Cloud City Failure

[commdr_neyo]

DV: Obi-Wan never told you what happened to Father Christmas..

Luke: He told me enough, he told me you killed him!

DV: No Luke, I am Father Christmas!!

Luke NOOOOO!!!

My entry for the contest.

[Solscud007]

Good shot. But I feel it is too similar to Black knight112

also you need a bit more DOF (depth of field) luke is too fuzzy and out of focus.

[indyman09]

Good entry! The text is fun too! But I think Luke must be a little more in the light.

[Sisco]

It's a good entry, with funny content and good lighting, but I think you'll lose points for the Blurry Luke and Originality.

[commdr_neyo]

Good shot. But I feel it is too similar to Black knight112

also you need a bit more DOF (depth of field) luke is too fuzzy and out of focus.

Thanks! You can see here that I took my picture before Blackknight112 did.

This shot was very hard to get, because of some lightnig problems, so this is the best I could

Good entry! The text is fun too! But I think Luke must be a little more in the light.

Thanks, if you read what I said above, you'll understand.

It's a good entry, with funny content and good lighting, but I think you'll lose points for the Blurry Luke and Originality.

Blurry, I know. But originality?

If no one would vote for me because some one else had the same idea, I see no other option than look for other ideas.. If you guys really want to, I can also upload a picture from the 24th, it has the same idea, but the picture failed.

[Sisco]

Well, it's not on a vote system. There are two judges, and they'll be looking for originality. It doesn't matter if I would vote for you or not in this case.

[Solscud007]

This shot was very hard to get, because of some lightnig problems, so this is the best I could

Best thing is to experiment or ask the people who take good pictures. Im sure they are willing to share some tips.

To solve the lighting issue is cheap and easy. Depending on what you have around the house.

a simple light tent can work wonders. Ikea sells a large children's play tent for $10 USD. It is white with blue igloo brick pattern on the front. the sides are white.

Take it outdoors and put it in the sun. Perfect lighting for almost any basic photoshoot.

Plus the tent is big enough to put the Lego Deathstar inside.

In terms of lights for indoor, You just need to experiment. direct lighting on a subject created harsh shadows. Smokebelch provided the tip that he just uses his iphone for lighting.

I tried it, and it works great.

However to use the iphone for light, you need to be able to control shutter speed. Some point and shoot cameras can do this.

What camera do you have? It is not reasonable to say this but a DSLR can do everything. But Smokebelch can take great pics with his fuji camera and it is not a DSLR.

Here is an example how much light an iphone can produce. This toy is 21 inches tall or 53.3 cm tall.

Oh also, for complex shots you should get your self an affordable tripod and use the self-timer. Try not to use the shutter button for a long exposure. just pushing the button can cause the camera to shake and make the picture blurry.

Edited December 27, 2010 by Solscud007

[XimenaPaulina]

Nice entry commdr_neyo, I love the greenish tinge of the lighting. Though I have to agree that there seems to be some slight blurriness, especially on Santa Vader. Maybe you could try to enhance the details using Photoshop, or better yet take another shot like what Solscud has suggested.

[commdr_neyo]

Thanks for all the kind replies, and for the advice.

My camera is a Canon EOS 350D Digital. As for the light, I used a regular Ikea Lamp with some green 'crepe paper'.

I tried different lights too, but mt phone just wasn't light enough. I used the darkest room in my house, and a black backround (paper).

The best thing to do is just try more shots, and see if I can get some better photo's.

[Solscud007]

Thanks for all the kind replies, and for the advice.

My camera is a Canon EOS 350D Digital. As for the light, I used a regular Ikea Lamp with some green 'crepe paper'.

I tried different lights too, but mt phone just wasn't light enough. I used the darkest room in my house, and a black backround (paper).

The best thing to do is just try more shots, and see if I can get some better photo's.

Ok perfect so you have a camera that can be manually controlled.

What settings did you use for that shot?

If you want more focus aka DOF (depth of field) so that luke is in focus, then you need to change the f-stop. In manual mode there are two very basic things to control, the f-stop which is the aperture of the lens, and shutter speed.

By making the f/stop a bigger number, it makes the shutter aperture smaller. So a quick shot in my camera lens is usually f/3.5 it is really big aperture and lets in a LOT of light. But the downside is that focus is somewhat shallow. Like in your contest entry.

I would ramp up the f/stop to f/22, if your lens can go that high and im sure it can. The aperture becomes tiny and lets in very little light. to compensate for the low amount of light, you need to adjust the shutter speed. increase the shutter speed so that the light levels is normal. You should have a small bar light meter in your eyepiece. Then mount the camera to a tripod and use a remote or use the self timer.

That should help with your focus issues. Not every shot should be in sharp DOF. But it helps for this particular picture.

For example here is an old picture where I used shallow DOF to get a pretty cool picture.

as for your lighting, try buying a large piece of poster size cardboard. White. Then have the ikea lamp bounce the light onto the scene. It will provide a softer feel. also note that there will be some serious decrease in light so you need to increase your shutter speed.

If the picture wont take at max shutter speed, then up the ISO speed. Usually if you increase the shutter speed to max there is one more step past that, and that is "bulb" meaning you hold the shutter down for longer than 30 secs and it is a dead man's switch. the shutter will stay open as long as you press that button.

I dont recommend it unless you have a wired or IR remote.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Solscud007

[commdr_neyo]

Thanks for all the advice Solscud!

I'm not a camera professional at all, not even with my own camera, but I'll see how I can improve.

[Solscud007]

Thanks for all the advice Solscud!

I'm not a camera professional at all, not even with my own camera, but I'll see how I can improve.

Im not a professional either. I dont think anyone here is. Its just a hobby for many of us. The best way to learn and get better is to simply experiment. Try different settings and see how that impacts and affects your pictures.

[Ceroknight]

Nice entry! I think there should be a bit more background though..

[commdr_neyo]

Nice entry! I think there should be a bit more background though..

Thanks, but what do you mean exactly?