Technic Photography

[Darkdragon]

1 hour ago, dr_spock said:

Would putting diffusers in front of the 2 main light help reduce its output

That will help with brightening the background as well as limiting the glare on the subject.

[Jim]

12 hours ago, dr_spock said:

Thanks for the tip.  Reviewer's Academy standard is white background. I am finding it hard to get the background white white in PP without blowing out the highlights and white LEGO. I use a 3rd light to illuminate the background but it has the same power as the 2 main lights.  Would putting diffusers in front of the 2 main light help reduce its output without having  to buy new bulbs? 

Trust me.....you will need post processing. I am not too familiar with Photoshop, but here's a tutorial for Lightroom. I really recommend using Lightroom, since it can do lots of other stuff as well, sharpen your images (always necessary when shooting digital), adding some depth, etc. It's also very convenient for managing your collection. And the price is very reasonable.

 

 

[Lucio Switch]

22 hours ago, Jim said:

You're talking professional photo studio here. This is very hard to achieve at your home studio, since the 200w lamps will illuminate the room (and subject) very much as well.

Not necessarily, for small things is possible to do that in "DIY mode" with cheap bulbs (with the same light temperature) and desk lamps from a hobby store. Obviously a DSLR and a tripod are mandatory.
Anyway, since my dimensions problems, I spent more or less 250€ for two softbox with 4 bulbs each, 2 spot lights with 1 bulb each for a total of 2000w (...equivalent since those are energy saving bulbs) and a 3x16m black cardboard background. Those are really cheap gear that can hardly be classified not even as amateur equipment, but they do the job.

15 hours ago, dr_spock said:

Thanks for the tip.  Reviewer's Academy standard is white background. I am finding it hard to get the background white white in PP without blowing out the highlights and white LEGO. I use a 3rd light to illuminate the background but it has the same power as the 2 main lights.  Would putting diffusers in front of the 2 main light help reduce its output without having  to buy new bulbs? 

It could work, but I will try first to use the 2 main lights for the background and the 3rd as Key light plus a white cardboard for the fill lights...give it a try it is a 0 costs.

2 hours ago, Jim said:

Trust me.....you will need post processing. I am not too familiar with Photoshop, but here's a tutorial for Lightroom. I really recommend using Lightroom, since it can do lots of other stuff as well, sharpen your images (always necessary when shooting digital), adding some depth, etc. It's also very convenient for managing your collection. And the price is very reasonable.

I also recommend to use Lightroom, like I said before, post processing is mandatory, even more if you shoot in RAW.

[dokludi]

[Splat]

On 2/4/2017 at 5:22 PM, Offroadcreat1ons said:

Hi everyone,

I don't know much about photography, but I would like to know how to get a really white background, that blends in with webpages. I have seen it in most pictures, and it looks really nice, so I would like to try. Does anyone have any tips? Thanks.

These are some tips that work for me:

1. Try to do as much as you can in-camera first.
2. Use a seamless backdrop.  Depending on the size of the model, this can sometimes be as simple as using a piece of white flexible poster paper that you prop up against a wall.
3. As others have mentioned, try to light the backdrop more than the model.  Try having your model backlit a little bit.  This will typically force you to expose the photo for a bit longer to get the model exposed correctly, and that will also expose the background more, getting it closer to white.
4. Use a tripod and manual settings on your camera.
5. Use a small aperture to maximize the depth-of-field so that the entire model is in sharp focus (this will help when post-processing).
6. Use a low ISO value to reduce noise in the darker areas.
7. I try not to use the Auto White Balance feature if I'm taking a series of photos (which I usually am).  Use the Custom White Balance feature if needed.  If you are shooting RAW, this can also be changed during post-processing.
8. Did I mention to use a tripod...?  With a small aperture and low ISO, your exposure times (shutter speeds) are likely to be long unless you have really bright lights/strobes/flashes, so a tripod is a must.  Also use a remote shutter release or use the timer feature on your camera to reduce camera movement when taking the photo.
9. At the moment I am using Paint.net (free) as my photo editor, but I have also used Photoshop in a similar way in the past.
10. Select the background using the Magic Wand tool.  If your subject is in sharp focus, this should be easy enough.  Also select any shadows that are on the background.
11. Use the Levels Adjustment to change the Gamma and Input/Output Levels until the pixels directly around your model are pure white, while still keeping the shadows.
12. Invert the selection so that you have the model selected.
13. Use the Levels Adjustment to get the model looking the way that you want.  You could also use the Contrast/Hue/Saturation/Brightness Adjustments if needed.
14. Select any remaining areas of the background that are not pure white, and use the Paint Bucket tool to make them pure white.
15. Resize the image to the final size (remembering that the maximum size allowed on the Eurobricks forum is 1024x768).
16. Apply some sharpening if needed.
17. Modify any of the above steps as needed to get the result that you are after.

