anthea50

<p>Hi Josh<br>

This may be one day late (i'm in Australia, it's Wednesday 15th July, 10.15 pm) but i've had the same issue with my workspace page too. I would say the No Words forum posts are blank, but others are showing. If go to "view your community" (i think it is called that) the forum posts are all there.<br>

Hope tha helps (as a second 'error') to go by.<br>

Cheers, Anthea :)</p>

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Hi Gerry, thanks for the tip, will see if I can get one in Australia. Cheers, Anthea :)

<p>Hi Dan, I'm new to PN too, and also trying to get my head around this issue. There is a discussion in Casual Photo Conversations under "Commenting on 'bad' photos" that you could have a look at; it covers all the things you raise, I believe. Hope that helps!<br>

My advice, especially as a newcomer, is just to give it a go! Think about what kind of comments you would like to have (i.e. comments on lighting, or composition or 'feel' of the photo) and give those. I don't comment/rate on photos from genres that i have no experience with, i stay where i feel i can offer honest feedback. You can pick which catagory of photo (macro, landscape, etc) from the drop down menu at the top of the critique forum page and just go from there! I am not put off by honest feedback by the way.....i am here to learn too!<br>

Cheers, Anthea :)</p>

<p>If i may make a suggestion (newbie that i am); my house mate (an experienced forum user) always writes his longer posts in Word first, then copy/pastes into the answer box. Saves time in the long run, if the system fails for some reason, you still have the original to re-paste. Just a thought! Anthea :)</p>

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<p>Jim, the shot was taken in JPEG, i'm very new to digital, and i must confess that i haven't been brave enough to try shooting in RAW. Point well taken, though.<br>

Patrick, you are right, and i do have trouble focusing, especially trying to decide which part of the flower to focus on! That shot was particuallary challenging as i was standing at the edge of a public garden bed, trying not to damage the foliage and leaning far forward and down to the flower! Once i get into that position i often end up with the wobbles (bad knees) so i have heaps of trouble with focus. Why are the best potential shots (you think) of flowers always the furtherest away? Its all part of the fun, i guess. If it was too easy we'd get lazy.... I will take your comments on board, thanks.<br>

Sandy, i am looking at getting a diffuser, any tips as to a good one? I'm in Australia tho, sometimes i can't get things i see recommended on PN, but any suggestions would be great!<br>

Thanks very much everyone for all the great advise and comments! Much appreciated and very helpful! I will definately be putting them into action next time i try for flower/nature shots. Anthea :)</p>

<p>Thanks again Greg, will do as you advise. And yes, digital is a far better teacher due to the immediacy of the results, I agree! :)</p>

<p >Hi all! As a newcomer to photo.net, digital photography, and online forums of any kind, I would like to put in my 2 cents worth on this interesting topic. I have only just done my first ‘rating’, although I have commented on a handful of photos from the critique forum (and put in three of my own for C&C so far). In my comments, I also tried to put positive comments in with constructive ones, and I only comment on those genre’s with which I have experience (not sports or fashion, for example), hopefully for obvious reasons! I would like to contribute to this ‘movement’, because I believe strongly in learning and developing skills. I have just been hanging back in discussions on this topic because I am still very new, although I do have some reservations about the rating system in general (the numbers vs words thing) I do appreciate it if people take the time to check my work and rate it. I would like to see some names to the rating (all but two have been anonymous) and I have only had one actual comment, because then I could thank them for taking the time etc. As it is, with anon, you are just left with the number. But I also understand why, having read some of the previous threads too before posting today. </p>

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<p >The other reason I have hung back on rating is that for one of my photo’s the rating (it was anonymous) was held back until it was reviewed because the member was new. I am only new too, so that made me hesitate more. As to Lex’s comments, maybe I make a mistake by being too open, I too said the usual ‘all comments and critiques welcome’ even though I wanted more pointed advice (on composition for example) because I felt it might make it too difficult for people. Will definitely be more specific from now on! </p>

