If most of you read my Sony story then you'll know that i have a new Digital Camera. I am still trying to figure out the settings but over all this has been a pleasant experience. I have only had it for a day now and have already pumped out a few Christmas cards and a few photos :)

I love how the camera is smaller in size but packs a huge punch. The photo resolution is 2x what I had with my old camera and the mp is 10.1 which is almost 2x better than my old camera. So here are a few examples of what I have been able to do thus far. Mind you I've only had it for a day so I can't wait to get out there and do some more shooting :)

Happy Holidays Everyone :)

If you'd like to purchase any of the cards you see here please email me at

serenity.fhogotraphy@gmail.com

After 1 1/2 years with my Sony I sadly had to put her down. While out with my fiance we brought the camera along to take some photos of our new puppy that we'll be getting on the 31st. While I was shooting I looked down and noticed. 'My shutter buttons gone!' Lucklily enough it was right by my foot but what I didn't realize is that there was a spring attached to it. So I put the button back on and it worked for the remaining photos.

It was a disappointment because I knew I'd have to either get it fixed or say bye bye. First things first is I checked out my warranty. Bingo I bought a 2 year warranty and still was under it. First thing I thought was *Thank gosh!* second thing I thought was *Oh NO I leave for the holidays in 3 days!*

I called up Staples and spoke with the Technology department. After much stress and argument I was told that my camera would not be covered because it was physical damage.. Physical damage to something that just popped off. Right... I was beginning to think what in gods name is a warrenty for any more. Why spend that extra 60$ if nothing is done to get it fixed.

So I decided to call the store in Ontario that I bought it from. I was greeted with holiday cheer and this time my talk with the representative was a pleasant experience. He explained to me what I should do (this other guy couldn't give me the time of day) then he said it should be covered under the warranty. So I had one that said Yes and one that said NO. Time to hit phase three, the internet and find out if this was an existing problem with the DSC-H2 and possibly older or newer models. Bingo I just typed in DSC-H2 Button problems. And I had a ton of hits on the shutter button falling off.

I did some reading up and was finding this to be a trend that was noticed in the H1,2 and 5 model. So needless to say I didn't think it was a user error more of a manufacturing error.

I didn't find it fair that I rip into a Staples employee about a product that they stock. Rather I thought why not go to the source. So I thought I'll call Sony Canada to see what can be done and notify them of this problem since they didn't have it on their site. Easy task right? WRONG. I had a heck of a time finding the USA number let alone the Canadian number for customer service. So I ended up calling the States number to ask for the Canadian number.

So on went my search for a cure to my sick camera. I spoke with a female representative. And let me warn all you sony product holders if you ever have anything wrong with your products do not expect great customer service. I spoke with the lady and told her about my findings including that this was a known issue with many of the camera holders. To my surprise she said "Well your reading that on forums. That doesn't count". That doesn't count! You have people with your product with the same problem and your telling me it doesn't count. Then I think well no wonder why you don't know because people only end up calling the places they bought the unit from in my case Staples and don't bother to go a step further. So of course your company wouldn't hear about it because your not getting the calls about it. She proceeded to tell me they would view it as physical damage and that it was a user error not a manufacturing error.

Here I'm thinking. 'wow there's a special way to press a shutter button now? User error you need press the button to get it to work.' I had no damage done to the shutter button to indicate any kind of physical damage or even user error since the button and the prong were intact and unharmed in any way.

I would like to say to anyone with this particular model of camera either the H1,H2 or H5 that you call sony immediately if you have experienced the same problem as I have. The lady said because there haven't been enough complaints about this issue there won't be an advisory put out.

I ended up going to Staples to find out if indeed something could be done. The technician looked it over and wow.. there was no physical damage done to either the body of the camera or the shutter button. In the end my 2 year warranty with Staples puled through. They ended up buying me out and I bought an entirely new camera. However I learned my lesson. I steered clear of the Sony and went for Kodak. Can't beat that.

