Ok, I know we all love to show off our awesome models but how many know how to take a good picture ? I'll list a few tips for taking photos with your pc web cams and digital still cameras. I know most of you don't have a regular digital Camera available to you so PC web cams are what you have to work with. It's trickier with a web cam but not impossible. if you do get a chance to get a Digital camera don't settle for the Wal mart special for $20. The key term is Mega Pixels. Any where from 3-4 MP will give you crisp clear pictures. The more Mega Pixels the better your picture will be. Most web cams are designed for video capture, the still capture feature just happens to be sort of a perk. Cell phone cameras are popular now also for picture taking, how ever they rarely have good close up quality unless you know a few tricks!
I have tried a lot of different ways to take pictures of teeny, tiny, little things so I am happy to try to help.
1) The back drop.
This is very important. Most of the times cameras try to focus on a point in a frame. That will determine weather your shot is in focus or out. If your camera is focused on the background your figure will be fuzzy and a lot of times it's also just to darn close to the camera. Using white copy paper make a back drop to photograph you model against, make sure the white paper becomes the back ground and floor. This ensures the camera will focus on a clear object.
2) Lighting.
Again very important. Most pc web cams and cell phones do not do well in low light. Nor most regular digital still cameras either. Goose neck desk lamps are great for this. You can clip them to the table and arch them over your figures. Try to make the light as even as possible over your model this will help eliminate dark or shadowy spots or bright lens flares.. Also every pc web cam comes with software. USE IT ! You CAN adjust the setting of how the camera will take the picture. You can even adjust the focus. My web cam is 12 years old and it has these features.
3) Types of bulb colors.
I find better results with the GE reveal bulbs or a cool white bulb. Soft white are what most lamp bulbs are and they tend to have a pink or yellow tinge to them. Cool white has more of a blue-ish color. Of coarse if you have a model painted with more reds the soft will do well to help the color where as a cool light will dull it down. In this example I chose not to use the same lamp when I took those pictures and you can see the difference
4) Focus.
A steady camera is key, no matter how steady you think your hand is, it's not. This problem will make pictures seem distorted and fuzzy. For pc web cams place it on a flat hard surface for picture taking. For digital stills, most come with a tripod nut at the bottom. If you have a tripod use it. If not you can set your camera down on a box or something to prop it up to the right height, for cell phone users all I can say is try your best or use the box and click method. With the pic above you can see that the bolt pistol is slightly out of focus, in this case the camera was too close to the model, zooming out or moving the camera back generally fixes this.
Again your camera has settings USE THEM ! If you have never seen them before now would be a good time to look for them. They are probably called either Settings, Options or Preferences. The common settings to find are Brightness, Contrast and Focus. You may also find Saturation, shutter speed or a Megapixel setting. Always have the Megapixel setting if you have one set to the best it can go. This also helps with having a clear picture. Remember, The Bigger the Megapixel the better the pic will be.
"But I don't know what these settings do..." BUTTON MASH PEOPLE ! We have been doing it for years with video games, it's same difference here. Click it, see what it dose. Then, after your done click restore defaults. It's the best way to learn.
Hope this helps!
