YesBut copy first

In my blog two weeks ago YesBut its a new world, I touched upon the use of photo editing programs.I apologies, I omitted a word of caution, which I should have included in the blog.

Make a copy before you start manipulating any image. And only edit the copy never the original. Even if you have an idea in your mind of the final image you are striving for, make a copy of the original before you start and work on the copy.

There are two reasons for the golden rule.

• Sods law "if things can go wrong, they will go wrong". Unfortunatly things do go wrong when editing a photograph. If you have copy of the original you can start again (not forgetting to work on a new copy).
• There are many many images within a photograph. The joy of photo editing is bring-out hidden images. You can use copies of the original to make different images.

The photo in today’s YesBut’s Image is a cropped version of the photograph on the left.
The photographs below show a few images that can be obtained by cropping the same original photograph.













Cropping is just one of many tools available to you when using a photo editing program. The photoes below illustrates just three:

1. Cropping the original photo
2. Adjusting the cropped photos saturation (making colours more brilliant)
3. And applying one of many filters giving the saturated cropped photo a twirl.

Go on have a go. But first click here and add your suggested caption to today’s YesBut’ Image

YesBut which camera?

YesBut’s Golden Rule of purchasing:

“If you can afford it, buy the cheapest”.

Contrary to popular belief the rule isn’t entirely influenced by me being a DOWM ~ “Devote Old Welsh Miser“. If you read yesterday’s blog you will see, it is based on experience and logic.

Film or digital camera? Do they still make film?

O.K. you want to buy a digital camera. Which one should you buy?

There are two main types: Compact and Single Lens Reflex (SLR). Applying the Golden Rule, on cost consideration alone, your first camera should be a compact. SLRs cost between £250 to over£3,000 (US$500 ~ $6,000). While you can buy a reasonable compact for less than £100 ($200). Also compacts as the name implies are small and easily carried in your pocket or bag, while SLRs are bulky and heavy.

Now for the first peace of techno speak. The choice of number of pixels - pictures are made up of a number of dots (pixels), the higher the number the sharper clearer the picture. Cameras range from 1M pixel to 10M. If you are going to view your pictures on a computer a 3M pixel camera will be adequate.

That’s all the technical stuff you need to know. But, just for interest you will come across reference to “optical” and “digital” zoom:

Optical zoom - you can zoom in on the subject of you picture, without loss of picture quality - useful but not essential.

Digital zoom - the image is made to look larger but at the expense of picture quality - completely useless, you will get better results later, using a basic picture editing program on your computer.

You go to the camera shop and there are two 3M digital cameras, one costs £50 the other £80, which one to buy?

Two questions to answer:

Which one feels most comfortable to hold and handle?

How quick is their response time?

Unlike a film camera, which, when you press the button, the photograph is taken immediately. Digital cameras have a slight delay between pressing the shutter button and the picture being taken. The response delay isn’t very critical, if like on Wednesday’s blog, you are taking a photograph of a monument - its been there for 150 years and is unlikely to move in the next 3 seconds! But if you are taking action shots, its crucial. I learnt this when trying to photograph the City of London Lords Mayor Show. Nice photo of soldiers on horse back, click - delay, result a photo of a horses tail!!!

How can you measure a camera’s response time?

If you have a watch with a second hand, or a digital timer. Take a photo of the watch, pressing the button when the second hand is pointing at 12. Put the camera in view mode and you will see in the camera’s LCD screen the photograph taken ~ you will see from the photo the length of delay to when the photograph was actually taken. Choose the camera with the smallest delay. A lot can happen in 3 seconds!!

You will note the olden rule also applies for the purchase of watches - cheap watch only tells the time, no: date, stopwatch, alarm functions. It cost £5, five years ago, since purchase its had three new straps and four new batteries, but it only loses 1 second a day.

So you’ve bought your cheap camera, what next? Use it! Don’t just use it on special occasions and holidays. Its compact, carry it around with you when you go to work, shopping or on walks.

If you soon get fed up of using it, then look at the money you have saved by applying YesBut’s Golden Rule - “If you can afford it, buy the cheapest“. However, if you really get pleasure from taking photos, even a basic camera will be sufficient to allow you to learn and improve your photographic techniques. You will learn what you like photographing, and should you decide to buy a more expensive camera, the experience gained will help you with its selection.

Click here to see a photograph taken using YesBut’s cheap camera

YesBut which one?

How do you choose which computer or camera to purchase?
The idea for this blog came to me earlier in the week, when I saw litter bins full of discarded self-destructing folding umbrellas. You know the type, made in China, one gust of wind and they turn inside out with the spokes buckled.

The choice is between buying a cheap umbrella for a £1 or a good quality folding umbrella for £30. Which one would you buy and why?
In the winter a cheap umbrella might last a month. So for a six month winter period you’ll have to buy six umbrellas. That means you could buy 5 years worth of cheap umbrellas for the cost of one good one. However that has to be offset by the annoyance of an umbrella junking itself in the middle of a rain storm. So it’s a question of balance between cost and satisfaction of usage.

The choice of umbrellas is simple and a low cost investment. But how do you choose a computer, or some other piece of technical kit?

I took for ages, (and I really mean ages and ages, measured in years rather than months) to decide which computer to buy. It was like trying to run up a down coming escallator. New computers with improved specifications were being released weekly. My eyes glazed over and my mind went into comatose state on reading:

Intel Celeron-M 370 1.5G Hz chip

1 GB DDR2 RAM, 60 GB hard drive

Multiformat DL DVD +-R/+- RW

What in the name of sanity did it all mean?

Pointless asking the “expert” in the shop or even a friend for advice. There explanations just flew straight over my head.

I finally did take the plunge and bought a computer. Based on that experience I discovered the Golden Rule of Buying:

If you can afford it buy the cheapest.

That’s it - If you can afford it buy the cheapest.

But you might say, the rule should be “buy the best you can afford”. Yes but what is the best?

Let me explain:

If you are buying your first computer or digital camera, friends and acquaintances can recommend the one they use. They can eulogise on speed, compatibility, functionality etc. But these are merely words. You will not know what piece of technical kit suits you until you try it for yourself.

What is the difference between a “Dummy” and an “Expert” - knowledge. The acquisition of knowledge costs time and money.

Hence the golden rule, buy the cheapest, use it become frustrated or satisfied by its functionality. Get to know, through experience what you consider to be essential, optional and unnecessary. Become aggravated or be contented on how long it takes to boot up, or how long it takes to do things. Learn about its limitations and importantly the reasons for those limitations.

For £250 ~ US$500 you can buy a very basic PC, £350 ~ $700 for a laptop. Even if within months you become dissatisfied with it, it will never be wasted money. You can always sell it, or keep it to back up (store) your files.

PC or laptop? If you are only going to use a computer in one location in your home, go for a PC. If you want mobility of use both in your home and at other locations then it has to be a laptop.

What about buying a digital camera? That will be the subject of tomorrows blog.

But in the mean time you can help me. Click here and suggest a caption for YesBut’s Image of the day.