Digital Camera Tips

[Ken Pugh]

Digital cameras are great for divorcing you from the dreaded developing shop, choosing proper films, camera settings, and all that science that adds to the art of photography.  They are automatic which is both a blessing and a curse.  There are a couple of tips that can help get the results you want.

As modelers, we frequently need detail shots of a certain phase of the construction of our models.  This can be a real pain with a digital camera, especially a low-priced one.   I use a Fujifilm, which is a good camera and very inexpensive, but it does seem to be real light sensitive.  You must have plenty of light to get the autofocus on these cameras to work properly.  When you have all the lights on and still the camera won't focus without telling you to use a tripod, you may need to change the color of your background.  Try lighter or darker backgrounds to get the camera to focus on the topic.

Your camera also needs to be a certain distance from the subject to focus properly.  If you have a macro setting (or button), this will allow you to get real close to the subject and focus.  It may be called something different on your camera so research your manual.  Again, you will need plenty of light and may need to adjust the color of your background.  Remember, you are not looking at colors but at reflected light.

Another trick is to set the camera to its absolute highest resolution.  We don't usually use this setting because the file size gets huge, a big consideration when dealing with the internet.  The key is to get the subject on the image properly focused.  Don't worry so much if the detail shot is a small part of the overall image.  Bring up the picture in your favorite image manipulation software, I use Paint Shop Pro, and crop out everything you don't need.  Save this cropped image.  Using the cropped image, raise the image size to zoom into the detail shot.  By using a higher resolution, you increase the number of pixels actually forming the detail shot.  When you enlarge the image, you want to have as many pixels as possible in the image.  You may find that you have plenty of image that can be enlarged and you get a nice, sharp detail shot.  Save what you enlarge as this is the image you will want to post online.

When you use high resolution settings, you never know what you have hiding in your image.  I have seen shots taken of jets flying near an airport that had surprising detail when enlarged.  Try using the high settings and crop the image, you might just find a great way to get some good detail shots.

Ken Pugh

[lastvautour]

Thanks Ken

[R.F.Bennett]

Yes, Thank you Ken, I would like to add. Try to either rest your camera on something or get an inexpensive tripod. All of my shots are either done with the camera resting on a solid surface or mounted in my tripod.
I then press the timer and let the camera take the shot. Sometimes you can get away with not using a flash this way. Just remember your camera will still ask for it. It doesn't know it's on a tripod. Some digital cameras
don't have a tripod socket, just rest it on top of a toolbox or other solid surface. My camera is a Nikon Coolpix L10. It cost about $100.00 and I highly recommend it. Make sure it has an OPTICAL Zoom, not digital.
This means that it has lenses inside that move to make it zoom. Digital Zoom just enlarges your picture in the camera, losing resolution as it does. The L10 has both, Optical up to 2X the further to 3X with digital. I just stick with the 2X. Most manufacturers have websites explaining and giving tips about using their cameras. Flickr also has some great groups. I have over a dozen cameras, in two film formats, including a Nikon I paid $1000.00 for twenty years ago. I would certainly prefer to use them for any art photography I would do. But for my modeling, I don't think I can beat my little L10. You can click and click and.... 

[lastvautour]

Good lighting is a must. I use a florescent desk lamp for my "in hangar pictures" it give a nice effect. The last project just used a 500watt halogen which even though it is BRIGHT, it does not do justice to the subject at hand, but I had promissed a completion date of Sunday and my hangar was full awaiting some photo time to shoot a plastic model. Regardless, the softer the light the better as discussed in the old site's post. I believe Garet had a photo box set up?

Lou

[Ken Pugh]

Don't forget the sun.  Many times I take mine outside for the best light, though again the background and surrounding colors can make an important contribution.  Outside is also a great way to make the setting more interesting.  My pics of the kayak are a case in point.  A hurricane dumped a lot of water in our yard and made the perfect backdrop for the kayak.

Ken Pugh

[Oceaneer99]

Yes, I do have some photos of my model photo shoot equipment.  It started out with:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/oceaneer99/1617674897/

Later, I added a diffuser, and this has worked really well (at least for models that fit!):


http://www.flickr.com/photos/oceaneer99/1785252437/

I've since put relatively high-wattage compact fluorescent bulbs to avoid heat issues.  I do have to manually set the white balance on my camera to compensate.

I usually use a Panasonic DMC-TZ1, which has worked pretty well.  The motion compensator works fairly well for hand-held photos down to 1/30 or so, though I usually use a tripod.  I also use the auto-timer (just as Ray suggested), so that my hand doesn't shake the camera when I press the shutter.

I also have the same Nikon Ray has, which works fine if it has enough light.  There are newer models at about the same price as we paid that have the motion compensation.

Garet

[cliff strachan]

Very nice setup Garet. I used a similar table top arrangement when I took my "aerial" shots but it wasn't nearly as sophisticated.

Cliff.

[cliff strachan]

Hi Garet,

You have a very effective Table Top arrangement. Thought I'd like to show how my more primitive but alternative setup compares.



As shown my light diffusers are constructed of pillow cases lain over or supported on six foot floor molding. Care must be taken that the lights do not touch the pillow cases to inhibit the probability of fire. Also, when planning the background enlargement, I added a number of extra portions of the foreground to allow the aircraft to be able to park "on the tarmac".



The above shows a product of this method.

Cliff.

[cliff strachan]

Shot posted under above heading. On reflection wish I had elaborated more but time is at a premium when you are using borrowed equipment. And specially when one isn't sure what they are doing. However, it is imperative, whether using digital cameras or the conventional - rather historical medium - to take pictures when the opportunity presents itself. Especially in regard to historical scenes to be incorporated into backgrounds. For example, that old hangar has since been torn down.

Further, two lights are over kill. Only one is necessary if exposure tables are used and long timed exposures are employed. This is necessary so that the light - imitating the sun - comes from only one direction.

Also, when composing for the original background scene, you have to keep in mind the angle and future placement of the models.

Shots are also posted in my album.

Cliff