# What techniques do you use to photograph items?



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm looking to photograph some items and I'd like them to have a professional look.   Items vary in size from say G-scale figures to structures or bridges.  What techniques or props do you use that you've found useful?


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

My technique?

1. Point camera.
2. Push button.
3. Connect to computer.
4. See the awful shot.
5. Say bad words.
6. Find better light.
7. Return to step 1


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## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

If I may say something here as a dyed - in - the - wool armature?

A reasonably good (5 - 8 Mpx) digital camera is a simply amazing tool (Sadly, just about all photo records about our present civilization will be lost causing a great gap in research material for students of history in 2108AD and beyond)  and I have to reeducate myself every time I take out my SLR.  The great thing though is that a digital camera sees what you see.  No compensating for light and film type.

I use a single large flood light and a sheet of poster board to reflect some of that light behind or to the side.  I've also used a small LED flashlight to highlight key areas.  That's it.

Take dozens of pictures and sit at the computer picking out the best.  Make notes and do it again.

All the other hints you get will be of the far more professional nature.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Depth of field is critical in model photography. In real life, the subject trains are so large that the camera is essentially set to infinity. When photographing our models, the subjects are much small and much closer to the lens. If you don't take depth of field into account, you'll end up with the front of the loco in focus and everything behind it progressively blurring. 

To achieve the best depth of field, use Aperture Priority mode if your camera has it, and set the aperture to the smallest the camera supports (highest f-number). This will also result in a longer exposure under most conditions, so use a tripod if you have one and either a cable release or the camera's timer mode to snap the shutter so you don't jiggle the camera.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Speaking of depth of field, check this out..its brilliant.. 

the first two links below are photos of an N-scale model railroad.. 
the camera is mere inches away from the scene.. 
take special note of the depth of field! 

www.nscalestation.com/images/5329-1.jpg 

www.nscalestation.com/images/store-2.jpg 


It has a 30 day free trial..I havent tried it yet, but I intend to! 

www.heliconsoft.com/heliconfocus.html

Scot 




Scot


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## Art (Jan 3, 2008)

Shoot picture - connect to computer - blame camera for bad picture.
Shoot another picture - connect to computer - blame computer for bad picture.
Shoot another picture - connect to computer - blame wife for talking while taking picture.
Shoot another picture - connect to computer - blame the weather for bad picture.
Shoot another picture - connect to computer - blame lighting for bad picture.
Shoot another picture - connect to computer - blame object that I shot for bad picture.
Shoot another picture - connect to computer - look at bad picture - claim it is art.
Get something to eat.
Connect computer to Net.
Upload picture and BRAG about how good it is.
Most people are to nice to tell me that my photography sucks so I feel good.
Get ready for next picture taking session.

Art


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

_I must say you guys captured the essence of 'framing' your shot [ taking multiple photos so that one will be correct!] /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif
_
A couple of suggestions based on my attempts. 

Most digital cameras are geared to sunlight - outdoor snapshots. You'll get better photos if you can take the object outside on a sunny day. 

The better the lens, the better the photo. I have two point-and-shoot pocket cameras and a bigger Fuji almost-an-SLR. The Fuji takes much better photos than my newest pocket camera.  (However, it is often more convenient to just grab the small camera and shoot a dozen pics hoping one will work!)

Use the largest picture size that the camera electronics will handle. Often the default is 2016 x 1512 or similar; try to boost it to 2816 x 2112. Then you can be further away (which improves the depth-of-field and makes focus easier,) and you can crop the photo on your computer to get the bits you want in a decent size.

Talking of default...  If you can't always go outside to take the pic, read the manual and figure out how to alter the settings.  (You may want to read a photography book so you understand 'depth of field', 'white balance', etc.)  Indoor shots are quite viable, but you'll want to set the white balance to 'incandescent' (light bulb icon) and watch your flash.  Close-ups hardly ever work with flash, as it overpowers the subject - it was designed for pics of people at 10 ft.

I often switch the camera into 'manual' mode so I can turn the flash off.  It then takes a photo slowly, so resting the camera on something is vital.

On a sunny day, taking photos near a sunlit window often works.  I have a couple of bits of white shelving (I think one is an old frig panel,) that can be propped on a small table to reflect a little light and give me a decent background.


