Photographing Models...

[Kilshaw]

I'm trying to take photos of my A4 DTM, which I finished today.

As usual, I'm having problems. And lots of them. Here I go:

1) My camera. I have a Samsung Galaxy Camera, which is a good piece of kit - 16MP, and it is perfect for distance shots, but not very good at close-ups, but that might just be my lack of experience. The photo is often blurry, even when on a tripod and (supposedly perfectly focused). Which cameras do you guys use? Do you use DSLRs, or cheaper cameras?

2) My photo booth. I have a small booth, which is only about 60cm wide. It doesn't work very well for what I need, and I'm in need of a better background for my photos.

3) Lighting. If I use the ceiling lights in the room, you can see the light reflected in the paintwork or windows, and it often makes the colours look strange. If I use the flash on the camera, I get the same problems.

How do you think I should get around these problems?

Thanks,
Jake

[generationx]

Hi Jake, a lot of people on here have quite professional techniques. But I have a seven-year-old Nikon Coolpix which crucially has a macro function which can take really good close-ups. I use it on a mini tripod with a timer so I'm not touching it when it shoots which helps with blurring. I find the best form of lighting is natural, preferably outside.

[MarcoSaupe]

You don't need high tech equipment, in fact you need hardly any equipment at all.

I did most of my model photos with a Kodak that cost me 99€ in 2009, over last year or so I used a 200€ Canon. The only important function is a decent range of optical zoom, and for close ups a macro function, altough I hardly use that.

The lighting costs exactly zero - I always do my photos outside. Important: never in direct sunlight, either on a cloudy day or in the shadow (a sunny evening can give nice results if the sky is still bright, but the whole area is already in the shadow of nearby buildings: http://www.marcosaupe.de/images/mod_FW16_06.JPG ). I just put my model on a piece of photo cardboard, bend the far side up and done. I usually go 1-2 metres away from the model and zoom in a little bit to avoid perspective distorions.

And a final tip: Not beeing a professional and not having much experience (I always use automatic settings) I usually make at least 50 photos and only choose the ones that are good

[F1Xena]

Hi Marco. Good advice, and your photo of your Eagle is fantastic!

[Terry]

Marco pretty much summed it up. Shoot outside and at a distance with a zoom. I also like taking photos in direct sunlight because it creates shadow and depth! This way it captures the model in the same conditions that we're used to with the real car. It's all about personal preferences, and what you wish to convey in the way of detail. Direct sun will throw things into shadow, so indirect (overcast/cloudy) or late light is better for exposing detail. Tripod is also useful as Genx said.

[alfye]

We talked about this years ago, and no great inversion is needed:
http://www.f1m.com/forums/viewtopic.php ... 04#p116504

And answering your questions:

1- Actually using mobile phone SonyEricsson K810i (Cyber-shot 3.2M)With good macro and whitebalance I dont need anything better. Use timer to prevent shaking.

2- The easiest part but it depends on the lighting. A simple cloth on a chair can do the job.

3- No flash !!! You need a directional light source so you can iluminate the objet as you wish. Natural light is the best choice for me, but not the easyway because it is not always constant.

[Eagle50]

Yeah, thanks for the advice, Marco. And your Eagle does look cool!

[Terry]

Yeah, thanks for the advice, Marco. And your Eagle does look cool!

Marco's Eagle is a thing of absolute beauty, and just makes me want to drop everything I'm doing and go make my MFH kit. That's the problem with hanging out on F1M, the torture of delayed gratification from seeing really cool models I have not built.

[dlphnfn]

I agree, there is a bit of "art" to it, but once you figure it out, you're good.
I use this as my "booth":

It was made using these instructions:
http://italianhorses.net/Tutorials/Phot ... obooth.htm
My camera is an oldish Canon powershot something or other... 10mp, or something like that. It takes pretty good shots though.

The lights are florescent "tube" lights covered with tissue paper to diffuse the light. Macro is a must, in my opinion.
So for a "hand me down" camera and $20-$30 I have my booth and camera.
Erick --

[keithwwalker]

I should add a minor but important point when shooting manually, increasing your aperture will bring a greater depth of field.
If you shoot at a greater distance with a zoom lens, it may not matter, but it will matter when shooting with a macro lens or macro mode. The effect is magnified when shooting kits.

I shoot with a m4/3 camera with a 45mm (90mm equivalent) macro lens, and usually use f/8 aperture. It is where the depth of field is greatest and the edge sharpness is greatest (each lens will be different with respect to the aperture/sharpness tradeoff).

More on f-stops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number

btw, dlphnfn, your F189 build is amazing!!!!