Picture Backgrounds

[Dr. Brick]

Hi everybody,

I've got a question. When I'm looking at the pictures that people send I see that some have a nice white background. How do you do that? Just to make things more difficult, I don't have photoshop...

Thanks,

Dr. Brick

[Plural]

I'm guessing they probably hang a few sheets up when they take pictures of their MOCs. That would be my guess anyway, I'm not 100% certain.

[PSPguy]

Im pretty sure if it involves Photoshop they just cut the background. Also if you cant afford Photoshop I suggest paint.NET.

[Shadows]

I would suggest good lighting. Here is a tutorial that explains one of the better techniques, three point lighting. Done right, a simple white background will all but disappear, giving you the clean look you want.

As for a paint program, there are definitely some free ones out there that can do the job, assuming you need to actually do any editing after the aforementioned tutorial. All you really need to do is take the highest resolution pictures possible making sure to get the closest view of the item you can, open your paint program, zoom in, draw around the item, replace the background and then resize down to something reasonable.

Ok, it could be slightly more complicated than that, but a lot of programs should be capable. If you don't have any luck finding one, and I remember to look in here, I'll try to find something to recommend tonight.

[SlyOwl]

I don't think that many people actually cut around their MOCs unless they're going to edit in a different background, as it takes a long time. I photograph mine in front of a large sheet of cardboard with paper stuck over it, outside. This means there is no glare from lamps on it, and there are no sharp shadows. If I can't do it outside (in winter mainly), I do it with all the desk lamps I can muster (normally just 3 ) on it. This isn't so good, but works fine for smaller MOCs, like vignettes.

I then transfer my photos to the computer and increase the contrast on them using Paintshop. This means that the background becomes whiter, and the rest of the picture remains pretty much the same. However, because there are shadows where the paper I have stuck down joins, these show up more. I either smudge these out or paint over them.

Then I touch up (lighten, sharpen, resize) and I'm done.

I'm guessing they probably hang a few sheets up when they take pictures of their MOCs. That would be my guess anyway, I'm not 100% certain.

Paper or laminated wood work better in general than sheets as they do not "absorb" the light like sheets do. Furthermore, they have no real texture, so give a smooth background.

[Dr. Brick]

Thanks everybody, I'm sure this will help.

Dr. Brick

Edit: My avatar is a bit better allready!

Edited April 19, 2008 by Dr. Brick

[goggleson]

for avatars just use A4 paper, unless the figure is white, then it looks bad.

[caichem]

what about COrel draw it my be work.

[SlyOwl]

for avatars just use A4 paper, unless the figure is white, then it looks bad.

Ahem.

[Athos]

I just use a big piece of light blue posterboard, that I set the MOC on and curve up for the background. It works pretty well, as you can see in my signature picture. Or I build a brick background, as seen in my avatar.

Steve

[Joebot]

I recommend Photoshop Elements. That's what I use for all my Unlikely Society comics. It's basically a stripped-down consumer version of Photoshop. It has most of the functionality at a fraction of the price. It has some impressive tools for selecting objects and removing them from their backgrounds.

[Erdbeereis]

What I usually do is put 2 big pieces of white paper down. One on a wall and one on the floor. This usually works quite well unless the thing I am photographing is very white. I have seen people do like space backgrounds and other stuff like that. I presume this is done with photoshop?

[Brickmaster]

I just got a PaintShop pro, where you can simply cut out the thing you want, and paste it onto a background you want, or just white.

[WesternOutlaw]

Dr. Brick:

My two cents:

1) I started a thread re. custom (non-photo enhanced) backdrops here: How to Make a Good Backdrop, Hints & Tricks. You might check this thread out as well. This would be a nice route to go if you don't want to mess with a photo editing program.

2) Personal opinion only, I hate white. If you go Plain Jane, try using some color. I used orange paper in my recent Indian MOC (link provided in my signature). Athos mentioned light blue.

3) I also tried a large green poster board for a non-Lego Jungle backdrop. It worked well also.

4) Lastly, as others mentioned, get a good photo program (Photoshop or Corel). I'm using Photoshop now (just started learning). My last Grave Stone MOC (Decrepit Bank) was my 1st attempt. And once you have a nice "cut image" of your MOC, you can use different digital backgrounds, photos, est. It's some time tedious, but the result it much better.

Good luck and be sure to post some of your work once you try a few techniques that work well for you.

[ExoBuilder]

In this picture, you can see how I take mine. Though, this was awhile back. Now I move the foamboard near a window, you'll get results like this if you set it up right.

[WesternOutlaw]

In this picture, you can see how I take mine. Though, this was awhile back. Now I move the foamboard near a window, you'll get results like this if you set it up right.

That's pretty good. I've never been able to turn a dog into a Mini Lego War of the Worlds Robot Thingy with my photo program. What button is that?

Sorry EB. I just had to.

[ExoBuilder]

That's pretty good. I've never been able to turn a dog into a Mini Lego War of the Worlds Robot Thingy with my photo program. What button is that?

Sorry EB. I just had to.

You've never done that? And I thought you were a true Lego fan , I guess I'm wrong.

[Dr. Brick]

Wow, thanks everybody for all the techniques. I'm sure Ill try some of those out.

Dr. Brick