I'm having the same problems, Annette......my camera just won't focus if I get too close and just won't take the photo.....thought there was something wrong with the camera but as soon as I zoom out a bit and it focus's it's good to go. Your photo is gorgeous though.

scoutannie. use a duplicate of that first image and use your crop tool and crop into it. your first image is sharper than the second image, so when you crop into it, and the part of the baby you've kept in the crop will be bigger.

doest that make sense.

Jade. I only have a small Internet allowance each month, so I cant really accept your image. try this tho.

open your image in PS.

duplicate it.

on the top of the image is the little blue bar with the image name in it. right click on that.

left click on image size.

make sure all 3 tick boxes are ticked for scale sizes, constrain proportions, resample image.

where is says pixel dimensions go for 400 on the biggest number.

you may need to drop the resolution to 72 pixels/inch, but try just the first bit first.

make sure you are doing the resizing on a DUPLICATE so you're not mucking around with the original.

good luck.
tiff

By PS do you mean Photoshop? Im on a Mac using iPhoto so none of that makes sense lol the only thing I have in all of that is constaint, that's okay I'll just have to pass on the comp :'(

dont pass Jade. google how to resize for web using IPhoto and find a tutorial.

I'd really hate for you to miss out. Think of it as a personal challenge.

go for it girl.

t

Damn Macs! Will do!!

Okay so did it the long way but hopefully this works! Can you please critique, I haven't had this camera (Canon EOS 550D) long and have absolute no idea how to use it, but want to get into photography

Photo 2

Ok so I am a bit late to the party but thought I would share my shots too

whooooohooooooo Jade. you did it. worked Iphotos resizing too I see.


now the critique as requested...

droplets on the leaves. awesome colour chook. so lush. the focus is a little soft on the water droplets. If you used auto focus, its grabbed the edge of the top right leaf which is sharp and not the droplets. Can you move around the focus points you see in the viewfinder or on the screen. (check your Manuel) Put one of them on the main (biggest) water droplet so that is the sharpest part of the image. I would also turn the camera around in the up and down position (portrait) as that is the way the leaf runs. You can also crop into the leaf when its up on your computer screen to get much closer. You do need to have a pin sharp image for that otherwise an image that is soft will look much more out of focus when its bigger.

The 'succulent' image is very busy. There is no focal point and my eye wanders everywhere to find a spot to settle on. Simplicity is the key to macro. try just one branch of the plant instead of so many, and get in close.

cheers.
tiff

Annette and Deb. The reason why your focus wont grab when you are close to your subject is that the lens needs a certain amount of room before the auto focus works. Every lens has their own certain space before it will let you take the shot.


** HANDY TIP **
On every Canon lens it actually tells you its 'focusing distance' This is the minimal space it needs between the lens and your subject. Look for a circle with a line thru it and a number with mm after it. Its usually written near the brand name, the type and length of lens info.

eg, my macro says the circle symbol and 58mm. That means I can get as close as 5.8cm to my subject for the lens to work. Any closer, I press the shutter button and it wont take the shot.

I'm not a Nikon, Pentax or other brand girl, so I hope you can find that on your lenses as well.

So if you're too close, lean back or step back just a little bit, rezoom, refocus, take the shot.

hope that helps
t

Thanks for that, Tiff. I have a new camera and was getting a bit worried.....I will have a looksie at mine now.

Yep, Nikons have the same. I might have to try with the smaller lens as the big one needs 1.1m.

I had a go at cropping the photo but think I still need to work on the focus. I'll have another go tomorrow if James is up fo the playtime!

Sorry for the bomb bardment, but is this a better shot? Or still not quite right?

My Canon lens says 6.2 - 18.6mm 1 2.8 - 4.9
The manual says:
. Maximum wide angle setting: 38x28 mm
Minimum focusing distance 3 cm
. Maximum telephoto setting: 110 x 82 mm
Minimum focusing distance: 30 cm
I can't make any of those numbers go together, but I reckon the book is right (3cm)

you're right. 3cm it is.
to make sense of those numbers I think its like this.
6.2-18.6mm - this sounds like a extra wide angle lens. Am I right??
the 1 2.8 - 4.9 is your minimum f stop. this being f2.8 or f4.9 depending on the conditions your using the camera.

tiff