PlaymoFriends
Creative => Photography & Graphics => Topic started by: Rasputin on February 12, 2010, 05:58:46
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Hello
I have a hard time with indoor photos and have been trying to learn by watching Martins and Tims great jungle adventure story unfold. Tim showed many great techniques on the set of that story from behind the scenes and I have been taking notes. This is what I came up with so far and I do hope to learn a lot more from them :wow:
(http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/9482/p1010030fn.jpg) (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/p1010030fn.jpg/)
Thank you Martin and Tim :**:
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Hey Ras, did you use the roll of light blue bulletin board paper for the grey sky ???? Excellent scene photography :)9!
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WOW! That's a great scene and photo, Ras! ... :wow:
Without the railroad tracks, it could be anywhere, and anytime, in North America.
At first, I saw some northeastern Indians hiding in wait to pounce upon an unsuspecting family of English settlers.
Then, I saw a small farm in North Carolina.
And, finally a peaceful little home in the Oregon woods.
I love it! ... :love:
Thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Richard
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Hey Ras, did you use the roll of light blue bulletin board paper for the grey sky ???? Excellent scene photography :)9!
Hi Bill
I purchased a 50' roll of light blue paper from a school supply store. I think it is 4' wide . It was only $20 and I also bought a smaller roll of one that had very light clouds on it that I will also try. The cloud one was a smaller roll and if it works I will order the 50'er .
Thanks for the compliment, but I am still learning
WOW! That's a great scene and photo, Ras! ... :wow:
Without the railroad tracks, it could be anywhere, and anytime, in North America.
At first, I saw some northeastern Indians hiding in wait to pounce upon an unsuspecting family of English settlers.
Then, I saw a small farm in North Carolina.
And, finally a peaceful little home in the Oregon woods.
I love it! ... :love:
Thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Richard
Hi Richard
Thank you for the kind words. The track is there due to a story I am going to do so I am trying to get the camera angles just right. At first the camera flash kept catching on the brass and giving the picture a shinny spot. I have a lot to learn
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Look's OK to me, Ras. Either you don't have as much to learn as you think or you're learning pretty well fast.
That info on the backdrop is interesting, and I shall see if I can find anything like that over here.
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Hi Gordon
The learning part for me is how to program the digital camera and get acceptable lighting. If you use a flash the shadows show up on the blue paper. There is an art to proper lighting and I have the "Frustrated Artist Syndrome". I still need to go buy the fireproof paper used to defuse light and such. I have dozens of shots that were not good enough and look like these examples where you can see the truer color of the paper & how I attached it. I used all but a few feet of the roll.
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/633/p1010024m.jpg) (http://img59.imageshack.us/i/p1010024m.jpg/)
(http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3972/p1010021y.jpg) (http://img85.imageshack.us/i/p1010021y.jpg/)
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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That's quite an impressive scene you've made Rasputin, and the backdrop works well :)9
BTW, is that man drunk or something :hmm:
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That's quite an impressive scene you've made Rasputin, and the backdrop works well :)9
BTW, is that man drunk or something :hmm:
Hi Flatcat
No thats just my avatar taking a nap from moving all the micro-Playmobil to this new location
Thanks for the comments
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Try having a separate lamp above and slightly in front of the background shining downwards. This may stop the shadows problem.
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No thats just my avatar taking a nap from moving all the micro-Playmobil to this new location
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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hi rasputin
your photo are very wonderful and realistic
manu
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It looks like a very nice scene!
There's a lot of depth and the colors go very well together.
The sheet of paper is very professional and LARGE!!
If i could give a tip on how i would perfect the picture, is that i would use a separate light like Gordon says and try NOT to use flash unless absolutely necessary.
Flash can help, but only if you have a good separate flash (not the one on your camera) and deflect the flashlight through a white sheet of paper or ceiling
Thank you for the kind words. The track is there due to a story I am going to do so I am trying to get the camera angles just right. At first the camera flash kept catching on the brass and giving the picture a shinny spot. I have a lot to learn
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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It is looking very good Rasputin, you are a quick study! The backdrop looks very nice, Feather's idea of using photocopies of photos of her trees to fill in the backdrop was a clever way to extend the trees into the background but your setup looks very nice! :wave:
Gepetto
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It looks like a very nice scene!
There's a lot of depth and the colors go very well together.
The sheet of paper is very professional and LARGE!!
If i could give a tip on how i would perfect the picture, is that i would use a separate light like Gordon says and try NOT to use flash unless absolutely necessary.
Flash can help, but only if you have a good separate flash (not the one on your camera) and deflect the flashlight through a white sheet of paper or ceiling
Hi Arab
I used to use a great 35mm camera that had a large seperate flash and it was adjustable and on its own caddy that screwed into the bottom of the camera w/handle. I will try the lights like you and Gordon suggest and I will use defusing paper with them. The tiny flash on this compact small digital camera is what makes them a love hate relation ship. I get instant results in a small portable unit but little control and settings.
