Photographing LEGO

[Corvus]

Darn, I can't try it. My house is nearly all window. |-/

Which island, Piranha?

[Hinckley]

Well, that is interesting; we have almost the same camera! I have the DSC-S75 *wub* which is exactly the same as yours except you have 4.1 MP, and I have 3.3 MP, and yours is black and mine is silver. (Yours was just out when I bought mine but it cost 25% more at the time.) I bought mine about seven years ago and I still love it. I can't find anything that compares to it today without buying a SLR, which I don't want to for various reasons. Most high end non-SLRs today have silly zooms and I don't want or need that. I just want a big compact lens and my camera has that.

Incidentally, mine started acting up last year and the lens started jamming. I tried to open it out of frustration, failed to, but by removing all the screws largely fixed the problem.... *wacko*

Oops. I missed this post. That is interesting. Wow, we have the same camera, feel the same way about the Star Wars movies, really want a bucket of our own and apparently will do anything to get our hands on an ice cube tray! What brand underwear do you wear? Bet it's the same. :-P Perhaps we are brothers separated at a young age. 8-

[Corvus]

Yes. Since the setup is supposed to have little other lighting than the three point, my house would do poorly for it., unless I put up some sheets over the windows.

[Hinckley]

Yes. Since the setup is supposed to have little other lighting than the three point, my house would do poorly for it., unless I put up some sheets over the windows.

Actually, I only photograph during the day, (EDIT: That's misleading. I only shoot my night shots during the day. I do plenty of photographing of MOCs at night end edit) because the natural light actually helps the overall composition. Especially when I am using blue bulbs for night shots. Natural light adds a nice full light to the overall light. That probably means I am doing something wrong. But, even with incadescent bulbs the shadow box should reflect the light correctly onto the MOC despite the natural light...

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Thanks for the tips, hinckley! By the way, A really good camera to use is the Cannon Rebel. That camera is awesome!

[UniqueBuilder]

Here's how I do it.. I guess it's called "Two-point lighting". :-P (My humor is so freaking lame at 1.20 am)

I attach this macho lamp to this rack.. (I guess that would be the correct word? Help me out! :-$ )

It's normally used for chemistry, (which is one of my other hobbies) so I didn't have to buy anything extra. ;-)

And this is where the second of the Two Points is revealed:

..This little bugger in the roof.

Yet, my pics are pure crap, dragged out of Jar-Jar's butt.. :-| Because the camera is a really cheap piece of junk with no tripod nor Macro mode. I really hate that thing. More than you hate your ice cube tray, Hinckley. :-X

[Norrington]

Well, just use proper lighting and it will be fine. To qoute the Ghost Host:

"Oh yes, and no flash pictures. Please!"

[Hinckley]

Just wanted to update this thread with some more tips and tricks:

1. I've noticed a lot of people post pictures at 300 dpi or higher. This uses a lot of memory and bandwidth. To post a picture online, it only needs to be 72 dpi. You can't tell the difference on screen between a picture at 72 dpi and a picture at 5,000,000 dpi, trust me. If you have photo-editing software you should be able to change the dpi. Your camera settings should allow you to take pics at 72 dpi, although you want to keep your camera at 300 dpi if you like to print your pictures...Reducing the dpi will reduce the file size by a great amount!

2. When foucsing your three point lighting, focusing should be done one light at a time. So when you are focusing one lamp, make sure the others are off and that the light you are focusing is either spotlighting or filling the area you need it to...

3. If you don't have the lights or the rig to use this setup (mine is clipped on to the plumbing and gasline in my basement) you can reflect natural light from two points using posterboard or reflect light from lamps using posterboard. White poster board reflecting light from one lamp or window can be just as effective as using mutliple lamps.

4. Color correction-if you don't have photo-editing software and you need to color correct your photos, say they are coming out too yellow, you can use poster board for this as well. Using blue posterboard to reflect light into your shadowbox can reduce yellow, red balances cyan (lighter blues), and magenta balances greens...If you have access to gels which you may find in a theater or photography studio or the theater or photography dept at your school. You can balance color in your shadowbox with colored gels that cover the lights.

Pictures are looking great out there! *sweet* *y*

Better LEGO photos on!

[Scouty]

Do you mind telling us what dpi stands for? :-$ .

Lighing for me is not only very important when I take pictures of Lego models (If I ever do so now) but just as important when I'm filming my Lego figures: RealPlayer Video

Though, my current set up has left me not great results (But it depends on the camera, and here I'm using a webcam to film this....light flickers *sing* ) But I hope to improve the set up with. This little video was filmed with just two lamps, but now, all my current bulbs blew due to bad placement and the falling off of desk, so I need to get those done right.

