For flower shots a macro setting is a must. That's how I shoot all my rose pictures. Macro on and zoom in to frame the bloom how I want it. For one thing it allows me to do most of my shots standing up because I don't bend like I used to. And for another it gives me that blurred out background (like the one in Kim's picture) that I like. I tried using a black backdrop one season and hated it. Not only was it cumbersome to use but I didn't like the artificial studio look it gave everything. But I also don't want a messy bunch of stuff visible and identifiable in the background like sticks and pots and things. So I really like the more natural blurred out ones. As for reds...well...that's tough for all cameras I think. It has a great deal to do with the white balance settings, the amount of light you have and the exposure setting. Every camera is different and you have to play with yours until you find the settings that work for you. I still have problems capturing some reds but I'm getting better at it. Veterans' Honor It also helps the reds to underexpose your photos a little so the reds don't flare out. Like I said you have to play with the settings on your camera. And get a photo editing program. I have Photoshop Elements 6 which works great for me but there are lots of them out there. You can do so much in post editing to enhance your photos with only a little bit of time and effort. And besides, to post on most sites you need to be able to down size them anyway. An editing program will let you do that easily.

I need some help with my camera. I don't understand the book.

I uploaded one with higher resolution, but it is still reduced from the 2mb original photo file. I took it at 8:00am on June 18. I find red monarda 'Jacob Cline' almost impossible to photo! Orange, red and yellow are tough in summer light and I don't have a way to shade them out sufficiently for a photo.

Hi Linda, I'm not sure I'm going to be much help, but here goes. The 2240 x 1493 is an appropriate size for images coming out of your camera. You wouldn't want to change them to 640 x 480 in the camera because you wouldn't be able to print them at that resolution. So the question becomes whether or not Photobucket automatically resizes them upon uploading. I wasn't aware that they ever did this, but they must have if you remember uploading without resizing. I keep a folder on my desktop of resized photos for emailing and uploading to Photobucket and Flickr. I've never tried to upload a full-size file. However, it's easy to resize photos that are already on Photobucket. Just click on Edit (right above the image), then Resize, and follow the instructions. There's a preset 640 x 480 that you can use if you like. Hope this helps. Susan