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

I must say that my friend steered me toward the camera I eventually purchased. It is a Cannon S3. 
With that said, the reason for purchase is the swivel screen on the back. It allows the camera to be placed on the ground looking up while the view screen is swiveled out to the side and reversed or flipped over. 

The ideal way of photographing G stuff is from the scale people's eye level. It is not easy to get your head down to that point...so let the camera do it. 

The other aspect mentioned above is depth of field. If the camera has various settings use the "Apeture" prority setting. 

There are several professional photographers (not me) on this website. Hopefully they will chime in.


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## Skip (Jan 2, 2008)

What do you mean by "professional look"?( I'm not being facetious - you have to define for yourself what a "professional look" means to you.  It means different things to different people, even amongst professionals).  The concept of a professional look means paying exquisite attention to the details of light type, quality, amount and direction, focus,  and composition for the desired image.  Fail any of these, and the picture fails. Techniques are used to assure these, not things done in a vacuum.

The Number One problem most people need to learn to deal with when photographing objects is type of light, and quantity. For most small things you need a soft (ish) light source, not a hard, point source (the sun is a hard point source, so is flash). This is one reason why reflectors are so useful. The bane of object photography is the contrast and reflection created by point sources of light. Called specular highlights, they fool in-camera meters, they pixelate digital images and they blow effective contrast outside of the range the medium can capture (highlights too bright, shadows too dark).   If you study nothing else about photography, learn about the management of light in photography (there are good books available).  Even the cheapest point and shoot can produce exceptional pictures in the hands of someone who has taken the time to understand the importance of light control in picture making.  It is the single most important tool.  This complicated by the fact that a camera (digital or film) does not capture exactly what the eye sees.  The eye is the most sophisticated camera ever devised, and why the picture you get usually doesn't look like you remember it.  So, you must learn to change the elements of the scene in a way that the camera can reproduce what your brain is telling you what your eye is seeing.  By far, the principal skill, is light control, because your built-in eye camera compensates for light in a way no mechanical camera can.

For depth of field on any camera without a movable film plane/lens board (read "all consumer cameras") you need as much light as you can get on the subject in order to secure a small aperture (aperture priority setting), but you also need to soften the source to prevent untamable highlights and contrast. For closeup photography of trains outside in full sun, for example, use a white reflector to bounce light into the shadows. If the item has much white or shiny metal, this isn't going to work entirely. You'll soften the contrast but not the specular reflection. 

A very useful item for sunlight outside is a inexpensive nylon sheer curtain (unpatterned). Arrange the curtain so that the sun passes through the curtain before hitting what you're shooting. This will lower the contrast and reduce the reflections. If the shadows are still too dark, use a reflector to put some light into them (don't overdo this - too much is as bad as too little to look "natural". The great thing about digital is that you can correct the colour of your image iif the reflector or cloth filter imparts a bit of colour, without having to use corrective filters or different coloured reflectors. The sheer curtain trick works to tame bright flash too. 

Be aware too, that there really is no substitute for quality camera equipment. If the camera doesn't have a decent _focusable_ lens, you will never get more than an acceptable snapshot (you don't get to break the laws of physics, no matter how much you spend). While convenience of size is beneficial, Canon particularly has been pushing the envelope with new SLR type digital cameras at better and better prices, and any of these will outperform ANY point and shoot for GOOD photos. The 150 year old design film cameras in my avatar picture will outperform ANY modern digital camera when used properly, but the tradeoff is required knowledge, time, and suitcase (or truckload) of support equipment.

Kevin Strong did an excellent pair of articles in recent editions of Garden Railways.  In particular, Part 2  will give you an abundance of clues to things to try. Study his example pictures closely - look at light - highlights, shadows, direction. Is the light hard or soft. What about contrast?  Direction relative to point of view? Points of view itself? Background? Where's the zone of focus? Is is natural, relative to the human eye?  Does the light direction and contrast reflect the time of day represented?   These are all questions and issues that distinguish a "professional look" from an amateur one, and things the photographer needs to control if the picture is to be more than a happy accident.  You'll note most of Kevin's shots are on a day that used to be characterised as "cloudy,bright".   Soft light, tamed contrast. The character of the shadows will tell you much about the light source.  Hard point light, hard shadows.


