Tate Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 One thing I notice while admiring the great work being done by the members of this site are the quality of the photos. Some of the photos I see over in the Display Case forum could be in a magazine, they are that good. So what are your guys' methods for getting great shots? I just got a new SLR a couple months ago and I'm learning the basics of aperture, ISO, lighting and stuff. I don't have a tripod yet but I'm thinking it's a must if I want to duplicate some of the shots I'm seeing around here. I've been playing around and these are a few examples of what I can get. It's not great - I haven't had the best light when I've been taking pictures, even outdoors (it's been a gloomy January around here). In the middle shot of the Typhoon it comes out all noisy when I kick up the f-stop and ISO to bring the whole model into focus without it turning out real dark. Is the cure for that simply more lighting? Should I haul some spotlights outside on a cloudy day? Any suggestions are welcome. I'm going to keep learning this until I get it right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Daddy Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Ditto! I have been as impressed with the photography skills on this forum as I have with the modelling skills. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) I used to have the same problems, but through trial and error I'm getting a lot better (still learning) and I've found that these are the key things you need to do: 1) For a background, use a wide roll of white paper and curve it along the back so that there's no crease marks. Eliminate background distractions. 2) Always use a tripod and always use the highest f-stop (smallest) aperture your camera lens has. With the high f-stop, your shutter speed will be very slow- maybe 2 or more seconds- so you need the tripod to eliminate shake. The small aperture will also give you some decent depth of field, which is the usual killer in model pics. With the tripod, you can also leave your ISO at 100 for maximum resolution. 3) If you can, set your white balance manually. "Auto" white balance is usually quite wrong when using artificial light. 4) Use lots of light from a variety of angles. You can't get enough light and you can't get enough angles from several lights. 5) Manually focus the subject after zooming in on the object, then zoom back out. Again, auto-focus doesn't do a very good job because it averages everything. 6) Get a decent camera with a good zoom lens and you'll need a good macro lens if you want to do close-ups. Point and shoot cameras are useless. I hope this helps. If you just use the tripod and get the aperture tight with some decent light, most of your problems will be solved. Here's a couple of examples of a recent photo-shoot I did a a few days ago using this method.... Edited February 3, 2012 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Beary Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 The above post is a great tutorial on how to do it right. I would add that you can get great, ultra close up shots with the use of screw on lenses. I have a three lens kit with +1, +2 and +4 lens. I used them with the kit lens 18-55mm. Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toniosky Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) 3) If you can, set your white balance manually. "Auto" white balance is usually quite wrong when using artificial light. Balancing white level is a great tip, basically it means making the white look... white (I guess you knew that already, I didnt... <_< ) Believe me, that really makes a difference and you almost got on the pic what you got in real life. I use Photoshop for that but other software would do the job as well, but of course you need a bit of white on the picture to make adjustements. Tonio Edited February 2, 2012 by toniosky Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tate Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thanks for everything, and your tutorial was great chuck. Your F-18 pics are excellent and that's exactly what I'm going for. I'm going to get my hands on a tripod ASAP. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) Balancing white level is a great tip, basically it means making the white look... white (I guess you knew that already, I didnt... <_< ) Believe me, that really makes a difference and you almost got on the pic what you got in real life. Tonio This is something I learned only about a year ago, which is why I re-posted pics of my model in the "Display Case" forum recently because I hated the old ones. Here's an example of the old version with "Auto" white balance. The bluish medium grey on top looks more charcoal than blue..... And basically the same pic posted above with manual white balance, below. To do this on most cameras, you take a picture of a white card under the exact light conditions you are using, which shifts the color spectrum to the white card as the what white should look like, then save this setting as a pre-set white. Now it looks almost perfect for correct color..... Edited February 3, 2012 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oppenheimerj Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 excelent tips , one other thing, use just one tipe of light, never mix them, example, fluorecen witn incandecent, one or the other, you can check my pictures on the display forum, i used just 3 light for the pictures, just write my last name on the search and you will find my pictures Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Beary Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Jorge, Those are fantastic photos, especially the ones with the black background and the reflections. Where are you positioning the lights for those and what are you using for the reflective surface? How are you preventing unwanted reflections from overhead...black cloth drape? Thanks, Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oppenheimerj Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) bob in one of the post, if you go farther on the responses you will see that i posted a drawing on how y took the pictures, hope that will help you Edited February 8, 2012 by jorge Oppenheimer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tate Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Jorge, I found the pictures of your Corsair and P-47 and I must say, they are absolutely stunning. I also found the diagram on how you did it. I'm going to try and replicate your method to the best of my ability. I doubt I'll ever be able to get a hold of some curved black acrylic for a backdrop, but I sure like the effect. My pics won't be as good as yours, but at least I have something to shoot for. Thank you for sharing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 bob in one of the post, if you go farther on the responses you will see that i posted a drawing on how y took the pictures, hope that will help you To heck with the fine photography Jorge, your model builds are fantastic! Excellent, excellent work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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