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<p >The other observation I have made is the vast majority of photos in the critiques forum are (in my humble opinion) absolutely top rate, and couldn’t think of a single way to improving them, so a comment is all I can offer. I do have one tiny little bug bear with the rating system (apart from the numbers vs words thing) is that one rating is for Aesthetics. Not all photographs are beautiful, surely? Photography portrays life, and seen by the photographer, and not all life is beautiful. I am always reminded of the now famous shot of the naked little girl running down the road after a nuclear bomb (Hirosima?). Not beautiful, but a powerful photograph non the less. </p>

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<p >To finish off (I can hear the sighs of relief) I also think there should be a forum/section for those wanting actual critiques/comments. Until that day (if it comes) I will be happy to keep going and commenting/rating as I have time. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the opportunity for an interesting debate. Anthea :)</p>

<p>Hmm, some interesting answers, thanks! I will change the metering to spot, and give that a try. I will also try shooting in the shade, too. Thanks for all the advice, i really appreciate the quick replies! Cheers, anthea :)</p>

<p>No, although it looks very interesting! I did consider it seriously tho because i've decided i need a P&S to carry around just in case, but the EP1 is not really that, is it. Having only just bought a E-520, i feel a EP1 would be a waste of money (esp considering the cost). Don't get me wrong, I am happy to pay for quality, but the EP1 is too close to what i have now in the E-520. I am looking at a MJU 1040, something in that range.</p>

<p >Hi, this is my first time posting a question, although I have been ‘lurking’ for a little while now. Anyway, on to my issue. I was out shooting recently, and shot some flowers using Macro mode. Although I’m not new to photography, (I finally made the leap to digital in May this year), I am new to the E-520, and still learning about the pro’s and con’s of it’s various settings, so I generally start with a mode like Macro or Landscape etc., then work my way around to the manual settings, once I know what the camera is ‘seeing’ so to speak. The other variable is that I’m using a dedicated macro lens for the first time. My other oly SLR (OM10) has a Tamron 38-100 lens which also has a ‘close up’ setting in that you can shot from 1:10 down to 1:4. That set up is what I’ve been using since the early 80’s. </p>

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<p >So later on that day when I’ve downloaded the shots I’ve taken I notice a problem with the shots of the flowers. I can’t decide if they’re over-exposed, or if it’s because my camera was on Vivid picture mode (as I discovered when I checked the data). Or a bit of both? The highlights seem blown, I was shooting just after 12 pm, so maybe the sun was to strong? I checked the instruction manual, no help there, I changed the picture mode BACK to natural, but as soon as I go to the info screen, it tells me it’s on Vivid. After a bit of playing around, I discover that if I’m in Marco mode, the picture mode is automatically set to Vivid, with no option for any other mode. I have tried a few things in PS (levels, contrast) but to no avail. </p>

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<p >So my question is, is this shot look overexposed, or it is because of the Vivid picture mode? I want to learn how to avoid this situation in future! With learning all the buttons, I have yet to try exposure compensation, but will definitely be keeping away from macro mode for now! Please feel free to take the shot and see if it can be improved, although I’m more interested in not repeating the mistake, rather than fixing this one, and finding out what went wrong! Any input would be appreciated. I also hope I have posted this in the right forum, as I consider it a technical equipment related question, although it wouldn’t be a problem if this get moved to beginners questions or whatever. Apologies for the length of the post too, thanks for reading! </p><div></div>

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No idea what this is, but still had to take 'its' photo!<div></div>

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Couldn't resist posting this one....<div></div>

<p>Thanks Brodie! D'oh! I use the home key etc in Word all the time, it never occured to me that i could use them on internet pages. You can always learn something new i guess.<br>

Cheers, Anthea</p>

<p>I read all the wishes on this post with interest, and as i am a newcomer I couldn't think of any until just now! If it's not too much trouble, how about a link at the bottom of each forum thread that takes you back to the top in one go? Some threads are very long, and while I'm not complaining, (I love PN!) just wishing, it would be great just to be able to jump back to the top of the page so I can use the forum link. I hope that this makes sense, and that it is not too much to ask given all of the above suggestions. <br>

Cheers, Anthea</p>