Let's talk cameras. For a while now I have been using my iPhone to take the pictures you have been looking at on this blog. I have tried everything I knew how to do to make them the best pictures I could produce given what I had. I used a light box with good lighting. I would crop and adjust white levels as best I could and the results were just ok. Better then some but not anywhere near amazing.
My wife's uncle came to visit and he is a photographer, and in a stroke of generosity I was given one of his older cameras. I now find in my possession a Cannon Rebel T2i (if anyone cares can be found here Canon Rebel T2i).
Here is what the setup looks like now for shooting pictures.
Yes I just took a picture of my camera, How existential is that?
I now have the equipment to take amazing photos. I just have to figure out how! I am also playing with Adobe Light Box and I might even dabble into Photo Shop.
So stay tuned as I work out the bugs and hopefully deliver much better content (picture-wise anyway). If anyone reading this has any advice/resources to offer I am all ears and would eternally grateful.
Until next time.
Always shoot in manual mode! Use the RAW format for the best results. Tethering the camera to the computer or using a remote is best since you won't touch your camera after you focus. You can use the timer, but you still run the risk of bumping the camera. Get a greyscale card from Amazon (they're about $10). This allows you to manually set your white balance, which is preferred. Set your ISO to 100 and your aperture (f-stop) to somewhere around f10 through f16 (don't go crazy and shoot with f25+, it will make your pictures too sharp and flat). Turn off all your lights except the ones pointing in your lightbox and shoot the picture from far away as you can crop it later. Adjust your exposure time depending on how much light you use (more light means less exposure and vice versa).
ReplyDeleteJust practice and then practice some more and you'll be fine.
Good advice and I appreciate it. From what I have been reading people are recommending an F-Stop of above 16 and ISO at or below 200.
ReplyDeleteI plan to post a few pictures soon, just need to get the pictures that I want with the right amount of detail.
ISO 100 is usually as low as you can go and I think it is the base setting for Canon cameras (I use Nikon personally). Keeping it low reduces the noise in the picture and since you're working under optimal lighting, this is preferred.
DeleteYour f-stop will change depending on what you are shooting; large, expansive displays/dioramas will need in the f20 or more range and small busts will look best as low as f6. The depth of field increases with f-number which is you want a higher f-number on a large diorama to keep everything in focus. On single miniatures, anything over f16 can make the image too sharp and in turn will flatten the image. A good place to start would be f13 and adjust up or down from there.
Thomas, thanks man! The remote for the camera came in the mail today, when I get home I am going to play with it some more. Also thinking about tethering the camera to the computer and controlling it through my laptop.
ReplyDelete