Digital photography colour differences

Tim Marlow

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Hi John
Surprised to find this thread live again.....and Andy has lost me as well....
As to your Canon, just put it on the green square setting and push the shutter button....it will set itself up for the shot in most situations and give good results. When you get shots you like look at the Shot data and find out how it was set up. This will give you a heads up for exploring further....
 

JR

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Hi John
Surprised to find this thread live again.....and Andy has lost me as well....
As to your Canon, just put it on the green square setting and push the shutter button....it will set itself up for the shot in most situations and give good results. When you get shots you like look at the Shot data and find out how it was set up. This will give you a heads up for exploring further....
Good idea Tim..... Thanks.:thumb2::thumb2::thumb2:
John
 

Jakko

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Your lost..... Jakko I was lost half way through. Glad two of you ( Tim ) know what your talking about.
My basic point is that in digital photos, the colour you use as a background affects the colour of the model as it appears in the photo. In other words, if the model’s colour seems wildly off on your screen, try taking another photo with a different background color behind the model.

I've spent hr's with my Cannon trying different settings, colour etc, still seems a minefield.
This is part of why I take photos with my iPad :smiling3: I point it at the model, try to get the composition right, tap where I want it to focus if necessary, and just take the photo. The only editing I usually do afterward is to crop the image to get rid of excessive background — which is usually only there because my little photo studio can be too small to maneuver the iPad to get the composition I want, or because the iPad doesn’t focus well up close so I need to take photos from further away than I would like.

I find that the more you mess with settings, the less likely you are to get what you want unless you really know what you’re doing. (I had a very unproductive discussion with my brother about this kind of thing a while ago. One of his hobbies is photography, using a pretty high-end DSLR camera, and he basically maintained that you need to know your tools before using them, whereas my idea is that tools that you can’t use correctly for basic things without knowing all their ins and outs are too complicated.)
 
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Tim Marlow

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Interesting view points Jakko.
I agree broadly with What you have written, but if true colour reproduction is important then an SLR will eat an I-Pad alive when set up properly. The image also needs developing properly with decent imaging software. Apart from anything else, an I-Pad is set up to oversaturate colours to make the image pop out as soon as the picture is taken. Any colour cast is therefore emphasised right off the bat. For kit building in-progress shots though I think pads are pretty good. All my recent bike shots were taken with mine.
I don’t actually agree with your brother ref SLRs. Basic settings are common across all decent cameras. You need to know about the interaction of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO value to give you a properly exposed image. Everything else just makes certain jobs easier. Shutter firing options, for example. I can take bird in flight shots with single shot settings, but could struggle to get one that is just right. Switching up to high speed continuous makes it easier to get more choice of shots (and far easier to fill the memory card LOL) so increasing the chance of getting good ones.
To put this in a modelling context, when you airbrush you need to learn paint thinning, translucency of the paint you use, which air pressures to use, and how to control and use your airbrush. That is a lot of infinitely variable aspects that all have to work together to do what you want. Once you learn the basics you can then put down an even coat of paint on the model. You could, of course just use a spray can to do the same job, which would be the simplest tool doing the same job....
However, when you are experienced enough you can then use the airbrush to easily put down fading, fine lines, graduations, etc. You can’t do that with the spray can without plenty of masking and a large dose of luck.
Cheers
Tim
 
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I agree 100% with you there Tim.
The latest trend for many years now is that people want 'easy' tools and stuff which you don't need to figure out anymore. In a wayt it's a bit lazy in a way and reminds me of the Disney CGI film Wally where humans live in space, are fat and don't do a thing all day because they don't want to do things. This is becoming general. Same with self parking cars and all. If this continues we people won't know how to do things without our easy and self 'doing' machinery...:P

A DSLR has many perks and you don't really need to know all of it, but a base of knowledge is welcome. In a sense that accounts for the whole hobby I think. I find trying out new things, both in modelling as using my camera are exciting and fun!

Cheers
 

Jakko

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I agree broadly with What you have written, but if true colour reproduction is important then an SLR will eat an I-Pad alive when set up properly.
Of course. But for posting photos on a forum, or keeping a record of how you built your models, accurate colour representation isn’t an issue (if you ask me, anyway :smiling3:).

I don’t actually agree with your brother ref SLRs. Basic settings are common across all decent cameras. You need to know about the interaction of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO value to give you a properly exposed image. Everything else just makes certain jobs easier.
His comments mainly related to my complaint that DLSR cameras have too many buttons, and it’s too easy to press one without realising you’ve done so, thereby changing settings you might not even know exist. His reply more or less boiled down to, “You should know your tools before using them.” Which IMHO is patent nonsense, because that would mean you’d need months of study to memorise everything the stupid camera can do even before being allowed to press a button on it. (And TBH, I doubt he did that either :smiling3:)

To put this in a modelling context, when you airbrush you need to learn paint thinning, translucency of the paint you use, which air pressures to use, and how to control and use your airbrush. That is a lot of infinitely variable aspects that all have to work together to do what you want. Once you learn the basics you can then put down an even coat of paint on the model. You could, of course just use a spray can to do the same job, which would be the simplest tool doing the same job....
I prefer spraying cans, truth be told :smiling3: Airbrushes need a lot more effort to get right, and a lot more cleaning afterward. I used to be more skilled in airbrushing than I am now, largely due to spraying models quite a lot 15–25 years ago, but only having used one maybe only a dozen times between then and buying a compressor and spray booth for my hobby room last summer. It’s coming back, though :smiling3:

The latest trend for many years now is that people want 'easy' tools and stuff which you don't need to figure out anymore. In a wayt it's a bit lazy
No, it’s the way technology should work: it should do what you want in the way you want it, whenever you want it to. Clearly this isn’t feasible for complex things like photography, but technology certainly shouldn’t get in your way. Ideally, you should just be able to use things more or less straight away (after a short introduction, simple instructions, etc.), at least in a manner that gets basic results, so that you can learn to tinker with it once you’ve got that down. This is why macOS > Windows > Linux, for example. Oh wait, let’s not turn this into an operating system flame war :smiling3:

To relate this to the current topic: DSLR cameras are too complicated for the controls they have. Yes, almost anyone can take pictures with them after basic instruction (“look through here to point at your subject, press here to take a photo”) but as soon as something unexpected happens, you’ll basically be lost at sea because the multitude of buttons, many with multiple functions, makes it very hard to work out what to do to correct it. (My specific example that caused the argument with my brother, was that the point at which the camera focussed had moved up and to the left, instead of being in the centre of the viewfinder. This eventually turned out to be due to pressing the round four-way arrow button control, but I for one didn’t know that’s its function when you’re not tinkering with something on the camera’s screen.)

The standard camera apps on iPads, phones, and similar are usually at the other end of the spectrum: you can’t really adjust anything, which makes them very suitable for taking quick photos. At the same time, it makes them get in your way if you know exactly how you want to take a picture but can’t because the app doesn’t have that option (for example, adjustable depth of field to get both gun barrel and turret of a tank model in focus).
 
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JR

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Jakko .
I have no problems using my 5 D doing landscapes, which I've done for some years. I have some beautiful scenes from Norfolk, and use filters, including UV.
My problem is photographs of my models, Tim has given me some helpful tips. Tonight my wife took some shots of my Sturm with her IPad, not bad at all. At least the depth of field allows every thing to be in focus. That's all I want when I take shots of models.
John.
 
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