Lighting tips for a photography dunce

[weltweit]

On my Fuji S2 you have to select Bulb mode, screw in a cable release, mount the camera on a tripod so it will not move at all, then push the cable release to open the shutter and twist it to lock it, then the camera shutter is open and all the light or lack of it is going in onto the Chip until you decide you have enough.

You can then walk around your scene flashing away till your heart is content in the knowlege that all the light you are flashing is being recorded by the camera. As long as you are flashing in front of you you yourself will not appear in the scene as to appear youself you would have to paint yourself with light, you can do this if you want to appear, perhaps if you want to appear multiple times you can also .....

When you have finished undo the lock on the cable release and that will close the shutter again and you can then review the results of your work.

A tip is remember to count the number of flashes you used on the scene so you can do more or less depending on what your first result was.

I have used this method to light a still life of bottles and glasses where I wanted a lot of depth of field and light to come from all around the scene rather than just light from the camera position.

Worked ok though I had to have a few goes at it.

 

[madzone]

Ok - that box thing works a bit better but it's still too dark. How bright a light do I need? I've only got desk lamps and stuff - no detachable flash on the camera. Can I get away with using domestic lights of some kind?



That's with a halogen desklight and a daylight bulb desklight. And I have no idea what tungsten setting means It's not a DSLR camera - just an exaggerated point and click I think

 

[cybertect]

That looks a lot better.

Mixing your light sources (halogen & daylight bulb) will make the colours a bit wrong though. A daylight bulb ought to give you the same colour temperature as the sun - halogen's going to be a bit warmer, so you have mixed temperature lights.

A few secs in Photoshop helps with the colour cast to some extent. you can see that the blues are more vibrant on the right hand side of the image - I'd guess that's where the daylight bulb is. Even after correction, the left (halogen?) side is a bit muddy looking because it's a warmer light on those blues and greens.

PS easily sorts out any remaining levels issues.

If you can, use two lamps of the same type - two daylight bulbs would be ideal. It will give your camera a fighting chance of getting the colour right first time.

e2A: you could try putting the box with a window on one side and the daylight bulb on the other side.

 

[madzone]

I haven't got PS There's a day long course to learn how to use it so I'll hopefully do that and someone will have a hooky copy ( I didn't just say that but it's how I got dreamweaver )Thanks for sorting the levels, it looks much better now
I've got a floorstanding daylight lamp in the living room. I'll drag that out and try it. Good idea about the window as well - thanks.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Madzone

That picture is not at all bad from a home-made light tent. If you use the window instead of the daylight lamp as suggested above, you could just use a large sheet of white paper or card on the opposite side to reflect light on to the opposite side. Given that you are using a light tent which acts as a diffuser you might also try using a large mirror instead of the white reflector.

As to not having Photoshop, you can buy Photoshop Elements for about £70 which is very functional and easier to use than the full version. I use it for my picture editing. The other option is to use the photo-editing software that came with your camera.

As for 'tungsten setting' it is simpler than you think. Old fashioned traditional (non daylight) type light bulbs have a tungsten filament in them which glows to produce the light. You notice that the light is rather yellow or even orangey if the wattage is low. To a camera this light looks even more yellow or orange than your eye and brain perceive.

However cameras have a setting (or several settings) which allows you to take pictures in this yellow light but make the picture look as if it was taken in daylight - that is more white i.e. having more light from the blue end of the light spectrum as opposed to the red end.

To help understand this, think about your 'daylight bulbs'. If they are of the tungsten filament type then they will have a blue coat on the class. This filters out (absorbs) the orange light and allows the blue component of the light to be transmitted. They aren't very bright though.

I hope this is detailed enough to help, without being confusing.

 

[madzone]

Thanks Hocus

I understand what you mean about tungsten setting now. I still wouldn't know where to fnd it on my camera (Sony DSC H1)

I've been using the pre-sets as it's just too confusing - hence getting funding to get someone to show me how to use it best.

Re - photo software, I've just stuck with ACD Photo enhance that came with the last camera as the reviews said the software that comes with the sony is shite. It has an enhance option that gives levels etc but it seems to be really basic. Is there anything I could do in fireworks?

 

[boskysquelch]

Is there anything I could do in fireworks?

You could trying shoving them up your cunt.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

You could trying shoving them up your cunt.

Er. What? No.

 

[cybertect]

You could trying shoving them up your cunt.

bosky's Tourette's Syndrome is outta control.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Hello Madzone

If ACDSee Photo Enhance is like ACDSee 7 which I got with a Pentax camera then the following should work.

Open the image in ACDSee

Click on Modify

From the menu choose Color

From that menu choose HSL

This lets you modify the Hue Saturation and Lightness. For your purposes all you want to do is modify the Hue (which just means colour e.g Blue).

The adjustment bar for Hue is the top one. You simply drag it to the left or right until the colour looks how you want it. You don't need the other two bars at this stage.

There is a preview button which brings up small before and after pictures inside the main screen. This is useful.

If you don't like the result there is always the Cancel button.

As with all programs there are lots of different ways of doing things. If you have time to experiment with the other options from the Colour Menu you will find this.

Edited to add:
A really simple option to remove an obvious colour cast is to use Modify/Colour/Cast and follow the instructions on the screen.

 

[madzone]

Thanks I've been brave and have moved he camera off the presets. Whatever the setting 'M' is seems to be working well for close up stuff, though I have to set the focus distance manually and stick to it eta: Duh, it's probably Macro then - smacks self on forehead - no it's not, it's manual - smacks self on forehead again.. It's got settings called 'M', 'S' - no idea what that is, 'P' - ditto and - and another which I can't remember.

The ACD enhance thing seems really limited and when I change things the pic ends up a bit fuzzy

Still, it's all looking much better so a big thanks to Urban

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Well done Madzone. That camera is a beaut so it will reward your experimentation. The one you have forgotten is probably: 'A' for Aperture Priority. My ex always reckoned it was only blokes who use kit without reading the manual.

 

[cybertect]

What they normally stand for...

M - Manual.
You choose exactly what aperture and shutter speed you want to use.

A - Aperture Priority
You choose the aperture you want and the camera works out the shutter speed necessary to achieve a correct exposure

S - Shutter (or Speed) Priority
You choose the shutter speed you want and the camera works out the aperture necessary to achieve a correct exposure

P - Program Mode
The camera selects both aperture and shutter speed for you automatically. You can usually use the command dial on the camera to go up and down the available combinations if you're not satisfied with the one it chooses.