What I am going to do is still write a formal report and send it in to Sony. Along with a ton of forum people saying they had the same problem and why this hasn't been addressed. Just because I got the problem fixed by staples doesn't mean that some other poor consumer is strapped with having to buy another camera after spending close to 300 on their old one.

I will warn ANY sony Camera users that the button is not cased within the housing of the camera like most brands do. I was curious and I took a look at their new Cybershot the H10 and whod have thunk they have the same button set up as the H2. The only thing keeping it in is a spring and the button itself. Be very weary about this and if you have any problems please do what I'm doing to get them to change their shutter buttons changed. Remember no shutter button = no pictures. By the time we brought the camera to staples the camera wouldn't take photos.

The staples guy told me for every 100 people with this problem only 1 person is heard. So one voice accounts for 100 people. Please don't hesitate to call or to send in your formal complaints with them just because the customer service department says no doesn't mean that this information is being shared with the higher ups. I would hate to see someone in my situation not end up as lucky as I was and end up being without a camera.

Best of luck to you all.

Amanda

After doing my research I then ventured off on my way to creating the right photo.
So here is my brief tutorial on how I created my first eye catching photo :) (no pun intended)


Prep for the photo:
First I headed off to the bathroom to gather some make up. For reference sake this is the exact eyeshadow I used.
I just used the gold on both my lid and upper brow. This is just so I got the shimmer effect. I can be done with any eye shadow that has that sparkle appeal to it so that when you take the photo you maintain that specific texture to it. I made sure it was applied on semi thick. I also had a smaller brush which allowed me to place a very thin line just under my bottom lashes. I then applied mascara.

Photo Time:

I took my camera and went into the bathroom since that was the place where I was going to get the most consistent lighting. Shadows can always be achieved through Photoshop. (I will discuss later in the blog. ) Know that the first photo you take isn't going to be the number one photo then again it could be. It took me about 30 shots to get the one I finally liked. Try different angles. The thing I felt that helped me out was doing it in the mirror. (Much about being the photographer often requires that you get at least some what a look at what your shooting.)
So what I did was held the camera at an angle so it didn't shadow any of the light coming from the mirror. A few of the pictures turned up horrid but I made it :) BTW I didn't use a flash and set my camera to natural settings and indoor lighting (so to not get the picture looking orange remember if you ever want that effect it's better to do that in photoshop that way you can control it to a degree)

Lets get on with it already!
Alright alright so here is the original.
Notice how there aren't many shadows on this photo and how you can see the texture of the eyeshadow. Some photographers like shadows I do too but with close ups like these and something that I intend to manipulate I like to have it as 'clean' as possible and add in what I want.

I then went into photoshop and started picking apart the photo.
Step 1. I first started with fixing up the photo. I duplicated the photo twice. It's always good to have a reference point and to leave the original photo untouched.

Step 2. So with the second layer I took the photo and did the following:
Image -> Adjustments -> Black and white . I then played with the settings till I saw a smoother looking photo. This is your chance to fool around with the settings to see what you get.
Be reminded that usually if you make bigger changes it will tend to get noisy (look dusty) So keep the changes to a semi minimum.

Step 3. After the photo has been changed in the side tool bar you'll find the following. Set the grey photo to overlay and change the opacity till you come up with a photo that has a bit of color to it and so it isn't entire black and white.


Again adjust the photo till you have enough color that you want but still enough le way to add your own colors later on.

*Again I want to remind you this will be a brief tutorial. I don't want to give away all my secrets but give you enough to get started and to allow yourself to explore Photoshop and make your own photo yours :).

Step 4. Make a new layer and put it on top of everything else. Choose a brush with the color you wish to bring out in your photo. For me it was a orangy gold. I chose a brush with 0% hardness. I followed the line of the lid and did a small portion above the lid.

Step 5. Then I chose a eliptical marquee tool and then feathered the circle 15% (note do this before you use the tool) Then circle around the iris . After you have done this press ctrl+j for mac users cmd+j. This should duplicate only the eye for you.

