Official Picture Help Topic

[Rakoua]

If you need help with taking pictures if your MoC, ask here!

[Legodac]

If you need help with taking pictures if your MoC, ask here!

That's pretty wide open pal, so I'll ask this, "when you present an MoC, is a cool background required, or is the way I display on my hardwood mouse pad good enough. Which do you want to drool over more?

[Rakoua]

I use large colored pieces of paper... I have yellow, red, green and blue and they all worl great if you can capture your entire creation in it.

[Obi]

I use old boards that I had to mount my Elementary School Projects on (ones that I never used, that is).

[MysteryOrange]

It's due more to the technique, although a better camera would enhance quality of the photo.  But if you are just taking the photos to upload them to the Internet, that camera should work fine.

That said, here's a link that should help you control the lighting in your pictures:
http://www.nxtprograms.com/help/photos/index.html

With the lighting controlled, details are easier to see. 

Also, turning the timer on your camera on will help prevent some shake.  If you just mess around with the settings some, you should be able to create some better pictures of Lego. 

[Legodac]

Ok, I have a Cannon Power Shot aswell, it's a different model, but the buttons may be similar.

On the left side of the lense there are 2 buttons, one has a symbol of a flower, press that and your pics will be a little clearer, you'll also see the flower symbol in your display before taking the picture.

The second button is labelled MF which means Macro Photo, that's when you really want to get up close and personal and I mean close as in inches away from the subject and even as close as 1 inch for a clear photo, I hope this helps

[MysteryOrange]

To extend on what legodacenstein said, if you're going to use Macro, you must be close up.  If not, I believe the pictures will actually look worse... :-\

I have a Canon Power Shot, like both of you, and another great setting is "Aperture".  This button is labeled "AV".  This will allow you to change many settings, allowing you to take the picture you want.  I don't really have any tips for it, so you can either mess around with it or look up articles about it on Google.

Also, what website are you uploading it to?  I'd love to see the pictures! 

[Rakoua]

I use another camera, Fujifilm S3000.

This is a good camera, and is more suited to the LEGO purpose. You see, it has a larger lens that allows more light to enter. THis makes the auto focus more effective, I believe. So, get a camera like mine. I also have a camera similar to yours, which I use for trips as it is more portable.

And get a real tripod.

Mine is similar to that one, couldn't be bothered to seek out a pic of my real one...
Timer also works, but not as good. A combo is the best.

The LEGO tripod you use can bend under the weight of your camera. A real tripod is much better for that. Also, any more equipment you can find should be good. But I guess all of my stuff sounds sorta too expensive... But it's worth it:


You also need good light. Daylight is awesome, but there are certain types of lamps you could use... But you need white light, and a lot of it. That way, you can use autofocus more effectivly. In low light conditions, increase the time your film is exposed to the light, it increases the brightness. This also works when taking pictures of the night sky.

Also, you need a background. It's the one thing one shouldn't notice in a MOC. I use white, green, blue or red A1 (I think) paper. It is a cheap way to get a nice background. It has no edges so you can edit it into a completly white background. Here's the result:


So, you now have good pics! Not to edit them!
Use GIMP. Free and awesome, you have it allready. To edit it, sharpen it a bit and play with the contrast and brightness.



I hope that's the pic type you want, tho I didn't contrast it enough.

On the other hand, close ups can be made either in macro mode or with the zoom tool.

[MysteryOrange]

Great tips! 

However, certain lights can cause a yellow tint in the picture, which can look unprofessional.  Daylight is great, but be sure to take all your pictures at once, because if not, the shadows in the picture will change.

[Rakoua]

Great tips! 

However, certain lights can cause a yellow tint in the picture, which can look unprofessional.  Daylight is great, but be sure to take all your pictures at once, because if not, the shadows in the picture will change.

I meant the white light lamps, actually. Which can get expensive.
The best sunlight is actually the one that doesn't shine directly, and that the ambient light of the day comes in trough two windows at two different sides.

[MysteryOrange]

There are some quality, cheap lamps that will work, although getting a more expensive lamp should make for a better overall picture.

[Legodac]

Hey buddy, pleased to meet you, Rakshi has a lot of his creations on mocpages.com, he uses the same username aswell

[MysteryOrange]

I'll assume you were talking to me...well, nice to meet you too! 

Thanks for telling me where the pictures are!  I'll check them out! 

[Legodac]

You assumed right, I'd like to hear more about types of lighting, is incandescent best, does flourescent make yellow, what about metal halide or high pressure sodium? I know the lights, I just don't know the effects.

[MysteryOrange]

Well, I can't remember which type is best, but high pressure wouldn't be very good, I would think...
Also, different light bulbs can cause different results, so it's not just the lamp itself. 

[Kritzelei]

When I made Stop Motion movies I used a GE... something or other, but I didn't have a tripod. I had to lie as flat as I could on the floor, which was uncomfortable, just to take pictures, and then the focus went weird and I ended up with horrible looking images (really blurry, not good in still or stop motion). I now use my Dad's Nikon camera which has a proper lens and flash, and produces much clearer images. Still can't keep the camera still though.

[MsRowdyRedhead]

You should try them on some of the MOCs you have photographed recently, so you can compare effects from different tips or techniques...

[Rakoua]

Merged R8's topic with the Pic help topic for easier reference...

[Tommy_60]

Hey guys?  I know this topic will probably be considered as spam, but how do you upload pictures to here?

[Ddude The Insane]

Hm...I'm a little on the fence as to whether this is spam. On one hand, it's a legitimate question. On the other, it isn't really the type of thing you ask in MOC Corner...I'm gonna wait for Raks to comment before I do anything about this topic.

As for uploading images...you need to sign up for an image hosting site like Photobucket or Majhost. You take your pictures, and upload them to your account on the site.

When you want to upload it to this site, you get the closest zoom-in, then copy the URL and put it in between these tags:

Code:

[IMG]INSERT_URL_HERE[/IMG]

Hoped that helped. =)