Keep the ideas and tips coming
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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It is looking very good Rasputin, you are a quick study! The backdrop looks very nice, Feather's idea of using photocopies of photos of her trees to fill in the backdrop was a clever way to extend the trees into the background but your setup looks very nice! :wave:
Gepetto
Thanks Gepetto
I did really like her tree print. So much so I actually inquired into companies that specializes in large prints of a pictures . I thought of trying to make one also. Feathers idea is so good I am still looking in to it
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Excellent setup Ras! I didn't realise the background paper was curved, so you did a good job with hanging it evenly. What is it suspended from?
One comment, the tree in front of the house is showing the underside of the leaves on the left, it would be better to hide that somehow as it detracts fractionally from the shot.
Tim is the artistic photographer, I'm just co-developing the story, but I've got a cpolue of thigs to addd.
For our Pirates storyline Tim has been using reflected light to get a diffuse light, he uses an uplighter lamp and the light bounces off the white ceiling. That gives negligible shadows, which works nicely for our Carribean setting. His background, like yours, is blue paper, hung from the wall from a feature rail near the ceiling with tape. Your solutionj there works very well.
I'm hoping in a couple of months to start a similar photographic layout so I can take photos like yours and Tim's that don't have everyday objects in the background, though that is of course an acceptable style and I will continue to use it as well.
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Really nice picture & set up Ras :wave:
I love the flooring :love:
Karim :)
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Hi Martin
Excellent setup Ras! I didn't realise the background paper was curved, so you did a good job with hanging it evenly. What is it suspended from?
I built a frame on the top edge and screwed the clothes line clips to it. I clipped a sheet first to give the paper a backing
One comment, the tree in front of the house is showing the underside of the leaves on the left, it would be better to hide that somehow as it detracts fractionally from the shot.
Tim is the artistic photographer, I'm just co-developing the story, but I've got a cpolue of thigs to addd.
I did not notice the tree? I will look closer at each detail as I go and correct the ones spotted.
For our Pirates storyline Tim has been using reflected light to get a diffuse light, he uses an uplighter lamp and the light bounces off the white ceiling. That gives negligible shadows, which works nicely for our Carribean setting. His background, like yours, is blue paper, hung from the wall from a feature rail near the ceiling with tape. Your solutionj there works very well.
I am used to natural lighting and moving subjects. Indoor still photography is quite different and there are a lot of lighting challenges. I am looking for a effective, cheep, preferably w/dimmer, clip on light I can have above the table and then I intend on using reflector paper.
Thanks for the tips
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Very nice scene, Rasputin! Excellent phography and mise en scene.
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I did not notice the tree? I will look closer at each detail as I go and correct the ones spotted.
Tim and I did the photos for another pirates episode a couple of weekends ago, and soon I hope to find time to finish going through the shots and picking the ones for the story. Tim takes 4 or 5 shots for every one we use, sometimes almost identical, sometimes from different angles or a with different focus. There are usually plenty of shots with bits of non-Playmo in, like a bit of the table edge or a Martin hand diving in to move a klicky, or a bit where the background sheet didn't reach far enough and we got room instead. :lol:
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Another way to solve the shadows on the background is to have a small slave flash set at low power pointing on to the background and hidden in the scene. You'd need to experiment with settings and you'd probably be better using it in conjunction with a "proper" off-camera flash rather than the built-in one, but now we're talking spending money and getting very technical.
I think Little Jo just has a large daylight balanced strip light over his modelling area. There's a picture somewhere on the board or maybe on his website.
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Good job,rasputin! I have also been experimenting with different lighting and stuff sadly my camera is still crap :(
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Hello
Thanks Martin and Gordon for taking the time to post more tips and tricks. I do appreciate them and can not guarantee I will use them all but I certainly will look in to them all. Hopefully all this information will get more of our members inspired and educated on the art of photography.
Highland the camera I am using is an old Olympus (http://www.olympusamerica.com/CPG_SECTION/cpg_archived_product_details.asp?id=661&fl=4) 3.3megapixel that my mother-in-law was replacing for a nice modern one.
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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Really nice picture & set up Ras :wave:
I love the flooring :love:
Karim :)
Thank you Karim
Very nice scene, Rasputin! Excellent phography and mise en scene.
Thank you Justindo, I am still learning and hope to improve not only the pictures but the scene as well.
Rasputin "The Mad Monk"
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hi ras
i love the scene, i am ready to move into the cabin, maybe just a week or so for r and r.
some other ideas for lighting. off camera flash is the only way to go, and bounce to eliminate the glare. if you place a white poster board over your scene if you are not in a white ceiling-ed room that might work as well. also try doing a flash compensation on your old camera. there might be a setting to decrease the intensity of the flash, ie +/- .3 to 2.0. when you take a portrait of someone umbrella shaped refectors can be used to bounce light and various angles, a white umbrella will give white light etc. the other lighting used in a portrait is a light box, it fits over the flash and is a giant white fabric covered box. you might be able to achieve the same effect of diffusing the light by putting the flash behind a piece of porous white fabric. they are usually made out of white taffeta. studio portrait photographers usually have these placed at the 8 and 4 o'clock positions, actuallly a combination of bounced, filtered box and reflected light is often used, to create non-directional light. if you are having a problem with the color, make sure your white balance is set for the type of light you are using, fluorescent vs incandescent etc.
kaethe
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I agree with Kaethe, it seems like every time I am struggling with an inside pic not looking right, it is because my white balance is not set correctly.
Betsy