope they helped answer your questions, but I'm a bit surprised you'd be so critical of those willing to help. You asked for input, many gave it. Take it for what it's worth.

I don't have anything to prove so I won't be posting photos right now. However if you want to judge me by my photos there are links in my signature. If you don't like my advice I won't be offended. If you don't like my photos I won't be upset either. I had no intention of putting you on the defense, and I sincerely apologize if I hurt your feelings through my responses here.

I came from film and I wanted to share my own experience when upgrading to nicer lenses. I still use my older lenses with film, but I'm selective in which ones I use for digital. I also believe the K2000 is a capable machine, otherwise I wouldn't still be using my K10D from 2006 even though I've had the opportunity to use several newer Pentax bodies.

Dewman · 08-04-2014, 10:40 PM

Originally posted by builttospill

I would hope you would be able to judge everybody's opinions given here with a discerning eye. Some of the suggestions here are really good and I hope they helped answer your questions, but I'm a bit surprised you'd be so critical of those willing to help. You asked for input, many gave it. Take it for what it's worth.

I don't have anything to prove so I won't be posting photos right now. However if you want to judge me by my photos there are links in my signature. If you don't like my advice I won't be offended. If you don't like my photos I won't be upset either. I had no intention of putting you on the defense, and I sincerely apologize if I hurt your feelings through my responses here.

I came from film and I wanted to share my own experience when upgrading to nicer lenses. I still use my older lenses with film, but I'm selective in which ones I use for digital. I also believe the K2000 is a capable machine, otherwise I wouldn't still be using my K10D from 2006 even though I've had the opportunity to use several newer Pentax bodies.

Your abstract work is quite good. I especially like the dry ice vapors (??) falling into the spoon. Very creative. I'm not critical of those willing to help, but I most certainly take exception those who refer to me as a "Point and shoot" photographer.... and I will continue to do so. I make no apologies for that.... not to anyone, anytime. It's an insult to my abilitiy and artistic creativity.

Dewman
SW Idaho

Bagga_Txips · 08-05-2014, 06:40 AM

OK, to summarise.

Dewman is getting irritated by any implication that he might be a point and shooter. However, those implications are being directly at an entirely different poster in this thread, who states his needs in terms that could be the perfect definition of a point and shooter. ( No names, no pack drill...). So calm down Dewman we are not insulting you. But it is a pity that you think point and shooters lack creativity. Many do, but some P&Sers take excellent examples of creative art.

One thing that should be taken into consideration is that high level point and shoot cameras can give SUPERB results by merely using the scene option menu, which gives a visual menu of the most common user needs, just select the appropriate option, and whee, you get a nice jpeg. I had an excellent 10x zoom Lumix that did this, but cost almost as much as an entry level DSLR. Sadly, I then went on to buy an entry level DSLR, and LBA has racked the cost up considerably. My wallet is nostalgic for the Lumix...

Secondly, someone suggested that Dewman's lens collection of lenses had no standouts - but I have the same 50 f1.4 as Dewman, and I think it is a splendid lens.

Thirdly, RAW or jpeg, it doesn't matter, some shots will need PP. And the good thing about RAW is that it won't be necessary to work on images that have already been PP-ed in camera and saved with a process that degrades image quality. Dewman states that he is doing PP, it's just a pity that he is PPing input of a lower quality level. (When I was using film, most of my PP consisted of throwing away the print slide or negative, a very expensive method.)

I strongly recommend using RAW, together with a much simpler RAW processing program. Faststone Image Viewer is my favourite, because it's free, but I really liked the results from Photo Ninja - but legal software is impossible to get here in China...

This thread is giving very good advice to several different posters, but it's not easy to decipher who is saying what to who/whom/whooo (Sez Bagga owlishly)

I had to switch to editing this on my PC, because editing using a tablet is a nightmare on this forum...

Last edited by Bagga_Txips; 08-05-2014 at 07:07 AM.

builttospill · 08-05-2014, 09:01 PM

Originally posted by Dewman

Your abstract work is quite good. I especially like the dry ice vapors (??) falling into the spoon. Very creative.

