Okay, so I just bought a new digital camera. How do you guys take a picture with more than 5 knives in it?Or really just any tips in general, as I don't know what I am doing.what do you use for a background,or I'd like to lay them down or prop them up, or things like that.Below you will fnd a crappy attempt at a picture.
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OT Collection Pics How to
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rorschach
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Rycen, this is a pretty good shot! It's fairly in focus, has an interesting background texture, and you made a consistent pattern with the blades.
Let's analyze some of the info I can glean from your picture's EXIF data:
1.You have a fuji finepix A210m which is 3.2 megapixels, plenty of resolution to take a larger shot with lots of knives. Just lay them out on a flat plane (try the floor, hardwood works great, or outside where there’s lots of light) and back up, or even stand on a chair to get farther away. Shoot straight on so that all of the knives will be in focus. Zoom out to fit more in the pic.
2.You shot at F7.2, used the flash, and shot for 1/60th of a second. (Probably used the camera on full-auto which is fine. ) This is all goodness as the small aperture and fast shooting speed gave a sharp in-focus picture. Flash photography is tough with knives as their shiny bits tend to reflect the flash back at you. I recommend using a lightbox. Shoot by an open window, or shoot outside where there’s lots of available light, and force the camera to use NO flash. Then make sure that your exposure time is fast enough that you can hand-hold (usually 1/30th s or faster) the shot or use a tripod to avoid “camera shake” where the picture may turn out blurry.
3.You shot at ISO 100, which is the “best quality” (i.e. lowest sensor noise) for your camera. Again this was an automatic setting due to the flash firing, but if you start shooting in manual mode, you can change the ISO to 200 or 400 and get more usable light. The tradeoff with higher ISO is the pictures will be more noisy. Sometimes it’s a good tradeoff to get a brighter picture.
4.Another area you can play is in the exposure bracketing. I often find with dark knives (black handle) on dark backgrounds it helps to over expose the shot by +0.3 to +1 stops. You’ll get more detail on scale material like G-10 and CF.
From a design and layout point of view, always remember the mnemonic C.R.A.P. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity (credit to The Non-Designer's Design Book by R. Williams). These are four fundamentals of a shot layout and design. Your shot has good Repetition and Alignment, and OK Proximity. Try a lighter background to get more contrast. Try new settings: for example Simona shoots her knives in interesting places (like historic sites) and many times shoots only a portion of the knife (like the blade or hole) to create an interesting subject.
Anyway, keep at it and take lots and lots of pics. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you like the shots then that’s all that matters. Try playing around with your camera settings, locations, and backgrounds to see what works for you. Keep posting your pics!
-Rorschach :][: <a href= http://www.scarysharp.com>HOS</a>
Let's analyze some of the info I can glean from your picture's EXIF data:
1.You have a fuji finepix A210m which is 3.2 megapixels, plenty of resolution to take a larger shot with lots of knives. Just lay them out on a flat plane (try the floor, hardwood works great, or outside where there’s lots of light) and back up, or even stand on a chair to get farther away. Shoot straight on so that all of the knives will be in focus. Zoom out to fit more in the pic.
2.You shot at F7.2, used the flash, and shot for 1/60th of a second. (Probably used the camera on full-auto which is fine. ) This is all goodness as the small aperture and fast shooting speed gave a sharp in-focus picture. Flash photography is tough with knives as their shiny bits tend to reflect the flash back at you. I recommend using a lightbox. Shoot by an open window, or shoot outside where there’s lots of available light, and force the camera to use NO flash. Then make sure that your exposure time is fast enough that you can hand-hold (usually 1/30th s or faster) the shot or use a tripod to avoid “camera shake” where the picture may turn out blurry.
3.You shot at ISO 100, which is the “best quality” (i.e. lowest sensor noise) for your camera. Again this was an automatic setting due to the flash firing, but if you start shooting in manual mode, you can change the ISO to 200 or 400 and get more usable light. The tradeoff with higher ISO is the pictures will be more noisy. Sometimes it’s a good tradeoff to get a brighter picture.
4.Another area you can play is in the exposure bracketing. I often find with dark knives (black handle) on dark backgrounds it helps to over expose the shot by +0.3 to +1 stops. You’ll get more detail on scale material like G-10 and CF.
From a design and layout point of view, always remember the mnemonic C.R.A.P. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity (credit to The Non-Designer's Design Book by R. Williams). These are four fundamentals of a shot layout and design. Your shot has good Repetition and Alignment, and OK Proximity. Try a lighter background to get more contrast. Try new settings: for example Simona shoots her knives in interesting places (like historic sites) and many times shoots only a portion of the knife (like the blade or hole) to create an interesting subject.
Anyway, keep at it and take lots and lots of pics. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so if you like the shots then that’s all that matters. Try playing around with your camera settings, locations, and backgrounds to see what works for you. Keep posting your pics!
-Rorschach :][: <a href= http://www.scarysharp.com>HOS</a>
Thats as good as it gets for me as well. I will post my collectin pic. I find natural light works best. Oh and I just read(can't remember where???) that if your camera has the macro(flower) button/option use that. It has been giving me some really nice close up pics lately. Sorry not the best of help as I have only had my digi cam for a about 6 months now. Still learning. As for background I have been using a blanket but it has been flourescent light and gives glare. Been really hit and miss with me. Take Care and hopefully someone else will chime in. First is a close up of my custom Tichbourne and second is my Spydie collection.
"everything else is just a jeep"
Edited by - CKE on 2/1/2004 11:27:25 AM
Edited by - CKE on 2/1/2004 11:27:50 AM
"everything else is just a jeep"
Edited by - CKE on 2/1/2004 11:27:25 AM
Edited by - CKE on 2/1/2004 11:27:50 AM
Well said Rorschach
Photoshop can also help a lot (if you have the skills). A forumite (Robert Fruehauf) changed this picture I took from Jurphaas Forum Native
<IMG SRC="http://www.ted.tweakdsl.nl/n1.jpg">
into this:
<IMG SRC="http://www.ted.tweakdsl.nl/n2.jpg">
Ted
Edited by - Ted on 2/1/2004 11:37:55 AM
Photoshop can also help a lot (if you have the skills). A forumite (Robert Fruehauf) changed this picture I took from Jurphaas Forum Native
<IMG SRC="http://www.ted.tweakdsl.nl/n1.jpg">
into this:
<IMG SRC="http://www.ted.tweakdsl.nl/n2.jpg">
Ted
Edited by - Ted on 2/1/2004 11:37:55 AM