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Along the Natchez Trace

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Photo Quality... etc

I've had more than one comment about the quality of my photos.  Or should I say, lack of quality...  Anyway, I've thought about it and since I've never known anybody personally that blogs (okay, in passing a few times)...  but no... "how do you do ....?" kind of thing.  Been pretty much on my own since day one.  

Our Monday morning walk...

I'm thinking over 90% of our time, our internet service isn't the quick, instant kind of type.  It times out a lot if I'm trying to download big files.  So...  One thing I've done is that when I'm getting a photo ready to insert it in a blog, I resize it to 72 resolution.  That's a really low quality picture.  But it's fairly fast....  doesn't bog down trying to load.

At the beach....  the inlet is still blocked by sand....  

When I download my photos, I've been using Picasa to crop and straighten.  I don't do a lot of "adjusting"...  but I'm pretty much a "point and shoot" kind of person often don't have the opportunity to set up the lighting, positioning, etc.  

At the end of the walk, we often stop at this "hole in the wall" cafe for coffee... or for me and Bill, freshly squeezed orange juice.

I brought two cameras on this trip...  my Leica V Lux 4, that has a lens with a range of  25 to 600mm.  (35 mm equivalent)  It has a stabilizer (and more important to me... it has a viewfinder) so it does fairly well for (somewhat) long distance shots.  Nope...  it won't catch the hairs  around an eagle's beak, but it's really pretty good (and lightweight) for an all-around camera.

Mexican Petunias...

The other camera I use is a Canon SX700 HS, (30x zoom).   It does not have a viewfinder...  so when I say it's a "point and shoot"...  that's mostly what I do...  outdoors there is no way I even know what it's "seeing" most of the time.  Why cameras don't have viewfinders these days is beyond me....  surely I'm not the only person who can't see what the heck is on that screen!

Weeds along a fence line....

But I can carry that camera in my pocket...  I don't worry about banging it on a fence post as I'm playing limbo trying to clamber under barbed wire...  I don't have to hold onto it as I'm wading across a stream... barely able to keep my balance anyway...  so...  it's my "don't be encumbered" camera...

An Immature White Ibis
Or... perhaps I should say...  Juvenile...
Hey, Mitchell...  you're only as old as you feel!

During the day I almost always use both cameras...  I try to pick out photos indicative of our day's activities...  yes... we walk a lot...  average 5.5 miles every day.

It was kind of chilly today...  but I had to laugh when we came back to our bungalow and saw the owner's dog decked out in this..  I promise I did NOT laugh out loud...  she (and I can only hope it's a SHE...)  looked miserable enough wearing this outfit.  I know I would have been!

Anyway... today I changed the resolution to 100 instead of 72...  it wasn't a whole lot slower, but when I tried 180 resolution it timed out before it would download.  So...  for me, it's going to have to be written descriptions more than exact photographic depictions.  Unless...  hey... maybe y'all have a way to help me out.  I'm a slow learner...  but I'm willing!


That's All For Today!








11 comments:

  1. I do about the same as you point and shoot, and resize so that they upload faster, Most people look at a pic on the computer and your blog , don't need to print them so for viewing I think is good enough for me.

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  2. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

    Personally, when I want to see more detail in somebody's picture, I like to be able to click on the photo and get a full screen version. Which I can't do when they are resized so small. For example, I click on your photos today, and they come up the same size as the photo in the actual blog post. But, today is better than yesterday when you had it set even smaller. And yes, your photos are a bit more clear today, so thanks.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  3. I resize my blog photos to 800 pixels--now I understand why yours might be fuzzy--but you do what you have to do!

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  4. I see nothing wrong with your photos. I enjoy them and your blog and as far as I am concerned, I think that you are doing an excellent job. Keep up the great work. Always look forward to your postings.

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  5. Far as I know (probably not far!) it's not the DPI that matters when you reside pictures for uploading, but the number of pixels in the image. Blogger doesn't seem to pay much attention to the DPI that your photo software sticks onto the image. For example, Janna and Mike above say they resize to 800 pixels, which means 800 on the larger dimension. Since Merikay likes to include picture at "Extra Large" size, we resize to 1000 pixels on the large dimension.

    This means that a square image tends to be a lot bigger file than a skinny one. Since you're most concerned with file size, you may want to size most images (3:2 or 16:9) to 800 but squarish ones to 500.

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  6. I thought your photos extremely excellent. I'm another who can't see a darn thing on an LCD screen outside. that's why I'd like the Canon Powershit with the rotating LCD screen. I could rotate it out of the glare so I could see. Oh gosh, I wrote Powershit, instead of Powershot. Cracking myself up. I LOVE your photos and thought they're like pro quality. Is it me, my bad eyes, maybe I need glasses? I think not.

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    Replies
    1. I use Picasa too. And Irfanview, to resize mainly, and GIMP to paint in flashed out eyes or clone over areas. All free programs!

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  7. I enjoy your blog, and your photos. Please don't lessen the number of photos, as they're still worth 1000 words, no matter the quality. You are sharing your experiences, and people are obviously appreciating it. I took an iPhone video workshop yesterday and the pixel detail was overwhelming for me. I think I'll continue to just point and shoot!

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  8. I also took an iPhone photo-taking workshop this week and the instructor said to adjust the light intensity on your screen when you're in sunlight. I tried it yesterday and it made a huge difference for visibility. He also said to take off polaroid sunglasses or else you will never see your screen. Don't know if you wear those but I do and I have to take them off. Hope this helps.

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  9. Well, that's interesting. The only photos I resize are my header shots. Never thought about resizing the pics in the actual text of the blog. Who knew?

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  10. I swear some people will complain about anything. I like your blog and pictures.. They are just fine!! For heavens sake...

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