[m4gician]

Hey everyone,

I have a 5mp, 3x optical zoom kodak camera with no manual mode. It has auto, sport, close, far, night, and I believe video mode on the dial.

What's the best way for me to use this camera to take before/after photos of swirls and flakes?

I want to say use auto with the Flash-fill feature so I don't over expose in my pictures, but I don't know the first thing about this and I want to be able to have my website up and running by the end of the night tonight.

[adriankeith]

The only way to really get the results from your camera is to just keep shooting. I can't really give any good advice because I've never had a Kodak point and shoot camera, but I say you should just keep shooting and figure out what works best for you.

To get the swirls most people use halogens or a sun gun so if you have either give it a go. You could try using the macro feature (possibly the "close" feature) to see if you can't get the swirls in focus.

Another way to get things in focus that may be difficult is to actually put your finger where the swirls are (I know they might be everywhere but for framing sake). Putting your finger at a point well help the camera focus easier.

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions I know there are other photographers on the forum that could probably help more than myself.

[Usjdmtuner]

its a must to have good lighting.. and try to get it on a different angle... black is the easiest to get 50/50 white silver or metallic is hard.. so good lighting would really help..

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

Take as many pics as you can... that's what I do and I get a small handfull that are acceptable..

Auto mode is your friend

[m4gician]

Originally Posted by adriankeith

The only way to really get the results from your camera is to just keep shooting. I can't really give any good advice because I've never had a Kodak point and shoot camera, but I say you should just keep shooting and figure out what works best for you.

To get the swirls most people use halogens or a sun gun so if you have either give it a go. You could try using the macro feature (possibly the "close" feature) to see if you can't get the swirls in focus.

Another way to get things in focus that may be difficult is to actually put your finger where the swirls are (I know they might be everywhere but for framing sake). Putting your finger at a point well help the camera focus easier.

Hope this helps, if you have any other questions I know there are other photographers on the forum that could probably help more than myself.

Thank you, I will use my finger to frame in auto mode.

Originally Posted by Usjdmtuner

its a must to have good lighting.. and try to get it on a different angle... black is the easiest to get 50/50 white silver or metallic is hard.. so good lighting would really help..

Good to know, I hadn't really thought about it, but I'm guessing flat colours photograph well, while flakes need to be taken at an angle I guess.

Originally Posted by Deep Gloss Auto Salon

Take as many pics as you can... that's what I do and I get a small handfull that are acceptable..

Auto mode is your friend

Will do, I have the 1gb memory card for a reason right? Should I be snapping every pic at 5mp?

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

I never change the resolution of my pics.... doint know if thats good or bad

FYI Radio shack has 4gb sd cards for 24.99 right now