S
Stevekir
Guest
I bought a Nikon D3100 Single Lens Reflex camera (it's the bottom of the range model but awesomely sophisticated) and have been experimenting making two kinds of photos of my models (I have completed only 2 so far). I have a simple home-made table-top setup (see photo). The two types of photos are what I call a Presentation image which looks smart, the sort that might appear in a magazine (not that any of mine would!), and a technical one designed to emphasise the detail, quality and mistakes in the model (and the one in this post is a good example!), and as a record mainly for me.
Both are lit directly by a flash because the harsh light, along with its "line of sight" (or whatever it is called) at a small angle to the side of the fuselage, picks up detail well, especially with the larger scale of the technical one.
Remembering the purpose of the photos, could I have comments, critical ones please.
View attachment 72212
View attachment 72213
Here is how I took the photos. I wanted the harshness of a flash for the Spitfire, but wanted a soft shadow rather than the hard-edged one always given by direct flash. So I took two photos without changing anything except the exposure, and the direction of the flash gun. The first had the flash gun pointing at the plane (direct flash). The second had it pointing back towards the umbrella. This had to be done in darkness.
I then used Photoshop. I bought this about 14 years ago when it was quite cheap (it is now £700 if you can get it because it is now offered only via a monthly subscription of about £15 per month!!), but Photoshop Elements (very much cheaper) or Gimp (free) could do what I did.
For the presentation photo, the direct flash image was opened and Photoshop's sharpening filter used to sharpen the image a bit, then the Quick Selection Tool was used to select the image of the plane but not the shadow. Then Edit > Copy. Then the other (umbrella) image was opened in Photoshop (the one with the soft shadow) and following Edit > Paste, the sharpened image of the plane (alone) appeared and was moved to exactly overlap the underlying (unsharpened) image. The result was a sharp image of the plane with a softer shadow. Cropping, then text added and File > Save As….
For the technical photo, the direct flash image (as shot, the one with the hard shadow) was opened again in Photoshop, the plane selected again with the Quick Selection Tool, then quite a lot of sharpening added. Edit > Copy. Then a new blank Photoshop file opened, a new Layer created and Edit > Paste put the plane in. A blue background was then made. (The purpose of the blue background is to create a strong contrast with the plane which I think helps to analyse it.)
It looks complicated when written out but not so much in practice. Standard image processing techniques.
View attachment 72214
My flash gun is Chinese: YN560-II (£45 including delivery). Inexpensive, well built and powerful. It works automatically on the camera, or off manually. Two umbrellas, two stands, light socket cost £38 (good value) from Amazon:
Lightfox® KBD007/2grey Aluminium Photo Studio light Set Lamp Camera
I've put a photo post on the wrong place. It's at the end of:
http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/please-read-before-posting-in-this-thread.16960/
Both are lit directly by a flash because the harsh light, along with its "line of sight" (or whatever it is called) at a small angle to the side of the fuselage, picks up detail well, especially with the larger scale of the technical one.
Remembering the purpose of the photos, could I have comments, critical ones please.
View attachment 72212
View attachment 72213
Here is how I took the photos. I wanted the harshness of a flash for the Spitfire, but wanted a soft shadow rather than the hard-edged one always given by direct flash. So I took two photos without changing anything except the exposure, and the direction of the flash gun. The first had the flash gun pointing at the plane (direct flash). The second had it pointing back towards the umbrella. This had to be done in darkness.
I then used Photoshop. I bought this about 14 years ago when it was quite cheap (it is now £700 if you can get it because it is now offered only via a monthly subscription of about £15 per month!!), but Photoshop Elements (very much cheaper) or Gimp (free) could do what I did.
For the presentation photo, the direct flash image was opened and Photoshop's sharpening filter used to sharpen the image a bit, then the Quick Selection Tool was used to select the image of the plane but not the shadow. Then Edit > Copy. Then the other (umbrella) image was opened in Photoshop (the one with the soft shadow) and following Edit > Paste, the sharpened image of the plane (alone) appeared and was moved to exactly overlap the underlying (unsharpened) image. The result was a sharp image of the plane with a softer shadow. Cropping, then text added and File > Save As….
For the technical photo, the direct flash image (as shot, the one with the hard shadow) was opened again in Photoshop, the plane selected again with the Quick Selection Tool, then quite a lot of sharpening added. Edit > Copy. Then a new blank Photoshop file opened, a new Layer created and Edit > Paste put the plane in. A blue background was then made. (The purpose of the blue background is to create a strong contrast with the plane which I think helps to analyse it.)
It looks complicated when written out but not so much in practice. Standard image processing techniques.
View attachment 72214
My flash gun is Chinese: YN560-II (£45 including delivery). Inexpensive, well built and powerful. It works automatically on the camera, or off manually. Two umbrellas, two stands, light socket cost £38 (good value) from Amazon:
Lightfox® KBD007/2grey Aluminium Photo Studio light Set Lamp Camera
I've put a photo post on the wrong place. It's at the end of:
http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/please-read-before-posting-in-this-thread.16960/
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