Jim

Photography Tips (for Technic Reviews or Contests)

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Some of you have asked me about my photo studio setup. I had a little chatter with some members a while back, which might provide useful information for people writing reviews, shootings pics for contest, or shootings pics for fun. That's why I moved it to the Technic Forum.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a professional photographer and I am only using DSLRs since December 2013, when I wrote my first two reviews: 42023 and 42024. Any hints, tips and modus operandi reflect my personal experience and opinion. Although I did read a lot of books when I starting shooting pictures with my DSLR. The first two reviews where shot with a 600D from a friend, while all my other reviews where shot with a 70D, which is my current camera.

Equipment

  • Get a white or grey backdrop (from hobby store or other PVC reseller) (7 euro)
  • Get a tripod (25 euro)
  • Get a remote (10 euro)
  • The kit lens is okay but you might consider buying the Nifty Fifty (cheapest anon/Nikon lens, fixed 50mm focal length, 100 euro)
  • Preferabluy get some daylight lamps (I am currently using two, price depends)

Studio

  1. Place the backdrop somewhere that it curls up to the wall (so there's no hard bending edge visible)
  2. Make sure there's no other light coming in the room
  3. Turn on the light and try to spread the light instead of pointing it towards the model (I have both lamps pointed to the ceiling)
  4. Put the camera on the tripod

15439152008_618af88c1f_c.jpg

Camera Setup

  1. Use Manual Focus
  2. Set camera to ISO 100 (important to avoid grainyness)
  3. Use AV mode and set the Aperture value to F20 (the higher the value, the more depth of field, but you will need a longer shutter time)
  4. Use automatic White Balance
  5. Use evaluative metering
  6. Set camera to remote shutter (drive mode)

The fixed 50mm doesn't have zoom so I am moving the tripod, but when you use the kit lens, you can zoom in and zoom out. When shooting a picture the camera will automatically decide how long the shutter needs to be open, since you are using AV mode. Just press the button on the remote and you are good to go.

AV-mode and F-stop

Understanding the AV mode is very important. In your picture you notice the back of the crane is blurry. That's because you used a wider aperture. The wider the aperture (smaller F value, like F5.6) the smaller the Depth of Field. A smaller aperture (higher F value, like F20) will result in a larger depth of field (which means the things in the background will be sharp as well).

By the way; f/22 results in a very deep depth of field. If your model isn't very big (there's not much depth in it) and there's probably some distance between the model and the camera (the closer the camera to the model, the more you need to be aware of the depth of field), so you probably don't need F/22. You can play with the F setting. Try to go to F/11 and see whether everything in your picture is still sharp.

DOF (Depth of Field)

Depth of Field

(check the section with Selective Focus)

Evaluative vs Spot Metering

A DSLR can use different modes to meter the exposure. There's a real difference between spot metering and evaluative metering (not sure how Nikon designates them). Spot metering uses the center spot to calculate exposure while evaluative uses the big picture. My box images where over exposed because the spot the camera used was black. When I shot images of the model (which had a lot of white), the pictures got very dark. Now I use the entire scene to calculate exposure. It makes a lot of difference.

Post Production

To really get clear and crisp results, some post processing is mandatory. I use Lightroom because it's easy to use, yields great results and a license is around 100 bucks.

When importing into Lightroom I have default settings to enhance the image and do lens correction etc. After that it's only cropping.

Reviewer's Academy

For those of you who are interested in writing reviews and improving your skills. Check out the Reviewer's Academy.

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Wow, many thanks for the answer Jim ! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

The things you have written enlighten me and i think i understood what i have to to to improve my photography skills. I must say, i didn't know about the AV model. It is true, i always set the aperture to small values, but i had no idea what that setting was (should have studied that). I will invest some money and buy a backdrop and some lights, as i have a tripod. Again, many many thanks !

I have joined the RA and i have read the topic about photography there too, but did not really get it. I just have built the 42028 Dozer and i thought of doing a review on it but i was disappointed by the picture quality and i let it go :blush: .

PS: That 600D is a dream for me :grin:

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Cool! Glad to be of assistance. I recommend reading up on the three variables you use when shooting pictures, aperture, shutter speed and ISO level. That's basically all you need to you. But using Av with F18/F20 with ISO 100 will suffice for shooting LEGO.

Let me know if you run into anything.

I don't know your budget and whether you want to do more with the camera but the 700D is available in The Netherlands for around 500 euro with kit lens. I still recommend using the 350D, which perfectly fine for what you are trying to accomplish.

You might want to consider the Nifty Fifty though. It's a cheap lens, but the IQ (image quality) is superb!

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For the mini contest I watched a bunch of youtube videos to get a good picture of the mini digger. I think this video was the most informative but the presenter might actually be a robot, can't tell :blush:

My camera only goes up to F8.0 but that was plenty for my model to get the whole thing in focus. I used macro mode to get the lens right up to the model (only a few inches away) and had the camera low and looking up to make it look much bigger. I used a low ISO to help prevent grain and compensated for the light loss that causes by having a longer exposure time and mounting the camera on a tripod. I also "borrowed" two large light boxes from my brother and did some extra work in photoshop to remove some more of the grain. I also found that the yellows looked a bit green when compared to official set pictures so I shifted the colour a bit to add a bit of orange.