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## trainmaster1989 (Jan 4, 2008)

Since my camera is rather simple,i tend to look for a scene that i think is well composed (i'm often wrong ) and then run through every setting in the camera (about 4) 

I also try not to use flash too much as the light is usually rather harsh. It has its uses thought 

Hope it helps 
Scott


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## stanman (Jan 4, 2008)

I was doing a terrible job of photographing some small objects until I tried placing them on my flatbed scanner. The results were much better than using a camera.

Certainly won't work well for a loco, but might be worth a try for figures and small parts.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Hadn't thought of using the flatbed scanner. 

Hmm, maybe not:


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Stan, I'm not sure I follow how you use your scanner? Is it for the light that it produces? Or it makes a nice background? 

Torby, that's actually a pretty cool pic


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Skip on 03/02/2008 9:07 AM
What do you mean by "professional look"?( I'm not being facetious - you have to define for yourself what a "professional look" means to you.  It means different things to different people, even amongst professionals).  The concept of a professional look means paying exquisite attention to the details of light type, quality, amount and direction, focus,  and composition for the desired image.  Fail any of these, and the picture fails. Techniques are used to assure these, not things done in a vacuum.

The Number One problem most people need to learn to deal with when photographing objects is type of light, and quantity. . .
You have written some excellent advice here.  (Not being a photographer) This will be most useful to me--and another reminder that it is time for me to go shopping for a new camera for the shots I will be needing for the summer season since at least one of those will go into an expensive advertising medium this fall. Thanks for the wonderful and expert  input.


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## Skip (Jan 2, 2008)

I discovered that when I moved "back" to primal cameras after decades of technological wizardry, I had to relearn the fundamentals. Technology had seduced me to depend on the machine making decisions for me, to the detriment of my photography. This was a lesson driven home with the advent of the digital darkroom. No amount of pixelsmithing could save a bad photograph. You have to get it right in the camera. if you truly want it right on display. 90% of good (or professional) photography is embodied in learning how light makes things visible. Technology is just the means by which you fix the moment (record the outcome). 
Regardless of camera, you will become a good photographer when you "get" how light defines what you see, and how you have to use your camera to record that. Digital cameras shorten the time between opportunities to learn, but not the learning curve.


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## stanman (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By jimtyp on 03/03/2008 10:52 AM
Is it for the light that it produces? Or it makes a nice background?


For the things I've used the scanner for, I ended up with the objects in good focus; I haven't run into the situation shown in Torby's scan.
The benefits as I've seen them:
(1) You don't have to put your camera on a tripod; the object (and the scanner) are stationary
(2) Lighting is uniform..


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

I think my object was just too deep for the scanner.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

My indoor set-up is rather simple. I use basically three lights--two from the front, mounted about 45° off to either side of my table and about 60° above, and a third hung directly above as a backlight. All three lights are the simple aluminum clamp worklights you can get at Home Depot for around $10 a piece. The backlight is diffused by a paper towel a few inches away from the lamp (far enough to not catch fire, close enough to catch the light). I use GE's "reveal" brand full-spectrum 100 watt bulbs, as they give very nice color rendition. Not quite as nice as regular daylight, but pretty darned close. I've also got a kicker light with a 60 watt bulb in it, which I use for warming the tone just a bit. It's a single-point source, so it casts some very slight shadows to enhance depth. I shoot everything in front of a light blue sheet that's draped down and over the table. A white sheet tends to fool light meters too much, the blue much less so. Still, it has the advantage of being light and even enough in color where the art department at Kalmbach has no trouble Photoshopping it away. 

With this set-up, I get exposure times anywhere from .5 second to 4 or 5 seconds, depending on the subject, focal length, etc. A tripod and timer are essential. 

As Skip said, most of my outdoor shooting is done in bright, overcast conditions. Unfortunately that's somewhat of a rarity here in Colorado, so I shoot in the early morning or late afternoon when the railroad is in shadow. It's not quite as "nice" as bright overcast, but it's pretty close. I'll shoot in sunlight as well, but usually have a reflector with me when I do to even out the shadows. I also shoot into the sun a lot, using it as a backlight, but that's a completely different technique. 

Later, 

K


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Just a follow up - here's a shot of my photo studio. Told you it wasn't anything fancy, just tucked along the wall of my workshop. 