Thank you for the compliment Dewman. I try to learn new things everyday to become better.

Dewman · 08-05-2014, 10:34 PM

Originally posted by builttospill

Thank you for the compliment Dewman. I try to learn new things everyday to become better.

When my kids were young, I would ask them every day when they got home from school.... "Tell me ONE thing you learned today!" I would remind them that if they only learned one single thing every day, by year's end, they would be infinitely more intelligent than they were at the beginning. My daughter, who is now 38, reminded me of that just last week and she carried on the tradition with her daughter. Hopefully, my granddaughter will do the same.

By the way...... was it dry ice vapors?

Dewman
SW Idaho

builttospill · 08-06-2014, 04:30 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Dewman

When my kids were young, I would ask them every day when they got home from school.... "Tell me ONE thing you learned today!" I would remind them that if they only learned one single thing every day, by year's end, they would be infinitely more intelligent than they were at the beginning. My daughter, who is now 38, reminded me of that just last week and she carried on the tradition with her daughter. Hopefully, my granddaughter will do the same.

By the way...... was it dry ice vapors?

Dewman
SW Idaho

That's a great tradition.

It's smoke from a burning ember. You're looking at the photo upside down in a dark room with multiple flashbulbs on the subject.

Dewman · 08-06-2014, 08:22 PM

Originally posted by builttospill

That's a great tradition.

It's smoke from a burning ember. You're looking at the photo upside down in a dark room with multiple flashbulbs on the subject.

I'll be sure and remember that trick! Good ol Yankee ingenuity is hard to beat, eh?

Dewman
SW Idaho

NorbertR · 08-11-2014, 04:37 AM

Originally posted by Oldbayrunner

Getting back to your original dilemma, you should be able to press your Info button once or twice, if pressing it once brings up the status screen, until you see this menu,

scroll over to where it says raw or raw +. click ok, then scroll over to jpeg and select ok to change it back to Jpeg. Then you may need to press ok a few times to get back to the status screen.

PS that is explained on Page 192 and 193 of your manual. It does pay to take the time to learn the manual and what every thing is and does even if you don't plan to use any of it just in case you happen to hit a wrong button sequence sometime.

OldBayrunner,

When all else fails as the saying goes, yeah I know. But I find that when it comes to digital technology showing me what to do and then watching me trying to do it is the best learning strategy for me. Knowing that about myself I drove for an hour to the nearest Pentax camera stockist and asked for help. He willingly obliged and I'm now staying away from RAW formatting. Decided that for the shots I wish to take I don't need it. I will join a camera club though to get a better understanding of the manual that came with the camera.

Sagitta · 08-11-2014, 08:20 AM

As far as RAW goes, I don't think I could go back to plain JPGs. Not so much because of preferencesor anything, but because with my usual style of shots (when I'm not just doing snaps of the boys), I *need* that extra data in there.

I do a lot of mild HDRing as well as night shots, and for both (especially the latter) I need to be able to pull colors from the depths of the shot that would just turn to banding and/or grain with a JPG.

HDR's... not so much these days. The HDR software out there has advanced to the point that you can do passably well with JPGs as long as you keep the exposure range limited in scope with them.

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08-04-2014, 01:23 PM	#76
Dewman Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,492 Original Poster	Originally posted by D4rknezz Hi Dewman, I know that you've got the problem solved. If you are adamant in shooting Jpeg, then the camera brand/choice becomes more important, as you simply have to find a manufacturer that does their JPEG the way you like it. Thanks for the reply, D4rknezz. I'm quite happy with jpeg AND the way Pentax does it. If there's something I DON'T like about it, I can change that. Jpeg to me is somewhat like MP3 in the music world. With my rapidly deteriorating eyesight due in most part to a severe brain injury last year and my hearing loss, both have become obstacles I struggle with daily. I am very pleased with the progress I've made in the last couple of years as far as digital photography goes. I've learned a great deal from some of the members here. I've asked questions, read the owners manual, tinkered around with the settings, experimented, improvised and made a valiant effort to move out of the darkroom and into the new computer-aged "darkroom." Not always easy for an old dog, but it's been a rewarding challenge. I'm quite happy and proud of what I've accomplished. I'll simply leave RAW for those with more discerning eyes than mine and stick with MP3, leaving vinyl records for those with young, undamaged nerve endings. Dewman SW Idaho