Edited by allanp

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That's a nice video :thumbup:

Sounds like you took the logical approach. It's not very difficult. You simply need to know some basics and invest some time to experiment.

This is actually my first DLSR so I don't have any prior experience either.

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Well at least you guys can take a photo,my photos and videos are always dark and unclear. :cry_sad:

What cam are you using?

What I forgot to mention is that I use RAW instead of JPG. This offers better options when editing in Lightroom or Photoshop. If there's an option to shoot RAW....use it. Although shooting RAW won't make up for everything of course.

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HTC mobile or a Panasonic DMC -S1....I still don't know why.... :head_back:

OK so I am not into all this camera stuff...I just build,what I need is a NXT robot that will automatically take good photos for me. :blush:

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What I forgot to mention is that I use RAW instead of JPG. This offers better options when editing in Lightroom or Photoshop. If there's an option to shoot RAW....use it. Although shooting RAW won't make up for everything of course.

Interesting! I've heard professional photographers say the opposite: basically that RAW is useless and it offers no advantage but makes the files a lot bigger. Maybe it is different for different cameras.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm

I really like Ken Rockwell and find a lot of useful photography info on his page.

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For my latest presentation I used a very cheap but effective setup. For the white back ground I used a white sheet and for the flash I used this $70 manual flash: http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN560-III-USA-Speedlite-Integrated-Receiver/dp/B00I44F5LS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409087073&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=yuguno+yn+160+iii

Using my t4i I set the mode to manual and took some shots to test the exposure. I tried to get as much in camera as possible so I made sure the white background was peaking. With the flash on full, my settings were around 1/125 shutter and f8.0 for aperture, and ISO 100 or maybe 200. I shot in raw and finished painting some stuff out in lightroom as well as made some slight adjustments. In my opinion the photos look great and it was accomplished using very cheap equipment! Unfortunately Brickshelf is down at the moment so I cannot link to these pictures, sorry!

Tim

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Interesting! I've heard professional photographers say the opposite: basically that RAW is useless and it offers no advantage but makes the files a lot bigger. Maybe it is different for different cameras.

http://www.kenrockwe...om/tech/raw.htm

I really like Ken Rockwell and find a lot of useful photography info on his page.

The first line says it all "A big problem in 2008 is...". Personally I think the objections Ken raises are a bit outdated. Back in the days we used < 1 GB memory cards (okay probably more, but we couldn't buy a 32GB card for 50 euro). Same goes for hard drive space. Storage is not really a big issue anymore.

Furthermore modern cams have the possibility of shooting RAW in multiple formats, so you are not restricted to the max resolution. I shoot max resolution RAW which results in a 26MB picture, but I can also choose to select smaller RAW formats.

RAW is indeed slower than JPG but my cam still shoots 7 pics a second in full resolution.

I do like these two arguments Ken is using:

If you shoot hundreds or thousands of images in a day shoot JPG and don't worry.

If you love to tweak your images one-by one and shoot less than about a hundred shots at a time than raw could be for you.

He is right that RAW always needs software to be able to publish your pictures. On the other hand, most (digital) photographers do apply (minor) corrections to enhance their images, so they will be importing them into software anyway. And if you want to use your pictures right away, you can always use the RAW + JPG option.

For me the versatility of RAW trumps every argument to use JPG. Especially with product photography.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a professional photographer so it's just an amateur's opinion...possibly pro-am but no more than that :laugh:

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I too know that RAW format is way better for post processing procedures. And the quality of the RAW format is higher that JPG too !

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I too know that RAW format is way better for post processing procedures.

True!

And the quality of the RAW format is higher that JPG too !

This probably depends on your JPG settings and internal JPG processing of the DSLR. I can only assume that a professional photographer won't shoot JPG if the quality of RAW would be significantly better.

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I take bad photos with an even worse camera on my Nexus 4 (smartphone). Even for smartphones, it's a bad camera. I almost never take photos and when I do, quality doesn't matter...

There's a very new Sony DSLR camera in the house here. As you could guess, it's not mine. I may use it of course, I just never do :grin:

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You should try the DSLR, maybe you'll fall in love and never use the Nexus camera at all. I had the Nexus 4 too, and it has a pretty bad camera :look:

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I use a Canon T2i with a 18-135mm lens, and I'm pretty happy with it. I have a lot to learn though, and thanks Jim for the good pointers! I've heard good things about the 50mm prime lens, but I wasn't sure if it was good for shooting LEGO. I'll have to pick one up.

I'm very happy with the video quality of my 2Ti. I do wish it had continuous autofocus, but otherwise, the video quality is great. I'd love to pick up the new Canon 70D.

I need to improve my lighting. Most of the time I shoot outdoors, but when I get more space, I'd like to set up a photo area inside.