This is a great thread and thank you for it Hinkley!

[Hinckley]

Do you mind telling us what dpi stands for? :-$ .

This is a great thread and thank you for it Hinkley!

You are certainly welcome. I'm very glad to help create better pics out there! *sweet*

dpi stands for dots per inch and is also referred to as ppi, pixels per inch. Screen resolution is 72 pixels per inch. Printing standards should start at 180 dpi, but I recommend 300 for photo printing...

[Scouty]

You are certainly welcome. I'm very glad to help create better pics out there! *sweet*

dpi stands for dots per inch and is also referred to as ppi, pixels per inch. Screen resolution is 72 pixels per inch. Printing standards should start at 180 dpi, but I recommend 300 for photo printing...

Ah, I see. Thank you :-) .

[Batbrick]

Thanks for the tips Hinckley!

I use a similar method, though not nearly as precise as that, I think I will use that advice!

Thanks.

Batbrick Away! >:-)

[Corvus]

Again, thanks for putting up this thread. My photography has gone from this to this! (does that sound like a weight-loss add to you?! :-P )

However, I still use a shop light for my lighting, even though it clearly says "not for indoor use".

[Doctor Sinister]

This is a very informative thread, I can see I shall need more lighting in Tabletown.

I like to play around with natural lighting - so far the first picture in this thread is my best LEGO pic'.

Dr. S.

[Capn Frank]

Thanks for the tips,

any suggestions for a setup of a sailing ship 6-7 feet long and 5 feet tall? 8-|

It's not complete yet, but when it is i'd like to take really good pics like hinckley's.

In reading about Sinnerton and Hinckleyville, i thought it would be nice to visit these towns.

I just have one problem, do either of your towns have a port?

My only mode of transportation right now is sailing ship. *pirate*

Thanks,

Phred

[Bonaparte]

Hick, can you tell me how strong (in Watts) those 3 white lights are?

The Key Light, Fill Light, and Back Light.

I'm planning to make something like you did in our basement because I'm always struggling with the light while photographing Lego. And I'm planning to make some reviews...

[Hinckley]

Hick, can you tell me how strong (in Watts) those 3 white lights are?

The Key Light, Fill Light, and Back Light.

I'm planning to make something like you did in our basement because I'm always struggling with the light while photographing Lego. And I'm planning to make some reviews...

Hick? Me? Are you calling me that because I live in Indiana? :'-(

[UniqueBuilder]

Hick? Me? Are you calling me that because I live in Indiana? :'-(

Shouldn't you answer his question...? :-P ;-)

[Hinckley]

Shouldn't you answer his question...? :-P ;-)

If and when he spells my name right...

:-P

All three are 120 watts

[Bonaparte]

Hick? Me? Are you calling me that because I live in Indiana? :'-(

Nice theory, but I just didn't hit the "n" hard enough on my keyboard ;-)

All three are 120 watts

Wow, that's quite a lot. They are all at maximum or are you using a dimmer to reduce the back light?

[Hinckley]

Nice theory, but I just didn't hit the "n" hard enough on my keyboard ;-)

Wow, that's quite a lot. They are all at maximum or are you using a dimmer to reduce the back light?

There's no dimmer. It takes quite a bit of light to fill the space. We're basically attempting to recreate natural light...

[VBBN]

Excuse me for reviving this topic, but I would like to share a simple way in which I create blank backrounds.

It's simply a pillowcase layed about a box top. I weigh it down in the back, and use daylight as my light source.

[tin7_creations]

i noticed that a lot of the pictures on the site are very brightly lit, and have this really nice white background, and I was just wondering how you guys do that. cause, all the pictures i have taken of lego so far are kinda blurry and very dark., also, i'd like to know where the white background comes from. like do you use a wall? or do u have a specially constructed "picture area" for your lego.

something like SirNadroj's photos of his minifigs, the whole background is white etc.

Edited August 13, 2008 by tin7

[WhiteFang]

Hello tin7,

Hinckley's spill the secrets of photography in LEGO in this thread. Go and take a look.

For my own setup, I don't use the three-point lightning techinque, as my studio is portable with that 3 big white cardboards or also known as foam boards. I prefer to take it in a bright day instead at night to gain natural light. Taking at night is possible, provided that you switch on all the lights in that particular room or area. However, picture quality might suffer but not as bad as not switching on the lights.

For advanced users, Adobe Photoshop is a very supreme photo editing tool which enable you to adjust the brightness, contrast, colors and many more to your pictures. Do let us know if you need any more help. I am sure there are many others can help you on this as well.

WhiteFang

[Siegfried]

I just have two pieces of cardboard and use one spotlight. I don't have the room to set up a dedicated area....