How do you turn a picture taken with a throw-away camera to a picture that has more definition?
I took a picture of an angel figurine which is off-white in color, but the result is awful. Mostly everything blurs together. I don't have a fancy camera, and won't buy one just to take a picture of this figurine. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make this picture come out better?
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6 Responses to “How do you turn a picture taken with a throw-away camera to a picture that has more definition?”-
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Images from 1 time use cameras are by nature soft. They usually hold high speed film with a plastic lens – both spell less than stellar images. The cameras get recycled, sometimes poorly, strike 2. The scan resolution in most labs is around 2mp (that’s less than 7% the resolution of a good piece of film). Strike 3.
You could try seeking a lab that does traditional printing, but you’ll probably have problems finding one. You could try to find one that can scan the image at a better resolution – but expect them to look at you with blank stares when you ask since most people working in labs know little about the equipment outside the day-to-day operation.
Neither of these is guaranteed to produce better results since they can only print what was captured. If the information isn’t there on the negative, it can’t be created by any sort of editing.
By throw away camera I assume you mean a one time use 35mm film camera. Your only real option is to have the NEGATIVE scanned by a PRO lab. This means a DRUM scan of the negative. This can cost as much as $50 but will give you a very high quality scan which will allow a much better print than what you have now. Of course, this is assuming the original photo was taken correctly, i.e. proper lighting, correct exposure, and sharp focus. If the image is poor on the negative to begin with, then no miracle trick or procedure is going to make it magically a great shot.
steve
either have the negative scanned by a pro or if you’ve had the photo printed scan the photo an use a photo editing programme;
The first thing you have to understand about one-time use cameras (throw away types) is that the lens they use is plastic,… strike one on getting a good image.
The second thing you have to realize about them is that they are pre-focused to a specific distance so, taking something too far before the minimum focal distance will result in soft images,… strike two on getting a quality image.
The third thing you have to realize is that they use them over. That’s right. When you turn them in, the shop removes the film, sends the camera back to the manufacturer who in turn replaces the battery, film and cover so they can use it over again,… strike three against the likelihood that the plastic lens didn’t have any scratches on it when you bought it. How do I know this?… I worked in a dive shop… those underwater cameras are resold over and over.
The final reality is that you are blaming the equipment for a failure of the photographer to recognize the limitations and capabilities of the tools. My money is on the camera working to it’s potential but the person trying to photograph the figurine didn’t know what the camera could do and made wrong decisions in capturing the image.
You want to make the image come out better?… know and utilize your equipment to it’s capabilities. In other words, you don’t need a fancy camera, you just need to know how to use the one you have. Having a hammer doesn’t make you a carpenter.
Disposable camera or not, having it doesn’t make you a photographer either.
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I’ve heard of "disposable" digital cameras (though I’ve never seen one). I’m assuming however that you have a disposable film camera. Therefore I will further assume that your prints came out bad.
There are two reasons for this. Either, A.)the place where you developed your prints did a bad job printing your picture, and/or B.) you did not hold the camera steady when you took the picture (and your picture came out blurry).
If (A.), you can try taking your negatives to a dedicated photo lab. They may be able to make a better print of your photo. They can also scan it if you want. And no, you don’t need to waste money on a drum scan. You can get a perfectly acceptable medium or high resolution scan for much cheaper (drum scans are usually for serious professionals, not casual photographers, though they can get them, too)
If (B.), there is nothing you can do. You can’t make a poorly taken picture into a good one. You may be able to improve it in photoshop, but the results still won’t be ideal (and you would have to pay someone extra to fiddle with it on photoshop).
I have seen very nice photos taken with disposable film cameras. It’s not the camera, but the photographer. (although a good camera does help)
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