How the heck do you get the lighting right for PIC
So I've been taking picture after picture of a 1953 Winchester 42 410 and it's nearly impossible to get close ups showing serial number or any other fine detail without suffering from glare. What is everyone with the great pictures doing different? I admit I am winging it with my iphone so I need some tips!
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Do it outdoors on a sunny day but in the shade with maybe some reflected light off the side of a building. Turn off the flash on the camera if there is one. Also get a regular camera and put away the iphone. 0 -
mathp,
Welcome to the forums, here on Gunbroker.com
On most digital camera's, there is a mode setting, where you can select the mode. The mode you want is the MACRO mode. It will let you get an in close, in focus picture, like you are describing. However, if you get the camera too close, you will get glare, no matter how much lighting you have. What I do, is back the camera off 1-2 feet, and zoom in while in MACRO mode. You will need something to rest on to hold you and the camera PERFECTLY still.
Best
EDIT 1
Neal,
SHOW OFF!!!![:D][:D][:D]0 -
I use "white" light to avoid the yellow from incandescent. I set up the gun on work bench under a twin-40 work light, & use a hand held fluorescent shop light for fill lighting.
Neal
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The first tip is to use a quality camera with a macro zoom feature (like someone else mentioned, cell phones are not a good choice).
The second tip, is to take the pictures outdoors in indirect (bright shade) natural lighting with the flash feature turned off.
Unless you use a mount for your camera, you will need very steady hands.0 -
Good advice given.
a. Macro setting on camera for closeups. Most of the modern digital cameras do have this setting. . .just as most users don't know how to use the controls and access it!
b. Camera on stand if you don't want blurriness. Tripods are relatively inexpensive and actually quite useful.
c. Natural light (ie sunlight) gives the best color balance, if you have the ability to use it.
d. If you want to avoid shadows you have to have light coming from ALL AROUND the subject. At the same time, if you want to avoid glare/reflections you want to avoid point-source lighting, or at least have the light way off to the sides.
That's why pros use light boxes (and/or multiple light sources with diffusers in studios) to take pictures. The box diffuses the light to avoid hot spots and reflections. Do it yourself versions are pretty easy to make (you can "Google" how).
Here is an example of a "quick and dirty" image I took for a recent thread using a cheap digital camera and its "macro" setting. Note the extreme detail from the macro setting. . .you can literally see the pores of the metal on the trigger and the fine machining marks on on the cylinder notches. Also note the GLARE because I used only one light source!
Edit: Responding to Jonk below. Absolutely. . .camera technology has reached the point where you can get something capable of taking really good quality images, inexpensively.
The camera I used for the above picture is similar to the one you describe. I forget the brand, but its a 6 year old 3.2 megapixel camera. As comparison, the camera built into my cell phone will capture 8 megapixel images that are substantially better.
Don't forget that a "lowly" 3.2 megapixel camera still delivers a high resolution image that is 2048 X 1536 pixels in size. In other words, the image it creates has significantly more resolution than any high-definition TV or even the best of the current high-end computer monitors can actually display!
Once you get past about 2-3 of them, more megapixels really only buy you the ability to zoom in on the image and keep resolution, or print out enlarged paper prints without getting "grainy". If all you're doing is taking pictures for display on a computer, you don't need much resolution at all.
How much resolution the camera on an Iphone gives depends on the exact model, but I think the early ones yield 2 megapixel or 1600x1200 pixel images. That's not super-great, but its still plenty good enough to yield a good image for a COMPUTER monitor, if you keep it still and the subject is properly lighted.
The current Iphone 4 yields 5 MP images, which ought to be more than adequate for any sort of normal photography, including of guns. It has a built in macro lens. I don't know how to use the macro feature, but its possible the phone is "smart" enough to engage it automatically in autofocusing on a close subject.
Edit #2
This. . .
Isn't all that different conceptually than this:0 -
Thanks to everyone you are all very helpful and I appreciate you taking the time. 0 -
You don't need a great camera to take great pics. My 8 year old 3.2 mega pixel Fuji takes excellent close ups on the macro setting with a rest or tripod. Again though, to avoid glare, you must be outdoors or have photography grade lighting. A bright slightly cloudy day is best. 0 -
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quote:Originally posted by MP
That looks like a pretty nice rifle, that you are working on destroying the crown on, by supporting it with an arbor in the barrel.0 -
quote:Originally posted by tsr1965That looks like a pretty nice rifle, that you are working on destroying the crown on, by supporting it with an arbor in the barrel.
Not true at all.0
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