How to take high quality pics, in a small space

[The Dude]

So to keep it under 2 mb and then some, how do I go about taking great quality pics. I never know how to set my camera or camcorder to take the best quality pics with out taking a lot of space. I just all ways set the settings to the highest setting, does doing this make the image take more space. Is there a happy medium.

[NBPK402]

You can take a high rez pic and then upload it to a online service like Photobucket (which is free) and then resize it to whatever size you want and then just post the link in the thread.

[The Dude]

You can take a high rez pic and then upload it to a online service like Photobucket (which is free) and then resize it to whatever size you want and then just post the link in the thread.

How much different is this from re sizing in windows paint.

[mustang guy]

I like FastStone Photo Resizer. It can batch re-size into a new directory with a new file name for when you want to share or upload etc. This way, I can retain the original image in case I want to crop something important out of it and still have some resolution.

[JL Sargent]

I use my camera on "small" all the time and save some great pictures at only 1.6 mb. These are really nice and can be printed on 8"x"10 paper with outstanding results. The below image is only 300kb. Caught my son with this expression during a soccer game. He is getting serious right here. New forum here allows up to 2mb photos. Heck, that should be plenty for a nice photo.

Edited December 16, 2013 by JL Sargent

[Rivernuggets]

You can take a high rez pic and then upload it to a online service like Photobucket (which is free) and then resize it to whatever size you want and then just post the link in the thread.

How much different is this from re sizing in windows paint.

If you're using Windows, here's another way to resize:

http://imageresizer.codeplex.com/releases/view/30247

After installation, you right-click the picture(s), then choose 'Resize Pictures'. A simple menu pops up with three different sizes to choose from. The large setting turns a ~2.5 megabyte pic into 150kbs, without making the picture small when viewing.

[Youthman]

So to keep it under 2 mb and then some, how do I go about taking great quality pics. I never know how to set my camera or camcorder to take the best quality pics with out taking a lot of space. I just all ways set the settings to the highest setting, does doing this make the image take more space. Is there a happy medium.

Every camera is different. My preference is to take my image, resize to 1000 pixels wide, leave it at 300dpi (to retain highest quality), upload them to my server and then insert the image. This gives me the freedom to not have to worry about the 2mb limit but most of my resized photos end up being well under that anyways.

Try using Irfanview. It's a Free program that is super simple to use. I have been using it as my default image viewer for many years. Simply open up your image, then go to Image>Resize/Resample and change the width to 1000 pixels and save as a new file. I just did this with a 4288 x 2848 300dpi image that was 1.28MB and when I resized it to 1000 pixels in Irfanview and kept it at 300dpi, the new file was only 163 KB.

Hope that helps.

[colterphoto1]

It's all about the glass (quality of the lens) , and the lighting. Digital folks get too worked up about file size. MPixels don't really matter that much. What you really need for good quality photos is a sufficient light source, your camera on a custom white balance to get accurate renderings (many photos are made with a mix of flash/ambient light so neither flash nor auto setting is correct). Indirect flash by bouncing light off a ceiling or large white card works well to avoid reflections. Holding the camera steady by use of a tripod is advised when taking indoor photos using ambient light only. Personally, I use my 10 year old Nikon D200 at the largest Jpeg file size which is about 4 mp, then resize for Forum and Interwebs by using Lightroom. My setting for that program is 72 dpi (which is the resolution of screens) at 10 x 10 inches maximum. This yields a file size of just a few hundred KB, which up loads quickly and is sufficient for most images that won't be scrutinized by zooming.

[ClaudeJ1]

It's all about the glass (quality of the lens) , and the lighting. Digital folks get too worked up about file size. MPixels don't really matter that much. What you really need for good quality photos is a sufficient light source, your camera on a custom white balance to get accurate renderings (many photos are made with a mix of flash/ambient light so neither flash nor auto setting is correct). Indirect flash by bouncing light off a ceiling or large white card works well to avoid reflections. Holding the camera steady by use of a tripod is advised when taking indoor photos using ambient light only. Personally, I use my 10 year old Nikon D200 at the largest Jpeg file size which is about 4 mp, then resize for Forum and Interwebs by using Lightroom. My setting for that program is 72 dpi (which is the resolution of screens) at 10 x 10 inches maximum. This yields a file size of just a few hundred KB, which up loads quickly and is sufficient for most images that won't be scrutinized by zooming.

As former Technical Editor of Rangefinder and Professional Photographer Magazine, and "being digital" since 1986, I fully concur with Mike's advice here. Plus he has some really good sample Wedding photos on his walls to diffuse the sound of his Klipsch Pro speakers! Mike knows his stuff, so pay attention.

[Youthman]

Michael is correct in his advice. I was just assuming the OP was wanting to use his existing gear, not necessarily purchasing a high end DSLR with fast glass.

If you do have a DSLR, below are typical settings I use when photographing my audio gear.

Most of the photos I share on the forum is taken with my Nikon D90 with an 18 - 70mm kit lens (not high end fast glass). I do have a 50mm 1.8 prime lens that I use when I need a very narrow depth of field.

Manually Set White Balance
ISO 200

Aperture Priority Mode

Adust aperture to desired depth of field (lower the aperture, the more blurry the background (bokeh). If you want everything in focus, try an aperture of F11)

Use a tripod

Set camera timer to avoid camera shake

Resize images to 1000 pixels wide

Add Unsharp Mask filter since resizing images causes them to be soft

Keep resolution at 300dpi and save as .jpg.

[The Dude]

I was talking about my cheap sony digital camera, I don't plan on going out and buying any high end gear(guess I never did with audio either). But I think there is some great info here. This should go with a sticky on posting pics here on the forum.