Suggestions For Taking A Good Picture

Decorating By TastersDelight Updated 18 May 2006 , 12:22am by SheilaF

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TastersDelight Posted 16 May 2006 , 7:22pm
post #1 of 11

I'm having so much trouble taking pictures. I've tried a dark background and a white background, flash on and flash off. They come out blurry or discolored. Any ideas.
Btw I have a digital.

Thanks

10 replies
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Doug Posted 16 May 2006 , 10:25pm
post #2 of 11

here's a link to a thread on CC where this was already discussed in dept.

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-22610-.html

re: blurry -- most common causes:

1) too close w/ lens that is not made for closeups. usually you have to be back 3+ feet

2) shaky hands -- simple fix: use a tripod

re: discolored

this is a function of something called "white balance".
your camera should have some menu that lets you tell it you are indoors using florescent or reg. light blubs instead of outside in the sun. Most cameras come preset for outside, figuring you'll be using flash indoors. With no flash the picture will come out greenish w/ florescent and yellow w/ reg. lights. reset the white balance will help.

You can always import the pics into some type of photo software (many kinds available) and fix it there.

HTH

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fearlessbaker Posted 16 May 2006 , 10:48pm
post #3 of 11

I think if you have a software program you could have more choices. You can change the background etc. Now, I am just learning how to work with a program so i can't help much yet. having worked with making brochures though it would seem the way to go because then you could change your background to go with your cakes.

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Crimsicle Posted 16 May 2006 , 11:08pm
post #4 of 11

You're probably going to get the best pictures using no flash, with a light colored background - and with PLENTY of natural light. Not a beam of sunlight coming through a window - that will give you major conrast pains. But, a north or south-facing window with curtains pulled back should work well. I don't do this with my cake pictures, because I'm lazy and my flash works reasonably well. But, if you're having problems, you might give it a shot.

As for the focus. You need to read your manual and find out about focus options. What works best for this situation is spot focus. That's where you will see a circle superimposed over the viewer that represents where the focus mechanism takes its readings. You would point it dead center of the cake, and you'll get a good general focus for the whole thing. With spot focus, your background will probably go out of focus, but that's a good thing. If your camera is set for average focus, it takes readings from everywhere in the viewfinder. It's fine for landscapes. Bad for cakes.

Also...in most cameras, you have to hold the shutter button halfway down for a second (or two) while the lens shifts both focus and aperture (lens opening). Perhaps you're skipping the halfway down thing. That would mess up both focus and exposure. Bad exposure can cause discoloration as well as too much darkness or lightness.

Make sure someone hasn't diddled with your settings. If the "film speed" and/or aperture settings have been moved....or if your camera has been set on something other than automatic - that might be causing your problems, too.

Digittal cameras require much reading of the manual, unfortunately. The last two cameras I've owned, the REAL manual - the one with all the real information about adjustments and tweaks - is on the CD packed with the camera. The tiny manual that came with the camera offered little useful information. So, if you don't have a really helpful manual - check your camera CD to see if there's one there.

Hope this helps.

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TastersDelight Posted 16 May 2006 , 11:23pm
post #5 of 11

Thank you all so much, I will check everything, hopefully will turn out better.

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pinkopossum Posted 17 May 2006 , 11:17am
post #6 of 11

always make sure there's lots and lots of natural light. this always seems to help me. HTH thumbs_up.gif

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stylishbite Posted 17 May 2006 , 1:14pm
post #7 of 11

I have some similar problems. When I use my camera on a low res. to take pictures small enough to upload on CC the pictures are fuzzy. The pictures I take for printing, I change to a high setting, look great. Many of the pictures on CC have clear, very detailed shots. How is that? I'm thinking my camera is just not very good. But the high res. pics I take for printing look good to me. Is there any ideas?
TIA

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angelas2babies Posted 17 May 2006 , 1:20pm
post #8 of 11

I'm glad someone asked about picture taking. I know it's me and not my camera...it has too many options on it and the manual is too thick to read!!! I have found that natural lighting without the flash works best. I definitely need to take a class or something, though. Some people have amazing pictures on here!!!

Angie

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Crimsicle Posted 17 May 2006 , 1:27pm
post #9 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by stylishbite

I have some similar problems. When I use my camera on a low res. to take pictures small enough to upload on CC the pictures are fuzzy. The pictures I take for printing, I change to a high setting, look great. Many of the pictures on CC have clear, very detailed shots. How is that? I'm thinking my camera is just not very good. But the high res. pics I take for printing look good to me. Is there any ideas?
TIA






When you take a picture via low-res setting, you're not giving the image much to work with. You'll get better results if you always take high-res and then resize using a paint program. That way, the software has lots of data to manipulate, and you'll bet a much better smaller picture.

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DeniseMarlaine Posted 18 May 2006 , 12:16am
post #10 of 11

Can you resize in one of the photo programs (e.g., Microsoft Digital Image or Kodak Easy Share software)? I just bought an Easy Share and haven't made a cake to photograph yet, but am hoping it'll work okay.

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SheilaF Posted 18 May 2006 , 12:22am
post #11 of 11

I use photoshop elements and always sharpen the image and resize it in photoshop. Sometimes adjusting the contrast too if the image is to dark. I'd suggest reading your manual on the camera to learn about the different settings. I'm working on a few features at a time, then using those till I can remember everything and change the settings "in the field" so to speak before working on other features. Since most of my photos are of moving kids, I have to be able to change settings relatively quickly (and there's no re-taking photos for the most part). if you don't have a tri-pod, you can steady your hand on the back of a chair too for taking cake photos.

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