How to take a good pic with a fujifinepix s9600

[Cav]

I've borrowed my brother in laws camera to try and get some decent shots of my tank.

Got some great ones of the dog but every time I try to take a pic of my tank all the pics look really blue and I the colours of the corals don't come out at all:(

Getting really frustrated now. I know the camera can take some great pics as i have seen some of the ones the bro in law has taken so why can't I capture the colour of my tank correctly?

[Alastair]

Very common problem..

Fix the white balance in GIMP/Photoshop/Lightroom/etc.. or try and set the white balance manually in the camera. I prefer to do it afterwards (it's pretty straight forward in GIMP or Photoshop using the Levels tool), you may prefer to set it in the camera.

Post up a photograph (preferably with a link to a full resolution version as well) and we can see what we can do..

[Cav]

How do I set the white balance on the actual camera as I don't have any photo software:o

[Alastair]

.. try reading the manual, the method varies between manufacturers and models.. saves me googling for a copy of the manual and pasting the relevant bits.. ;)

GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) is a free image editor, very powerful and does pretty much everything that Photoshop does.

[periclimenes]

Essentially you take a pic of something you want to produce a white image of and tell the camera that this image is your reference point for white: you're associating the white subject with a white image. You don't need any software.

[Reef bloke]

Dont suppose you have changed the colour balance in camera at all without knowing it?

[Alastair]

Coming back to this thread again.. but why not ask your brother-in-law.. if you turn your last paragraph the right way round you'll see why this is a good idea.. I'm sure your brother-in-law would be more flattered to read:

"I know my bro in law can take some great pics as i have seen some of the ones he has taken with this camera so why can't I capture the colour of my tank correctly?"

It's a very common misconception that the camera take good pictures and forget it's the person operating the camera that is responsible for how good the pictures are. And if you're brother in law is able to use his camera well then he's going to be the person to ask how.


Anyway.. this thread is now almost a month old.. did you get anywhere with the white balance? either in post using software or setting the white balance in the camnera?

[Cav]

Got no where with the white balance. My brother in law just shoots everything on auto, I tried that and numerous other ways but still couldn't get it right.:(

Camera has gone back to him now. Will have to borrow it again at some point with the instructions.

[Alastair]

As I said earlier.. make a photo you took with it available and I'll have a go at the white balance for you.. it's pretty easy to do.