Later, 

K


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## Joe Johnson (Jan 2, 2008)

Kind of hard to give specific advice with out knowing what type of camera you have.

The biggest problem with taking pictures of something small is the lighting.  When you are very close to a subject, depth of field and focusing becomes a real problem.  The best thing you can do is insure you have bright, flat light.  Expensive tricks include multiple flashes.  The best cheap thing you can do is set up some sort of reflector to give more light and and a flatter light to catch some extra sun.

You can make a reflector out of a white bed sheet for soft light or tin foil if you want a sharp light.

If you can control your camera's shutter speed,  set it down to 1/30th of a second or lower and mount the camera on a tripod.  This will maximize how much your f stop is closed down to give you more depth of field.

If you have digital camera that allows you to control the ISO, push the ISO up as high as you can with out getting excessive noise.

Look carefully through the view finder to set up your shot and then look for anything that doesn't fit.  A stray leaf, twig or piece of trash can ruin a shot.  If you don't look carefully, the first time you notice it will be when you look at the print.

You can also "cheat" on your depth of field by using software such as Helicon Focus to combine multiple shots at different focuses to make one picture with everything in focus.  This requires a good tripod and a camera where you have total control of the focusing.

Hope these ideas help


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Might do my patriotic duty and use the government's loan to get a nice camera with good macro capabilities, a little tripod, and maybe one of those portable lights. Train shows are always so dark.


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## Skip (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By East Broad Top on 03/11/2008 12:18 AM
Just a follow up - here's a shot of my photo studio. Told you it wasn't anything fancy, just tucked along the wall of my workshop. 










Later, 

K


Just to elaborate a bit on Kevin's picture:  The "key" light for this type of subject is the light you use to mimic the principal illumination (sun, usually).  The leftmost "key" light is actually a "fill" light, used to reduce the contrast of shadows in the front view.  The purpose of the "backlight" is to "separate the object from its background, by making the object visually darker than the background (by a bit) and adding luminosity to the background. That enhances your eye's "seeing" of the object (in the foreground), and renders the background less interesting.   The "kicker" in this case (actually, another "fill" in this application) is added to change the brightness of the end of the car relative to the top and side, in order to visually enhance its squarish shape.

Outside, reflector cards can accomplish the same (background is a bit trickier, unless you are using an artificial background), without the need for a battery of lights (the sun, or bright sky, becomes your key light). Occasionally, if the overhead light is a bit too diffuse, a small "kicker"  flashlight or other small point source light can be directed on shiny bits like bells to give a sparkle reflection.  This has to be done with care - the kicker must not add excessive overall illumination and compete with the key light.  Its direction should be consistent with the key light for this purpose, so that the reflections seem reasonable to the eye.

Indoors, lights are needed to get sufficient light to ensure a small aperture (i.e. depth of field control).  Notice especially, that a variety of light sources are used to enhance and define the object.  This is the challenge of still photography - getting this all in balance so that final image conveys what you want to show (and to follow the theme, what distinguishes a "professional" shot from an "amateur" one).

Backgrounds outside need to be chosen carefully if you are not using an artificial background.  Look carefully to see that the background will be rendered lighter and diffuse relative to your subject (unless background detail is part of your image - this is tricky, and takes experience "seeing".  Fortunately, digital film is cheap...   Be aware that occasionally dark backgrounds are more desirable, especially if the object is light in colour or reflectance.   The same rules apply however for defining the object with light. 

Its important to appreciate also that these lighting techniques are for the most part, camera independent.  It doesn't matter if you are using a high end professional camera or a $5 flea market point & shoot.   Volume of light is important for depth of field control; relative brightness in the image is important for subject definition.


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## Paradise (Jan 9, 2008)

Posted By Torby on 02/26/2008 3:49 PM
My technique?

1. Point camera.
2. Push button.
3. Connect to computer.
4. See the awful shot.
5. Say bad words.
6. Find better light.
7. Return to step 1


That is exactly the same way I aproach the problem ! /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Paradise on 03/21/2008 8:39 AM
Posted By Torby on 02/26/2008 3:49 PM
My technique?