08-04-2014, 10:15 PM	#77
builttospill Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Utah, Idaho Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,398	Originally posted by Dewman Show me some photos you've taken. Then let ME be the one to judge if YOU are the one I should be taking advice from. Fair enough? Dewman SW Idaho I would hope you would be able to judge everybody's opinions given here with a discerning eye. Some of the suggestions here are really good and I hope they helped answer your questions, but I'm a bit surprised you'd be so critical of those willing to help. You asked for input, many gave it. Take it for what it's worth. I don't have anything to prove so I won't be posting photos right now. However if you want to judge me by my photos there are links in my signature. If you don't like my advice I won't be offended. If you don't like my photos I won't be upset either. I had no intention of putting you on the defense, and I sincerely apologize if I hurt your feelings through my responses here. I came from film and I wanted to share my own experience when upgrading to nicer lenses. I still use my older lenses with film, but I'm selective in which ones I use for digital. I also believe the K2000 is a capable machine, otherwise I wouldn't still be using my K10D from 2006 even though I've had the opportunity to use several newer Pentax bodies.

08-04-2014, 10:40 PM	#78
Dewman Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,492 Original Poster	Originally posted by builttospill I would hope you would be able to judge everybody's opinions given here with a discerning eye. Some of the suggestions here are really good and I hope they helped answer your questions, but I'm a bit surprised you'd be so critical of those willing to help. You asked for input, many gave it. Take it for what it's worth. I don't have anything to prove so I won't be posting photos right now. However if you want to judge me by my photos there are links in my signature. If you don't like my advice I won't be offended. If you don't like my photos I won't be upset either. I had no intention of putting you on the defense, and I sincerely apologize if I hurt your feelings through my responses here. I came from film and I wanted to share my own experience when upgrading to nicer lenses. I still use my older lenses with film, but I'm selective in which ones I use for digital. I also believe the K2000 is a capable machine, otherwise I wouldn't still be using my K10D from 2006 even though I've had the opportunity to use several newer Pentax bodies. Your abstract work is quite good. I especially like the dry ice vapors (??) falling into the spoon. Very creative. I'm not critical of those willing to help, but I most certainly take exception those who refer to me as a "Point and shoot" photographer.... and I will continue to do so. I make no apologies for that.... not to anyone, anytime. It's an insult to my abilitiy and artistic creativity. Dewman SW Idaho

08-05-2014, 06:40 AM	#79
Bagga_Txips Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Waterford Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 454	OK, to summarise. Dewman is getting irritated by any implication that he might be a point and shooter. However, those implications are being directly at an entirely different poster in this thread, who states his needs in terms that could be the perfect definition of a point and shooter. ( No names, no pack drill...). So calm down Dewman we are not insulting you. But it is a pity that you think point and shooters lack creativity. Many do, but some P&Sers take excellent examples of creative art. One thing that should be taken into consideration is that high level point and shoot cameras can give SUPERB results by merely using the scene option menu, which gives a visual menu of the most common user needs, just select the appropriate option, and whee, you get a nice jpeg. I had an excellent 10x zoom Lumix that did this, but cost almost as much as an entry level DSLR. Sadly, I then went on to buy an entry level DSLR, and LBA has racked the cost up considerably. My wallet is nostalgic for the Lumix... Secondly, someone suggested that Dewman's lens collection of lenses had no standouts - but I have the same 50 f1.4 as Dewman, and I think it is a splendid lens. Thirdly, RAW or jpeg, it doesn't matter, some shots will need PP. And the good thing about RAW is that it won't be necessary to work on images that have already been PP-ed in camera and saved with a process that degrades image quality. Dewman states that he is doing PP, it's just a pity that he is PPing input of a lower quality level. (When I was using film, most of my PP consisted of throwing away the print slide or negative, a very expensive method.) I strongly recommend using RAW, together with a much simpler RAW processing program. Faststone Image Viewer is my favourite, because it's free, but I really liked the results from Photo Ninja - but legal software is impossible to get here in China... This thread is giving very good advice to several different posters, but it's not easy to decipher who is saying what to who/whom/whooo (Sez Bagga owlishly) I had to switch to editing this on my PC, because editing using a tablet is a nightmare on this forum... Last edited by Bagga_Txips; 08-05-2014 at 07:07 AM.

