Ah, you can do it, Idabean! First take a picture, then another picture, then another. You'll probably be able to see a little bitty photo in your camera window. Too small. Then you'll have all those photos you really want to see bigger.

So you can just figure out how to transfer them from your camera to your computer so you can look at them. Not a big deal. Just plugging in a wire and pushing a few buttons. Kind of fun, actually.

Then you'll have all these really great pictures you want to show people on GW. A bit of a nuisance, but people here will be happy to show you how. We've all been there.

And pretty soon you'll discover you've taken over 6000 photos since last November.....OVER SIX THOUSAND PHOTOS!!!!

Welcome to the club.

Claire

Gee, I hear ya! My DH bought me a digital camera for Christmas.... 2006! And I still haven't learned how to use it! He got me a quite expensive, complete manual-override camera, because he knows how much I like to have control of my photo, and how I clung on to my 25-year-old 35 mm manual camera. But it's sooooo darn complicated! I don't know why it has to be so complicated, and I just don't want to read that darn manual.

Oh sure, I've posted a few pics. My secret? I put the camera on all-automatic (exactly what I DIDN'T want, lol) and just use manual focus.

Now you've made me hang my head. You think you're bad after three weeks. I'm going on a year and a half. I guess it's time for me to learn, lol!

:)
Dee

No, Dee, you should't be hanging your head. Why, you've stood proud many times, by your own admission, as a excellent procastinator. December 06, eh?

Dee,
I am certain you can't help but agree with me now that idabean is becoming a real wise #$%**. I think she is just sewing her wild oats prior to accomplishing a work related goal. I suppose we will just have to be patient or we could try offering her some plants that would keep her busy, now lets see I have plenty of gooseneck loosestrife...it has such a pretty white flower.
idabean,
If you really get stuck call me and I'll talk you through it. I am looking forward to seeing some of your photos. kt

Ida, are you coming to the swap? Bring your camera on the 7th and I will show you how to use it!

WG

LOL, Katy! Ah yes, but I have to admit Idabean is right - I'm just doing what I do best: procrastinating!

You know, I was considering coming up to the swap on the 7th if I can get the day off. What I should do is read that darn manual from cover to cover, learn that darn camera inside-out, and show up and be the "Official Photographer of the 2008 Spring MA Swap". That would do it, lol. But of course, I won't, so who am I fooling?

Sigh...

:)
Dee

Charlie Brown "Why is everybody always picking on me?" KT I will not share my toys with you when you come over to play.

I think WG has it right... everyone bring their cameras to the swap, we'll figure it out. *G*

I know how to use my camera (it's a fairly simple one). Can someone remind me to use it? I usually manage to leave it in my pocket!

deb,
Whenever i"ve traveled, I find myself not taking photos. It gets in the way of my seeing/experiencing what is there. I've taken to buying post cards, which are better quality than any thing I can shoot. For non-tourist purposes, it may be worthwhile to take the camera out of one's pocket.

Which I did today. And I read about 10 pages of the manual. And I will have forgotten it all by tomorrow morning.

I skimmed through the manual at the beginning, then ignored most of it. The camera is way too sophisticated for my needs; I just wanted a rough idea of what was in there. I only focused (pun intended) on what I needed to get a photo onto my computer.

I still can't get some of the features to work, and now that the screens are on the windows, the camera insists on trying to focus on the screen, rather than the movement outside. I've missed a lot of interesting bird shots trying to convince the camera to look farther out. The birds didn't wait. I solved that by taking the screen off one window - I just won't open that one this summer.

If I ever decide I want to use some fancy feature, I'll pull out the manual then.

There's nothing like reading a question or comment on a post, thinking "Hey, I've got that outside!", running out to take a photo, bringing it back in and posting it ten or fifteen minutes later.

I think what I'm trying to say is you should stand up to the camera on your own terms - don't get caught up in the hassle of trying to learn everything. Get what you want out of it and move on. It's just a camera, not a test.

Claire

Having the digital camera is so useful while gardening! Not just so you can share pictures with friends on GW but also for taking shots of the garden during different growing seasons, to record where plantings are like spring bulbs, to look back on for ideas of what worked and didn't work... so many things to list!

I too liked having my old 35 mm that I could adjust the settings and get the photo just right but after making the switch to a digital camera I don't think I could go back!

I started by first putting the camera in automatic mode all the time. The first thing I learned was how to turn the 'auto flash' off. I find that you get a much better photo without the flash. It was only after I used the camera for a while did I learn more of its features such as putting it into Macro mode so you can take closeups. Really if you just do these 5 things you can do a lot with your camera:

1) Putting the camera in automatic mode.
2) Learn how to shut off the auto flash.
3) Turning on the macro mode for closeups.
4) Getting the pictures off your camera to share.
5) Getting two sets of rechargeable batteries and a charger.

For #4 a really simple option is to buy a USB device that you can connect to your computer all the time and then put the 'memory cards' from the camera into this device. The memory card reader device acts like another disk drive. This saves you from having to hook your camera up to your computer to get the photos off it. These memory card readers are priced from around $12 to $25 and highly worth it!

Marie, I agree with what you said about the camera interfering with experiencing the moment. I'm always amazed, especially in this age of cell-phone cameras, with how people are so intent on getting that darn picture that they don't enjoy the moment "for real".

Claire, that's the main motivation I have for learning my camera - that fact that I'll read a post here or have a question to post here, and want to run outside and take a photo to put on the thread.

Sue, I just saw one of those USB devices this morning for the first time. What a coincidence that you mentioned it. I think they are great and I'm going to hopefully get one this weekend. Seems like a handy device, and perhaps will encourage me to take some more photos.

:)
Dee

Hi Dee,
The USB memory card reader is so useful... definitely recommend getting one. A couple of other things I like about it is that the speed of transfer is much faster than using the camera, it doesn't burn up your camera batteries, and you can delete the images on the memory card just like you do with other files on your computer so it is easy and fast versus deleting them using the camera's delete button. I didn't want to mention these as I didn't want to overwhelm idabean with too many details.

Sue

Another idea for people wanting a little push to get going with your digital camera: I've noticed the local libraries in my town and neighboring towns offer a 1 night 'Bring your camera and we'll help you get going workshop'. In two cases these classes were free so worth checking out. May be that you'll have to wait until fall as I don't know how many classes run like this during the summer. Just ask at your library or town recreation department or another place to try is adult ed.

Sue,
A number of years ago I took a workshop with Nikon that was specific to the camera functions the one thing that they drilled into us over and over is you never want to delete images either from on line or your camera, rather you want to reformat your card. This I believed was based on the future integrity of the camera hard drive. This of course could be brand name specific and I mention it only because they were so insistent. kt

All right, people, I'm bringing my camera to the swap and hope to pick up a quick tutorial on the "quick and dirty" approach to taking pictures in the garden.
Believe me, I'm not very worried about being overwhelmed because even though this cost a pretty penny (by our standards) I'll just forget about using it rather than feel obligated to learn it or use it. It's the same approach to housecleaning: if it has the prospect of being overwhelming, forget about it!

I really hope to learn to use it for gardening. I was pretty excited to see it has a panorama feature.

Anyone have the mid price model of Nikon Coolpix?

I'm happy this little thread took on a life. Some great hints that others are benefitting from too.

Thanks, everybody.