camera settings

[the perfectionist]

I just wanted to ask what camera settings to use to best show swirls on a surface. I have a sony 5.1 mp camera. I am taking pics in direct sunlight with the sun spot in the picture. I have tried all kinds of settings, but there are so many combinations, i just can't get a good picture. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

Use the P setting with the speed and exposure set to auto. Turn off the flash. Use the zoom out to the ~50mm position.

If that does not work, you may have to adjust the aperture to a higher F value.

Make sure you focus on the sunspot in the paint. If the Auto setting does not do that in the P mode, you may have to go into a manual mode.

Give the above a try and let us know!

Tim

[RamAirV1]

Tim has good advice. The flash will definitely prevent you from photographing swirls. The P mode is a good place to start. For whatever reason some cameras may choose less than optimum shutter speed and aperture settings so if that happens, try manual mode and experiment. You will get the hang of it very quickly. That's the nice thing about digital cameras.

Another thing, depending on the camera, you may want to try macro focusing mode. The definition of macro will vary from camera to camera. For Olympus, macro is anything closer than 31 inches. Some cameras will stop down the aperture in macro mode.

RamAirV1

[OctaneGuy]

If you're garage bound and have one of those Xenon hand held flash lights you can get for $23 from Lowes, you can also get some decent shots--simply by choosing the right angle. In my case, I also put the camera in flower (closeup/macro) mode and had the flash off and set exposure to Auto.







Camera is a Nikon Coolpix 4300 point and shoot

[the perfectionist]

Thanks guys for you advice. I will give it another try. I'm doing a really cool experiment with a junkyard hood and the pictures need to show the swirls.

[Xtreme99_s-Dime]

if its an indoor shot like the one in the picture with a lightbulb, get a tripod, and set your shutter speed to as long as you can make it and still get the right exposure. It may be dificult with a point and shoot camera, but you'll get it.

Why is it that detailers are also into photography? Maybe because they have to make their beautiful cars as beautiful as possible in the photos....

Stevo