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I shoot with a Canon 70D and the 50mm prime (nifty fifty) and I am more than satisfied. Since the lens doesn't have zoom you need to move the cam, but the results are great. I also have a Sigma 17-50 2.8 but the 50mm is a tad sharper. And it's the cheapest lens you can get, so you can't go wrong :thumbup:

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Cool! I just ordered the nifty fifty lens. Canon had a sale going, and I decided to pick one up. They are throwing in $50 worth of gift stuff too (t-shirt or something I think).

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Sweet! Seams like a nice deal. Looking forward to seeing the results :thumbup:

I will post a picture of my current setup tomorrow.

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Ugh. I just spent all evening trying to shoot photos for Technicopedia. Followed all advice: ISO100, f22, aperture priority, tripod, got the white balance right, etc. Using my trusty Nikon DSLR. Sadly, the photos look simply terrible. They are in good focus with good depth of field, but even with the correct 2 second (!!) exposure everything is so dark that when you adjust it up in Photoshop it looks ridiculous. I can only assume that I just have nowhere near enough light even though I am using a 3 point umbrella light setup. My old photos with a nice big bounce flash seemed to work better. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Jim, how much light are you using?

Edit: You can see how dim my lights are in this unedited picture:

DSC_7900.jpg

By way of comparison, here is a photo taken seconds later but with my big bounce flash added:

DSC_7899.jpg

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As far as i can see, the problem is that you do not have enough lights. What camera do you own ? Try to set the exposure time less then 2 seconds, more like 5 or 6 !

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As far as i can see, the problem is that you do not have enough lights. What camera do you own ? Try to set the exposure time less then 2 seconds, more like 5 or 6 !

You probably mean MORE than 2 seconds :wink:

But that's irrelevant, because in Av (or A on Nikon) the camera determines the shutter speed based on the other variables. So you don't explicitly set a certain time. The camera does that for you, making sure that you get the right exposure.

Will be back in half an hour with an elaborate answer.

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You probably mean MORE than 2 seconds :wink:

But that's irrelevant, because in Av (or A on Nikon) the camera determines the shutter speed based on the other variables. So you don't explicitly set a certain time. The camera does that for you, making sure that you get the right exposure.

Will be back in half an hour with an elaborate answer.

Yes, i meant MORE, sorry for that :blush: . I always shoot on the Manual mode so i always set up my exposure time, that is why i mentioned it.

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Yes, i meant MORE, sorry for that :blush: . I always shoot on the Manual mode so i always set up my exposure time, that is why i mentioned it.

I used to shoot Manual too, but using Av makes your life easier. There's no need in setting the shutter speed manually.

Ugh. I just spent all evening trying to shoot photos for Technicopedia. Followed all advice: ISO100, f22, aperture priority, tripod, got the white balance right, etc. Using my trusty Nikon DSLR. Sadly, the photos look simply terrible. They are in good focus with good depth of field, but even with the correct 2 second (!!) exposure everything is so dark that when you adjust it up in Photoshop it looks ridiculous. I can only assume that I just have nowhere near enough light even though I am using a 3 point umbrella light setup. My old photos with a nice big bounce flash seemed to work better. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Jim, how much light are you using?

Edit: You can see how dim my lights are in this unedited picture:

By way of comparison, here is a photo taken seconds later but with my big bounce flash added:

It's a work in progress but this is the amount of light I use to shoot pictures:

15113498716_7aef52d483_c.jpg

As you can see it's not very much. During the day there's more ambient light pooring in, so it's a bit lighter.

Couple of things we need to check:

EV

Are your EV (Exposure Value) settings set to 0? Not to -1 or -2?

Lens

What lens are you using? Maybe your lens isn't suitable for f/22. I am using a fast f/1.8.

What I find peculiar is that if your EV setting is set to 0 and you use A mode, your camera should calculate the proper shutter speed value. I have been shooting pictures without the two daylight lamps, only some ambient light, which resulted in 10 to 15 seconds of open shutter. But I did end up with fine pictures, because the camera is calulating the right amount of light needed.

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F-stop

By the way; f/22 results in a very deep depth of field. Your model isn't very big (there's not much depth in it) and there's probably some distance between the model and the camera (the closer the camera to the model, the more you need to be aware of the depth of field), so you probably don't need F/22. You can play with the F setting. Try to go to F/11 and see whether everything in your picture is still sharp.

When you place your camera very close the model and your model is the 42009 and you want the front and back to be sharp (like the picture below), the distance from the cam to the model is about the same as the distance from the front to the back of the model. You will need a higher F setting (F/16 +) for that. When you place your camera at 2 meters and the distance between the front and back of the model is 10cm (like in your picture), then you can do with a lower F setting (F/8 might suffice). To be on the safe side, I always use F22. But you can play around with the settings.

Let me know if this is clear. Otherwise I will try to explain it better.

14907067278_b69265f04d_c.jpg

So:

  1. Check your EV setting (should be 0)
  2. Let me know which Lens you are using
  3. Try to use a lower F setting like F/18 or even F/11.

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