Photographing Models.

[Admiral-Badruck]

I have to say that I am a bit upset that I can never really get a good picture of my models when I do get a picture of a model it looks so bad I want to give up photographing all together and just paint and take the models to the events. MIJ seems to have a good system down.. and so does Spevna.. what is your step by step method of photographing?

Any one can post up if you have a good method... I sure have nothing to say on the matter..

[Primarch]

What type of camera are you using? Is it the one on your cell phone or are you using a real digital camera?
When I tried taking pictures of my models I found that my camera had a 'really close up, fine detail' option (NOT a zoom function). The pictures came out a lot better after I figured that out. Now I can see how badly my models are painted at 10 billion mega pixels.

[Admiral-Badruck]

that is just it every thing and I mean every model looks like turds under a microscope unless one used a micro scope to paint it... when I use the cell phone no one can see what a good job I did and when I use a real camera the photo shows every line that is not perfectly blended...

[Primarch]

that is just it every thing and I mean every model looks like turds under a microscope unless one used a micro scope to paint it... when I use the cell phone no one can see what a good job I did and when I use a real camera the photo shows every line that is not perfectly blended...

I think that is how it is supposed to work.
Models look very different when you get to see them in that level of detail. Take a picture with your camera and scale it down to a reasonable level and most of the imperfections will fade away. If you look at the picture full size, you will see a level of detail that your eyes usually cant make out.

[Mike the Pike]

It's usually called the macro function/mode and is usually denoted by a flower symbol on most cameras. It is one of your best friends when taking close-up fixes.

Some other top tips...

Use a tripod or failing that a appropriate sized stack of books to steady your camera. You may think you are cool hand Luke but at camera shutter speeds you are more like the Waco Kid a.k.a. Gene Wilder in Blazing saddles. (http://youtu.be/9KF6tRXpw00) You also use the self timer on your camera to further reduce shake (or even a remote control).

Don't use a flash. They are usually too bright at the distances we are talking about. Use natural light and/or diffused white lights. Most household lights give off a yellow cast which will affect how your colours look in photos. You can also build yourself a small light box pretty cheaply if you are that keen.

You don't actually have to get that close to your models. It's better to position the camera back a bit and zoom in a ways. Also, most cameras now have have sooo many mega pixels that you can take pix from further away and just crop them down to a reasonable size.

Photoshop is also your friend. You needn't be an ace either. Just crop the pic to the desired size and then hit auto-levels or auto-correct and that should be enough.

Hope that helps.
You could always do your own homework and go on over to CMON and read the various tutorials.

[Admiral-Badruck]

Thanks I have done most of this stuff.. I guess I need a tripod for sure and a light box... me that may be a bit more than I want to do... As for homework I am not very keen of the stuff... much better to here it from folks I know. I am not trying to out do my friends just tagalong close behind them.

[Spevna]

It's usually called the macro function/mode and is usually denoted by a flower symbol on most cameras. It is one of your best friends when taking close-up fixes.

You don't actually have to get that close to your models. It's better to position the camera back a bit and zoom in a ways. Also, most cameras now have have sooo many mega pixels that you can take pix from further away and just crop them down to a reasonable size.

Thats pretty much how I do it. I don't use Photoshop however. I use Gimp. How could anyone NOT use a program called Gimp??

[me_in_japan]

1) use a camera, not a cellphone. i use a bloody expensive digital SLR with a 600 dollar macro lens on it, but you dont have to (ok, that was showing off... )

2) dont use a flash, unless youre diffusing it via those big umbrella looking things.

3) do use a tripod (or stack o books)

4) do use the timer mode. you dont wanna be touching your camera when it takes a pic, if at all possible.

5) do make sure your ISO isnt too high. High ISO leads to grainy pics when you zoom in.

6) fiddle about with light levels in your camera settings. you can afford a longer exposure if youre not hand-holding the camera.

7) fiddle about with light types in your camera settings (most regular digicams can do this. you can select incandescent, fluorescent, daylight etc. it makes a big difference.)

8) do some post processing in photoshop (or gimp.) auto levels is usually enough. If you want to be fancy, use a smart select tool and grab the whole mini, fiddle around a bit to get all the wee bits and cut out the bits you dont want, reduce your selection size by 1 pixel, then paste it into a new file. You can then play with layers.

[Admiral-Badruck]

good stuff lads... thanks I will get to trying...