How to REALLY Take Good Photos
Intermediate | Rating: 9.80 Votes: 30
Views: 25195 | By: Pagan  |
| Category: General Subcategory: Photography | Date: 2002-12-31 20:21:32 |
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Hello Everybody. I've seen a lot of good pictures on here, but even more bad ones. Based on the Forums, most people have, or are about to have, a digital camera. This article will go over the basics of taking good pictures. We'll start with the setup, then with lighting. After that, we'll go over post production work, with things like brightness/contrast and sharpening. This article assumes you have a digital camera, and have read the manual. Please don't email me asking how to set your auto timer, as I don't know for every single digicam out there.
First off, use a camera. Scanned miniatures look HORRIBLE. You can get a decent camera for only $100 US, which isn't a lot of money. Your pictures will look a LOT better, trust me.
The Setup
This is what I use to take my pictures, nothing fancy. I place a piece of posterboard up against a shelf, and curve it so it comes down to the table top. This is called a sweep. I do it with white posterboard, but any color can be used. I've got some lights to either side, and most importantly, a tripod.
You *can* take good pictures with regular household lights. They don't HAVE to look all yellowy and ugly. We'll just balance the color properly after we take the picture. The tripod is important for this. With regular lights, you'll have long shutter speeds. Don't use the camera's flash, that will make for some hideous pix. My shutter speeds are normally about 1 to 1/2 seconds. It's impossible to hold the camera perfectly still by hand, for that long, so you need a tripod. That tripod in the pic cost only 27.99 US at Wal-Mart, so it's not an expensive proposition.
Setting Camera For the Scene
All cameras try to "read" a scene and determine how much light it has. However, the camera's system is easily fooled, especially with a white background. So, instead of auto mode, we're going to use the camera's manual mode. All cameras have a metering system, that it uses to read the correct amount of light. Set the camera up, on the tripod, so that the white background fills the viewfinder or LCD screen. If the camera has a real-time LCD, use it. With the camera set on Manual, adjust the settings so that it reads TWO STOPS over exposed. Read your manual to find out how to do this. Most cameras have three things to adjust : ISO, Aperture, and Shutter. Set the ISO at the lowest possible number, normally 100. This will make your images clean and noisefree. Set aperture at the highest you can, like 16 or 22. This will make your image sharp thru-out. We've all seen those pix where the guys sword is in focus, but the rest of the mini is blurred, high aperture will prevent that. With most of the digicams out there, you might not even need to go that high. Experiment to see what you get. Finally, adjust your shutter speed up or down to get the exposure to read 2 stops over. Some cameras will only let you set it so high, like say 5 seconds, and not any longer. If that's the case, add more lights, or try lowering the aperture.
Speaking of lights, how should they be set up? I try to have at least two; an overhead light and a light to the side of the camera. If you can set up your shot near a window, do that. A north facing window will give you perfect lighting. We want to avoid shadows. Even a small shadow on the mini will come out harsh and black in the picture. Try to avoid having any shadows cast onto the backgroun.
Ok, now it's time to take the picture. Set the mini in front of the camera, and make sure it's in focus. Manual focus, if you've got it, is your best bet. I make sure the eyes are in focus, as the face is what ppl will notice. Instead of just mashing the button, set your camera on auto timer. Almost all cameras have this option, so you can set it up, run around in front, and try to take a picture of yourself. We're going to use it for something different. With our long shutter speed, any kind of vibration is going to make the pic come out blurry. By using the timer, we're not touching the camera when it goes off, so no blurriness. Just press the button, step back, and wait till it's done.
View the picture on the LCD screen, and determine if it's bright enough, or too bright. The mini is what we're concerned about, not the background. If it's too dark, make your shutter speed longer by a click, and try again. If it's too bright, shorten the shutter speed. Adjust as needed till you get a decent result. If you read the meter properly, you shouldn't have to make too many adjustments. If you can't make it perfect, it's better to be too dark then too light.
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tommoxyz
29 October 08 |  |
Rating: 10
A little long in the tooth from the software perspective but otherwise an outstanding article
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tmuscle
19 January 08 |  |
Rating: 10
this is really helpfull, thanks
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TKNY
25 October 07 |  |
Rating: 10
This was really helpful. I had no idea what the heck I was doing and was about to give up.
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thepieman
16 May 07 |  |
Rating: 10
Wow, you did this article in 2002!!! It just keeps giving!! Thanks fella!!
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persistant
19 February 07 |  |
Rating: 10
This article has directly improved the quality of my images. Thank you.
