Marty and Sherry – thanks for your compliments. I really appreciate them and glad you enjoy my photography.

Marty asked, “I am an amateur that just enjoys taking pictures. I have a Canon digital PowerShot A530 5.0 Mega Pix. How do I get the vivid colors? Can it be done with a toy camera like mine?”

and

Sherry said, “I think if I want take good pic I need go camera and good skill too.”

First of all, almost any photographer will tell you creativity comes before equipment. With out an eye for composition, it doesn’t matter what camera you have.

Second, it helps to have a camera that shoots RAW format. This provides you the ability to have full control of your picture while processing. Sure, you could compose the picture perfectly with the perfect exposure and get great images, but you can make them even stronger with a little post processing. If you shoot in JPEG, you lose some of these options.

Third, what application are you using for post processing? I highly recommend and use Adobe Lightroom (PC or MAC) or an alternative is Aperture (Mac only). I used to use Adobe Photoshop, but it was extremely slow. Lightroom is fast, great for organizing my photos, and extremely easy to use. Since I started using Lightroom, I have maybe used Photoshop a handful of time for photo merging and minor final touches.

I hope this helps!

Justin