Step 6. This is the part you get to have fun on. Go to
Image -> Adjustments-> Hue and Saturation. Only change the hue you should notice the photo take on various colors. Once you've reached the color of your choice click ok.
Step 7. For this step repeat the overlay as in step 3 again change the overlay to increase or decrease the effect as you see fit.

This is what my photo ended up looking like after I had done the following steps. Again you photo won't look the same as you have made it your own project right?


Step 8. I then ventured into adding shadows t the photo so that it would have more of a dramatic effect.





If you notice there is an arrow at the bottom of each tool. If the hand isn't chosen then hold the button down till you see this option.

Select the hand (burn tool)



After you select the burn tool turn the opacity down a tad to 80%. Start using the burn tool to bring out the edges you want. It should give the effect of a shadow. Add them where you see fit.

This is what my end product turned out as. How did you do? If you are having any troubles please don't hesitate to post any comments with your concerns and I will post a reply with the best answer I can give you. Remember I dont' want to give away all my secrets.


And this is the Final product.

Camera Model/Type Research.


Looking to find what cameras may be right for you but don't know where to start?
Look no further.

As an amateur photographer my primary goal was to find a camera which would be suitable for my needs. However it was so hard to find material which would help an amateur such as myself out. By material I mean something that speaks plain English and doesn't get into all the fancy yaber jabber to start off. I'm more of a picture girl, I like to take the camera and take a few photos to see how well I like it. Mind you I'm not really testing out its full capabilities but that's ok. That will all come with knowledge later on.

As stated before I'm not nor do I pretend to know all about photography. I just simply like to take photos, with time i've slowly acclimated myself to some basic terminology one should know when starting out. I'll get into that a little later on and will probably use another journal entry dedicated solely to that information.
Now back to the topic at hand Digital cameras. Well there are two types that a person can choose from. Perhaps the most popular one right now would have to be the Digital SLR and the other is a Digital Range finder.

Digital SLR.

Ever wonder what in the heck SLR really means. I remember hearing that for the first time and I thought "hmm very fancy". Still didn't have a clue what it meant. And to all the car fans out there no it doesn't mean the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster. The acronym SLR stands for (Single-Lens Reflex). Still not ringing a bell eh? It didn't for me either. Again I thought "hmm very fancy". Through research I found that the SLR is so 'fancy' because of how it works internally minus the nice big lenses you see. The main thing you need to know as a beginner is that this camera gives you some pretty crisp details and more ability to make the photo the way you the artist sees the scene. There are two types of Digital SLR's there is the fixed lens this kind is where the lens is in most terms there to stay. If you go online you'll notice that there are separate lenses for sale those lenses are designed for the Interchangeable lens SLR.
Below is a breakdown of what happens when you look through the camera to the shot actually being taken and what processes the image goes through. This picture Adapted from: Digital SLR Cameras and Photography for Dummies.




I know what you're thinking. What are all of these components. Well as I said I'll get into them a bit later on.
As you can see to capture the actual picture it goes through a pretty complex array of components.
There are many kinds of SLR's out there. A personal favorite of mine, well it's really my only favorite since it's the only one I've tried is the Nikon D80.

First let's start off with the different brand names available to users.

Nikon
Cannon
Olympus
Pentax
Sony

Best Entry Level Cameras (List provided by whichdigitalslrcamera.com)

· Nikon D80
· Canon XSi
· Canon EOS XTi
· Pentax K200D
· Pentax K10D
· Sony Alpha A100K
· Nikon D60
· Nikon D40x

Most beginners have had enough with their regular point and shoot models and are ready to switch over to SLR's. If you are looking to really get serious into photography I must strongly suggest getting one of these cameras. That is when and if you have the money available otherwise if you look below you'll find a few point and shoot models that will suffice until you are able to afford the cameras. I must say all my photos that are posted have all been done with an Point and shoot digital camera.