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xerofis
07 August 06 |  |
Rating: 10
very handy wel done
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NINJAWIZARD
06 December 05 |  |
Rating: 10
Wait for Christmas to see if I get a tripod, or go get one now...? Considering I'm not done with any of my current mini's, I think I can wait  This is a fantastic article that brings to light (no pun intended) several things, and it's also taught me quite a few I didn't even know were important. Thanks! My next submission to CMON may not be an 8 or 9, but the picture will look good, none-the-less
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sergeantsoldier
03 August 05 |  |
Rating: 10
This article gave me the knowledge to make the best improvement in my hobby in the last ten years. I learned a lot, got the bug to experiment, and now I'm taking pics like a pro. I also learned that the camera doesn't lie. Now I have to paint even better because the pics are so true!!! Thanks!
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Serpian
18 November 04 |  |
Rating: 10
Very good written article. I hate the artivles where people don't know where tu put dots and commas, and yue internet-speech. This is how an article should be written! Correct language, a little humour and great information!
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Demon Hunter
10 August 04 |  |
Rating: 9
Still can`t get good images, must be the macro setting on my cam, it needs to be 60 cm away from the mini at the least to work!
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Streethawk101
20 April 04 |  |
Rating: 8
Pretty good again, but the reason you are having to overexpose all your shots is that the white background will fool the light meter, its looking to get that white exposed so that it isnt burnt out, and as the background could be up to 80% of the photo it will often ignore the mini as it takes the larger area into account. Easiest way to fix this is to use a coloured or 'fade' background.
Also, F16-22 will give a huge depth of field, but it might stop you from blurring the background, if usually find F8 is a wide enough apeture for a normal 28-30mm mini.
Also SaxonAngel's comment about setting the white balance is absoloutely crucial. Your camera's manual will explain how to do this, most can do a custom white balance, for which you will need a 'grey card' which is only a few $s from a photography store, and well worth getting for the results.
Also i would maintain autofocus is best if you can get it to focus on so small a subject, it may not if you mini doesnt fill the frame.
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wulverine
12 November 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Cool input! Don't actually have access to a Digicam yet, but once I do, I expect I'll be spending about a year photographing and re-photographing my mini's. Never thought about using photoshop to 'toutch up' the images though. Nice one!!!
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Lavinia
15 August 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Really nice article! I have only one question: What resolution does your camera have?
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the.super.hamster
20 May 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Huge, huge help! Have just got a new digital camera and Photoshop and was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. This has helped me out a lot, thank you for taking the time out to write it.
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freakinacage
22 April 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Ahhh, so thats where i've been going wrong - nice one!
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Nekron99
16 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Thanks Pagan, great set of ppics and helpful hints. I just got a digi-cam, and am looking for better ways to take mini pics.
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Spanky
10 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Great article, thank you!
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InkerMark
10 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Very Cool! This will be very helpful. I've had good luck with pics so far, but this will make sure that luck continues.
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virtuouswolf
07 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
This was *very* helpful. I don't know that much about photography and using different exposure settings solved my color drainage problem. Thanks Pagan!
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slappingpaint
07 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
excellent article! thanks for the tips and techniques. when I get home from work this morning, I'm going to try out some of the things you mentioned
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AAvHDarkblade
06 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
My last attempt to photograph my minis was an embarrassing foray into over-exposure, wasting two rolls of film. Yes still using film...LOL. Thank you for posting this excellent article. There is a lot here that will help.
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SaxonAngel
06 January 03 |  |
Rating: 9
An article on photography is always a welcome sight (so to speak). I took ALOT of pics, and through trial and error, I think I have achieved decent pics. This very good article covers everything you really need to know for good pics besides just point and shoot. Remember LIGHTING and WHITE BALANCE!
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Badaab
06 January 03 |  |
Rating: 10
Ahhh! Filters!
Overall, nice work... lots of useful information.
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reverend
06 January 03 |  |
Rating: 9
Ooooh, someone will tell you off for messing about with those images in Photoshop!
This is a superb guide, and I'll use it next time whatever happens - I especially liked the full tutorial on the Curves window and all that. Good old plain English. BTW, my Father-in-law (step) is a photographer and he mentioned the F settings for the depth of field, i.e., making sure that ALL the mini is in focus. Once I've done what he suggested I'll get back in touch.
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AzureWolf
06 January 03 | |
Rating: 10
Fantastic information. As someone just getting used to his new digital camera, this information was very usefull
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