08-05-2014, 09:01 PM	#80
builttospill Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Utah, Idaho Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,398	Originally posted by Dewman Your abstract work is quite good. I especially like the dry ice vapors (??) falling into the spoon. Very creative. Thank you for the compliment Dewman. I try to learn new things everyday to become better.

08-05-2014, 10:34 PM	#81
Dewman Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,492 Original Poster	Originally posted by builttospill Thank you for the compliment Dewman. I try to learn new things everyday to become better. When my kids were young, I would ask them every day when they got home from school.... "Tell me ONE thing you learned today!" I would remind them that if they only learned one single thing every day, by year's end, they would be infinitely more intelligent than they were at the beginning. My daughter, who is now 38, reminded me of that just last week and she carried on the tradition with her daughter. Hopefully, my granddaughter will do the same. By the way...... was it dry ice vapors? Dewman SW Idaho

08-06-2014, 04:30 PM - 1 Like	#82
builttospill Pentaxian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Utah, Idaho Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,398	Originally posted by Dewman When my kids were young, I would ask them every day when they got home from school.... "Tell me ONE thing you learned today!" I would remind them that if they only learned one single thing every day, by year's end, they would be infinitely more intelligent than they were at the beginning. My daughter, who is now 38, reminded me of that just last week and she carried on the tradition with her daughter. Hopefully, my granddaughter will do the same. By the way...... was it dry ice vapors? Dewman SW Idaho That's a great tradition. It's smoke from a burning ember. You're looking at the photo upside down in a dark room with multiple flashbulbs on the subject.

08-06-2014, 08:22 PM	#83
Dewman Veteran Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Idaho Posts: 5,492 Original Poster	Originally posted by builttospill That's a great tradition. It's smoke from a burning ember. You're looking at the photo upside down in a dark room with multiple flashbulbs on the subject. I'll be sure and remember that trick! Good ol Yankee ingenuity is hard to beat, eh? Dewman SW Idaho

08-11-2014, 04:37 AM	#84
NorbertR New Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 13	Originally posted by Oldbayrunner Getting back to your original dilemma, you should be able to press your Info button once or twice, if pressing it once brings up the status screen, until you see this menu, scroll over to where it says raw or raw +. click ok, then scroll over to jpeg and select ok to change it back to Jpeg. Then you may need to press ok a few times to get back to the status screen. PS that is explained on Page 192 and 193 of your manual. It does pay to take the time to learn the manual and what every thing is and does even if you don't plan to use any of it just in case you happen to hit a wrong button sequence sometime. OldBayrunner, When all else fails as the saying goes, yeah I know. But I find that when it comes to digital technology showing me what to do and then watching me trying to do it is the best learning strategy for me. Knowing that about myself I drove for an hour to the nearest Pentax camera stockist and asked for help. He willingly obliged and I'm now staying away from RAW formatting. Decided that for the shots I wish to take I don't need it. I will join a camera club though to get a better understanding of the manual that came with the camera.

08-11-2014, 08:20 AM	#85
Sagitta Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Maine Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,081	As far as RAW goes, I don't think I could go back to plain JPGs. Not so much because of preferencesor anything, but because with my usual style of shots (when I'm not just doing snaps of the boys), I need that extra data in there. I do a lot of mild HDRing as well as night shots, and for both (especially the latter) I need to be able to pull colors from the depths of the shot that would just turn to banding and/or grain with a JPG. HDR's... not so much these days. The HDR software out there has advanced to the point that you can do passably well with JPGs as long as you keep the exposure range limited in scope with them.