Digital Range Finder

The Digital Range finder might seem like a name most have never heard of before. To be honest I hadn't until I started my research. Well you'll be very happy to find that the Range Finder is just another fancy name for your point and shoot cameras. Point and shoot aren't as precise and you can't get as high resolution out of most to date cameras with some exceptions. I am currently using a point and shoot as stated before. I am using a Sony Cybershot DSC-H2, I have thoroughly enjoyed using this camera and will try to hold off on getting an SLR till I've really been able to pull everything out of my camera. I want to be able to know the point and shoot inside out and use it's full capabilities. I think Point and shoot cameras are really under rated because people just don't want to take the time to figure out how things really work. With a little bit of effort you can take some pretty high quality pictures.
Here are a few high rated point and shoot cameras that may be of interest.

- Epson R-D1
- Fuji FinePix S700
- Canon Powershot A650 IS
- Kodak EasyShare Z1285


All of the cameras listed above are within a reasonable price range between $100-$500.

That's all that I have time for right now. Next topic will focus on camera terminology.

Take care all

So this blog will be dedicated to giving fellow aspiring photographers updated news and tips on photography. As I have stated before I am not a professional by any means but as I grow I would love to share my new found knowledge. I will post links and if I receive interesting questions from viewers that I feel others could benefit from I'll post it here.

So lets start off with the bare essentials.

So you walk outside and you pass a 'scene' (we'll call any objects that are worthy of photographing as a scene from here on out). You think to yourself my gosh that would be such a beautiful picture. STOP right there you just may be on to something. Many speculate that you need a high end camera to take photos. This is far from the truth, today's day in age as digital cameras and technology changes those high priced cameras really come down. The new camera you have now will be outdated by the time 6 months rolls around.All you really need is Patience and the willingness to learn everything about your camera.

Start with the user manual, many people toss this aside and forget about it (we are all guilty of doing this, as that's what I did with mine) I was so surprised to find out how much I could learn about my camera through this manual. Imagine that.. a manual containing pertinent information about the workings of your camera, who'd have thought! :).

Don't be intimidated by all those buttons they will be covered in the manual but lets also remember this is a digital camera. Which means it's pretty much error proof. You take a faulty picture that is blurry and no good well guess what .. you can delete that right away. I find digital cameras to be such a blessing for the aspiring photographer. You can really use the trial and error trick. Don't be afraid to tinker with the settings you can always delete the photo if you didn't get the effect you wanted. With tinkering also comes a better understanding of your camera. Lets think of it this way, you remember when you were a little kid and Little Jimmy said "I wouldn't jump in the water if I were you." What did you do then. That's right you came out of the water a few minutes later soaked to the bone with a grin on your face. A few days later you have the sniffles. If only you'd had listen to Jimmy. But by learning through personal experience that lesson stays ingrained in our minds. We were there, we actually experienced the consequences and what happened when that action was took . This is the same philosophy when taking photos if you muck up take a look at everything that attributed to that faulty photo. You will learn much faster what not to do and what to do through your own personal experience with your camera than you could have ever learned through a book.

So I bet your wondering well what if I have a standard point and shoot. You know one of those regular digital cameras that many people have. Don't fret you have a camera right? So start taking pictures. Just because it's a standard model doesn't mean you can't get some quality shots. We work with what we have and more often than not we can achieve some stunning results. But we all must have what.. Patience! I can't stress that enough. Understand in the beginning your not going to make millions off of the first few photos you take. It would be nice though wouldn't it. As you learn more you will notice your 'eye' (this is a term used for photographers who have an eye for photos and for different scenes) will expand and you will be picking up on more photo opportunities.

So I leave you all with this. Go out have some fun and take some photos be it inside or out. There's a world of beauty and fun just waiting to be discovered.

I encourage any feed back or any tips you yourself have to offer. Please don't be shy feel free to leave a comment :)

Stay tuned for : Editing programs: The heartache and joys