1. Point camera.
2. Push button.
3. Connect to computer.
4. See the awful shot.
5. Say bad words.
6. Find better light.
7. Return to step 1


That is exactly the same way I aproach the problem ! /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif


You realize that it used to be:

0. Load film in camera
  A. WInd film lever.
  B. Open camera to reset film that slipped off sprockets (ruins first two frames)
  C. Wind film lever again
  D. Take photo of inside of camera bag because you forgot to reset the shutter after winding.
1. Point camera
  A. Check lighting
  B. Adjust aperature
  C. Set shutter speed
  D. Focus
  E. Reset aperature
  F. Reset shutter speed.
2. Press button
  A. Set film speed in camera because you forgot to when you loaded the camera.
  B. Go back to step 1.
3. Take many photos to use up all 36 shots on the roll so you don't feel like you wasted the cost of the film... of course the shots you take are really silly because you can't find things to get good shots of and now you will pay for prints of things you don't care about.
4. Rewind film
5. Take film to Drug Store
  A. Put film in package
  B. Write name and address on envelope
  C. Order double prints, (you always figure they might be excellant images, even if they have never in the past been worth sharing!)
  D. Write special instructions to "Push 1 or 2" on the envelope (You heard someone say that once and it sounded like he really knew what he was talking about!)
6. Go home and worry about how to pay for 36 double-prints.
7. Wait a week while you wonder if you forgot to take the lens cap off.
  A. Hey, stupid, its an SLR and if the lens cap was on you would have noticed while focusing!
  B. Worry about if you had really set the film speed properly.
8. Go back to the drug store to see if the film has come back.
9. Go home again, it is not there yet.
10. Go back the next day and find one of the following:
  A. The prints are not back yet, you can either:
    1. Wait another day, if so, go back to step 9.  or
    2. Get a free roll of film.
  A. The prints are all odd colors, the processing place used the wrong chemicals.  You get a free roll of film
  B. The prints are all backwards and the negatives got creased. You get a free roll of film.
  C. The prints are not yours, but the girl is really pretty.  You can either get a free roll of film or keep her photos and somehow keep them hidden from the family.  (Daing, she's really HOT!)  ((Wait a minute... those are photos your Daughter's boyfriend took of HER!  Destroy the photos and buy another roll of film... the boyfriend can be destroyed this evening!))
  D. The photos are in, processed right, printed right, are YOURS, but there was a finger print and a hair on the lens and the prints are blurred.  Buy another roll of film.
11. Go back to step zero.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I have the Canon S3 also and like it a lot, plus you can make up to a 60 minute movie on it!  I use if for all my stills and my youTube videos.  Jerry


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## Mike Rogers (Jan 4, 2008)

A light tent. 

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html 

I went a step further and made mine from PVC pipe. This way I can make it any size I need and I used fabric instead of tissue paper. Easy to assemble and disassemble for storage. If you want to control your light, this is the only way to go, and for about 15 dollars  

Mike


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Cannon S3 looks pretty sharp.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Just to reinforce what Paul said about lighting - I find that good lighting is the key.   Most cameras are geared toward sunlight, and in bright sun they take great pics:










In indoor light, which is significantly less intense than sunlight, the camera CCD (imaging device) can't see enough so you get grainy pics:










There is one thing you can add - a "photoflood" bulb.  I have a 500W bulb rated for 10 minutes use (!) which has lasted several years.  It has outdoor color characteristics and significantly helps with the color and definition.  This next photo needs a back/side light and the back scene is too close [but i don't have any choice - the module is mounted on the wall!]










Flash doesn't help at all:


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Torby on 03/11/2008 7:37 AM
Might do my patriotic duty and use the government's loan to get a nice camera with good macro capabilities, a little tripod, and maybe one of those portable lights. Train shows are always so dark.


Torby,
I photograph houses for real estate agents, and quickly found out how to take dark pictures.  /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crazy.gif

My solution was to find a camera with a hot shoe for an external flash  [Fuji Finepix S7000 - the next best thing to an SLR for less than half the price.  I didn't know that when I bought it for the flash option, but I've been very pleased with it.  It has a great macro facility also.]  I bought a fancy flash that can be tilted to bounce off the ceilings, or turned sideways to bounce off the walls.  I normally operate the flash at 1/16th, only turning it up to full force for long, dark rooms.

 This was taken with the macro engaged and my photoflood light:










Here's the original in its full size. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/doze.gif


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