battleMountainminis Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Help! I have a sony Cyber-shot 2.1 mp. I know I should have a better camera but it's what I have and can't afford a new one now. ALL of my pictures are dark/shadowy I have tried adjusting them thru the program that came with my windows XP system then they seem bleached out I've tried taking them outside, Under a window, in a spray painted white box with direct halogen light, Thru cheesecloth and still I'm not getting the detail or look I want.. Anyone have any brilliant ideas for a crummy shutterbug Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodnik Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 I don't take great pictures either...but I'll let you in on what I do... I built a few little panels outta basswood and vellum...to act as diffusers. I bought 4 metal shop light reflectors for 5 bucks a piece. I bought 4 150w Reveal lamps. Shine one from the top, two from the sides, one from the "lower" front... Use the timer and a tripod. ...snap the shot.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kheprera Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Plain white paper towels, toilet tissue, or tracing paper works quite well to diffuse light. Get a white poster board and bend it into a curved L shape. Use binder clips to hold it onto some hardboard or even a cardboard box will work. Get three lights. Use one to illuminate the background. The other two use the paper (towels, tissue, or tracing paper) to cover the bulbs in order to diffuse the light. You may need to diffuse the light for the background as well. Illuminating the background with its own light will reduce shadows. You can also use a forth diffused light to illuminate from above. You definately want one on each side and you can use one from above to illuminate the background. Set your camera on a tripod. If a tripod is unavailable, use a sturdy stack of those large, hardcover game books I know you have. Just make certain there is enough play for the lens to move as it needs to for focusing. Hope that helps!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battleMountainminis Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 HOT dang! Thanks guys I really appriciate the help ..by the way what's venium? (oops spelling) I actually have gotten a decent picture for a change I have been up for about 2 hours trying these methods and yipeeee Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 I"m so ghetto I've been using my guest-bathroom as my "studio". It has all white wallpapered walls and a full-mirror over the counter so the light gets bounced around quite a bit naturally. Even though, I'm still having trouble with shadows, but when I bring the little desk-lamp in to reduce them, I get a flood of gamma-light (I think that's the sort of light that makes the pics all come out reddish) If any of you don't mind, could you post a pic of the light-setups you use? I know I need something better. The posterboard and wax paper dealy sounds like a good affordable solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pae Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Here's mine: I just use two lamps with 40 watt GE Reveal bulbs in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Looks like gooseneck lamps are what I need. I am just using a regular lamp (kewt little one with elephants on it from my stepdaughter's desk), but I LOVE thoes Reveal bulbs! Flynn, I think you and I are kind of doing the same thing for background. I have a page of blank off-white paper curled up behind mine usually. I once tried scenery, but for some reason, my auto-focus wants to focus on the scenery too often. Dummy me only just now figured out how to manually focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pae Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Actually, my background is a white-to-blue gradient that I printed on my photo printer. Works pretty well, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpy Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 do you guys have any suggestions on camera's?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battleMountainminis Posted August 7, 2004 Author Share Posted August 7, 2004 I know it sounds dumb but how do you post pictures in the topics? I was going to show my paint station but can't load a picture.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kheprera Posted August 7, 2004 Share Posted August 7, 2004 1) You need to have the image uploaded to a website URL. 2) When making a post, look up above the posting box. You'll see some boxes that look like this: 3) click on the Img (image) button. 4) copy and paste URL of image into post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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