Tag: HelpLine

Q) A lot has been written about the amazing things that can be done with plug-ins. PCPhoto has given me a lot of great tips as I’ve been learning more and more about using layers in order to fine-tune my digital images. I’ve become fascinated by what I can do with filters when editing my images. So now I’m wondering about whether I even need any filters when I take my digital photographs.

Q) In Windows XP, I have many subfolders defined for basic photo organization; however, I like to rearrange thumbnails in the folders as one would in a photo album. But I find that Windows often rearranges the thumbnails after I’ve spent a lot of time organizing them. I’ve tried turning off auto arrange, but it seems to happen anyway. I’ve tried arranging on type, etc., instead of name, but that doesn’t seem to help. Turning off auto arrange also interferes with organizing the photos in the first place. Is there some way of stopping Windows XP from reorganizing subfolders after they have been organized? Thanks for your help.

Q) I’m trying to figure out how the exposure compensation works on my digital SLR. It doesn’t seem to affect the metering. Am I using it the right way, or is there a problem with my camera?

Step Up To A Larger Filter

Q) I’m about to purchase a 28-75mm lens for use with my digital SLR. It has a 67mm diameter lens; however, I have a 77mm circular polarizer that I would like to use with the new lens. I also plan to purchase a 67-77mm step-up adapter so that I can use these larger filters on the smaller lens. My question is, how will the quality of the image be affected by not using the exact size filter required, i.e., a 67mm polarizer on a 67mm lens?

Q) On my camera, I have the option of erasing my images, formatting my memory card and doing a low-level format of my memory card. Which should I be doing?

Q) I just bought my first digital SLR; actually, it’s my first SLR, too. I’ve been spending nights and weekends trying to learn all of the various features, but there’s one feature that I’m just not getting. Depth-of-field preview doesn’t seem to work—all it does is make the viewfinder darker.

Q) Red-eye has been a problem that I thought might go away with my new camera. I talked to someone and they were talking about red-eye reduction and red-eye correction. When I took a picture, they said that my camera didn’t have red-eye reduction because the flash only fired once, but my manual says it does. What’s going on?

Q) I read your HelpLine column a few months back about photographing fireworks. Thanks for the tips. I really like the shots I got, but I’m wondering about overexposure. Also, the center of many of the fireworks seemed to be just plain white with no color. Was I exposing wrong?

Switching Hard Drives

Q) I had to replace my C drive and, as a result, reload all my software. This meant resetting preferences in my programs, etc. I had spent considerable time in Adobe Bridge classifying my pictures in various categories. Now that I reloaded CS2 and Bridge from scratch, those categories are “lost.” I have the old C drive set up so I can access some of the information on it. Is there a file I can copy from the old drive onto the new drive that would restore my categories in Bridge?

Q) I appreciate your recent advice on keeping files backed up (the June and September issues of PCPhoto). I’d add one more caution: If you’re using an automated backup program (i.e,. one running automatically on a schedule), be sure that the program is actually running and that there’s still room on the drive to which you’re backing up...

Compatible Savings

Q) Often, I work with transparencies, making  a montage by cutting parts of a photo in Photoshop and mixing them with other shots. Sometimes, I can’t see them in other programs such as ACDSee or Bryce. Instead of the picture with the transparency, I see a black square in which it says: “This layered Photoshop file was not saved with a composite image!” I just can’t figure out what I did wrong and why it’s different from my other transparencies! How can I change these files into “composites”? I’d immensely appreciate your tips to resolve this problem!

Q) You mention the importance of backing up files frequently.  I’d like to share my solution to this “problem.” The cost of external drives has been going down as the size of these drives has been going up. (I recently purchased a 500 GB drive for about $200.) I do an automatic backup of my critical files to this external drive every day...

Q) I’ve been playing around with the macro feature on my compact digital camera. I have some nice shots, but now I’m trying to work with a flash. All of the shots I have so far are pretty disappointing. The right edge of the scene always seems to miss the flash. What can I do?

Q) My son will be playing varsity basketball this coming senior year. I started shooting his basketball games a year ago and have gotten some good images. I know they don’t want flashes going off under the basket during games. I’ve seen some photographers use strobes mounted high up, at least 15 or so feet in the air on special tripods. They usually have two set up, one on each corner of the basket and fired wirelessly. What do you call these contraptions? Where can you buy them? What’s the best setup for a Canon EOS 5D that I’m thinking of buying?

Q) When I bump up the ISO setting in my camera, am I changing its sensitivity? If it does, couldn’t I just leave it there and adjust my aperture or shutter speed?

Q) My new lens came with a weird-looking lens shade. When do I use it? I’m told I should use it to avoid flair with the sun. Is that the only time?

Q) I feel kind of silly asking this question, so I thought I would send you an e-mail and plead that you keep my last name out of it. Someone recently talked to me about a video tripod. Isn’t a tripod a tripod? I suppose there’s something to do with weight with some of those bigger video cameras, but some are pretty lightweight, too. So my “stupid” question: Is there such a thing as a “video” tripod?

Q) I’m shooting RAW and my friends tell me to ignore white balance because I can fix it on the computer. Is that right?

Capturing Fireworks

Q) I thought I’d try to experiment with taking pictures during the 4th of July fireworks displays this year. A friend thought I should use film to do this. I’m thinking that I should be able to use my digital SLR. Who’s right? And what’s the best way of photographing the fireworks display?

Q) Since I’ve been using my digital SLR, I’m getting more and more worried about dust. I’ve noticed some of the newer cameras have some sort of dust-removal feature. I’m not able to get one of the newer cameras right now. What’s the best way to avoid getting dust in the camera?