Second Own Photo

[letumgo]

Vicki has made some really important points.

1) Ample light is key, either natural sunlight or artificial lights. Most digital cameras have settings that optimize the photos for different light sources. In otherword, if you look in your manual, you should find instructions on how you can choose settings for sunlight, incandescent light, shade, etc. The camera will then adjust the image to give you the best exposure for a given light source.
2) Clearn macro photos require a very stable camera. Using a tripod will certainly help, but you still have to give the camera a second to focus. My wife has a really difficult time with this aspect of digital photograpy. She learned on a traditional film camera, which seemed to be more forgiving in terms of the little pause while the camera focuses. Get the camera as stable as you can, and then remember to press the button slowly - allowing the camera to focus on the fly. When you see the little green box (or whatever system your camera uses to indicate it has focused), then gently press the button to capture the image. Another option you could consider is using the setting that allows a time delay (5 to 10 seconds) after the button has been pressed (usually looks like a little clock in the settings icons). This will allow you to remove your hands from the camera so that it is rock-solid stationary when the image is captured.
3) Pratice-practice-practice. One of the great things about digital photograph is the ability to instantly see if your photo came out or not. This gives you instant feedback on what works and what doesn't work. If it doesn't work, just delete the image and try something else. It shouldn't take you long to come up with a method which give good results.

As far as software is concerned, I recommend Google's Picasa photo editing software. It is free and very easy to use. It will have all of the tools you need to adjust/crop/straighten images afterwards.

LINK TO GOOGLE PICASA SOFTWARE:
http://picasa.google.com/intl/en/

[DOUGSDEN]

Bill,
Another stunning pattern from your parlor...Wait! I have the receipe and I have the orig. pattern. It's remarkable too! Bill, I will PM you the pattern receipe!
Dougsden

Keep'm coming Bill! They are fantastic!