Nigel, photography question:

[Doktor Howl]

I keep trying to take pictures of the Catalina Mountains from the Lambert Street Pass, which is about 10-12 miles away, but gives you an excellent view.

Problem:  Stupid digital camera doesn't capture the colors of the mountains at sunset.  It's all muted.  Is there any way to get around this without going back to a film camera?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I keep trying to take pictures of the Catalina Mountains from the Lambert Street Pass, which is about 10-12 miles away, but gives you an excellent view.

Problem:  Stupid digital camera doesn't capture the colors of the mountains at sunset.  It's all muted.  Is there any way to get around this without going back to a film camera?

What model of camera do you have? There should be a setting for taking pictures of backlit landscape.

[Doktor Howl]

I keep trying to take pictures of the Catalina Mountains from the Lambert Street Pass, which is about 10-12 miles away, but gives you an excellent view.

Problem:  Stupid digital camera doesn't capture the colors of the mountains at sunset.  It's all muted.  Is there any way to get around this without going back to a film camera?

What model of camera do you have? There should be a setting for taking pictures of backlit landscape.

I have an ancient Canon PC1156.

I will check in the incomprehensible menu.  Instruction manual walked with Jesus ages ago.

Thanks.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hmmm. If it's any help, the landscape setting usually is a tiny picture of mountains, and the backlit setting is usually a tiny sun.

[Doktor Howl]

Hmmm. If it's any help, the landscape setting usually is a tiny picture of mountains, and the backlit setting is usually a tiny sun.

Thanks.  Anything will help.

I may buy something more modern, anyway.  This thing's about had it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Amazon has an absolutely killer deal on a Canon that's supposed to be really fantastic:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B002LITT3I/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

This is the camera I want to buy to replace my aged and decaying Nikon for bead pics.

[Doktor Howl]

Amazon has an absolutely killer deal on a Canon that's supposed to be really fantastic:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B002LITT3I/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

This is the camera I want to buy to replace my aged and decaying Nikon for bead pics.

Can't see that from here, but I'll check it out at home.   

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

I keep trying to take pictures of the Catalina Mountains from the Lambert Street Pass, which is about 10-12 miles away, but gives you an excellent view.

Problem:  Stupid digital camera doesn't capture the colors of the mountains at sunset.  It's all muted.  Is there any way to get around this without going back to a film camera?

Solution: Shoot in RAW. Use an HDR program to allow everything to be appropriately exposed. Shooting in diverse lighting can be difficult/impossible sometimes without doing this. If you don't have a camera that can shoot in raw, bracket the shit out of your shots and pick the best one.

Also, if you don't mind spending the extra cash: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-XS-Digital-18-55mm-Black/dp/B001CBKJGG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1269031547&sr=1-2

An entry-level SLR is a good buy if you're willing to take the time to learn how to shoot and have a little extra cash.

[Doktor Howl]

I keep trying to take pictures of the Catalina Mountains from the Lambert Street Pass, which is about 10-12 miles away, but gives you an excellent view.

Problem:  Stupid digital camera doesn't capture the colors of the mountains at sunset.  It's all muted.  Is there any way to get around this without going back to a film camera?

Solution: Shoot in RAW. Use an HDR program to allow everything to be appropriately exposed. Shooting in diverse lighting can be difficult/impossible sometimes without doing this. If you don't have a camera that can shoot in raw, bracket the shit out of your shots and pick the best one.

Also, if you don't mind spending the extra cash: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-XS-Digital-18-55mm-Black/dp/B001CBKJGG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1269031547&sr=1-2

An entry-level SLR is a good buy if you're willing to take the time to learn how to shoot and have a little extra cash.

That was a whole lot of Greek, TTM.  RAW?  HDR?  SLR?

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

RAW is where the camera's sensor just takes in raw data instead of a JPG, which allows you to make more adjustments to the exposure without losing data/making the picture look shitty.

HDR is High Dynamic Range, which can do a lot of things but was intended to make photos that have a very wide range of light look close to how they look to your natural eye. Google HDR photos to see what all it can do.

SLR is a Single Lens Reflex camera, you can see what the frame will see. Additionally, you can swap out the lenses which allows you to change how wide the aperture can get. The smaller value the aperture has, the more light that gets into the sensor as the aperture becomes wider. This reduces the time the shutter needs to be open, allowing you to shoot in lower light and it also reduces how much of the picture is in focus. The higher the value of the aperture, the smaller it gets and the exposure time increases. This also allows more things to be in focus. A high aperture would be ideal for doing landscape photography (like you're doing).

If you don't want to buy anything, consider shooting at a different time. In the early morning hours or evening hours as the sun is rising or setting (with the sun facing the mountains) you will probably get a more evenly exposed photo. If you want to get the sun behind the mountains without having the mountain be a silhouette or having it underexposed, you might have to make an HDR photo.

I don't have a ton of experience with point-and-shoot cameras though, so there may be some things you can try to do with your current camera but I don't really know what they'd be.

[Doktor Howl]

Thanks.  I'm trying while it's setting.  I get great shots of the mountains, but none of the insane colors the mountains turn at sunset.

The sun is BEHIND me, ie, I am between the sun and the mountains.  I'm sorry that wasn't clear.

Your explanation shows that I am seriously out of my depth, here, and I will need to get some help on site from someone, I think.  I get royally pissed off trying to configure new computer hardware, let alone trying to learn a whole new skill set (photography) remotely.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

Nice thing about digital is, it doesn't cost you anything but time to shoot lots of pictures. I'd recommend just shooting on all of the different settings and seeing what it does. Best way to learn is to fuck around. You probably can't seriously screw anything up on a camera like that and even if you can there should be a "factory reset" or "default settings" option somewhere in there.

[Doktor Howl]

Nice thing about digital is, it doesn't cost you anything but time to shoot lots of pictures. I'd recommend just shooting on all of the different settings and seeing what it does. Best way to learn is to fuck around. You probably can't seriously screw anything up on a camera like that and even if you can there should be a "factory reset" or "default settings" option somewhere in there.

That I could do.

Especially with the antique piece of shit I have.

Only problem is, you only get the weird display for about 15 minutes.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

Keep going back, patience is one of the most important skills a photographer can develop. That's one nobody seems to mention, but even the greatest shooters get maybe 1 in 4 usable shots and that's on a good day (keep in mind, usable is a relative term).

If you don't want to repeatedly travel there, you can always practice shooting in similar conditions and when you figure out how you want to do it you can actually go there and shoot it.

[Doktor Howl]

Keep going back, patience is one of the most important skills a photographer can develop. That's one nobody seems to mention, but even the greatest shooters get maybe 1 in 4 usable shots and that's on a good day (keep in mind, usable is a relative term).

If you don't want to repeatedly travel there, you can always practice shooting in similar conditions and when you figure out how you want to do it you can actually go there and shoot it.

Got it.  I'll learn the menu first, and then just try everything.