Some samples:

[micek]

Amaman's 42036 alternate sportscar. In my eyes is this one of the most beautiful alternate model.

[letsbuild]

Here's my favourite:

Unfortunately, most of my good pictures are of system models.

[syclone]

I've been doing some burnouts 

BuWizz + buggy motor burnout by Alaxaf, on Flickr

Edited April 8, 2017 by LXF

[damjan97PL]

The first time I did  photo on the coach 

 

[letsbuild]

Some more favourites of mine:

 

[kbalage]

Let me share a pic of my DIY home studio setup. You don't need that many things or really expensive stuff to achieve some good results. The only "professional" element is the grey (and white) paper roll for the background. The rest includes a modified IKEA clothes rack, some other leftover IKEA furniture pieces, two 45W LED panels, two monitor arms, and some 3d printed pieces to hold these together :)

 

[Jim]

46 minutes ago, kbalage said:

Let me share a pic of my DIY home studio setup. You don't need that many things or really expensive stuff to achieve some good results. The only "professional" element is the grey (and white) paper roll for the background. The rest includes a modified IKEA clothes rack, some other leftover IKEA furniture pieces, two 45W LED panels, two monitor arms, and some 3d printed pieces to hold these together :)

Looks like a nice setup! But obviously, I am very interested in a picture taken with this setup 

[kbalage]

10 minutes ago, Jim said:

Looks like a nice setup! But obviously, I am very interested in a picture taken with this setup 

Thanks Jim! Not much to share (yet ), but most of the pictures on my blog are/will be created with this setup. I'm working on a longer post & video about 42065 Tracked racer mods, will post it soon!

[zawerepori]

On 2/21/2016 at 2:37 AM, Jeroen Ottens said:

I'd like some advice from you guys. I'd like to photograph a black model that has some black on black details. Are there any obvious things I should do before I start endless shootings?

I have a Nikon D40 camera and no special lights whatsoever, so I usually shoot outdoors (or in my greenhouse), but I suspect that this time that will not be enough.

So any advice is most welcome.

Hey..

Use various informative stuff such as Nikon expert lens recommendation blogs, articles, Nikon d40 Manual for lens recommendation and other mode settings for your black model photography. Here are some tips that i want to share with you that gives you better result:

• Get your settings sorted before you start
• Use a wide-angle lens
•  Don’t touch the zoom!
• Get the focus right
• Shoot in RAW, with black-and-white preview
• Look for the light and shadows
•  Look at the foreground AND the background of the shot
• Don’t over-process your images

[mahjqa]

If you're limited to outdoor shooting, make sure you film on an overcast day. If you have a single lightsource (the sun, in this case) you'll get very bright, sharp highlights, and the rest of the model will fade in pure blackness. 

Also, you don't need any "special lights" for most photography jobs. I usually make do with one or two desk lamps. I don't aim them at the model itself, but I point them at a white wall or white piece of paper. That way, you get light that's more distributed and even. 


Or, if you want to go absolutely hog-wild:

 

The way I made these:

1. Get a fully darkened room. 

2. put your model on a dark background.

3. Put your camera on a tripod, and make sure it ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT MOVE.

4. Use a single light source, and light your model from an interesting angle. As said before, you can also reflect light off a piece of paper to get a more diffuse effect.

5. Take a picture, and repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have a metric arseload of pictures. Since you're photographing a static model on a tripod, you can use very long exposure times if you want. Sometimes I use a single LED with an exposure time of 15 seconds. Whatever works.

6. Use photoshop to blend all the different pictures together. You'll have to use the photoshop levels or curves commands to get rid of anything but the highlights in the pictures you take. Put each different picture on a separate layer, and set their blending modes to "screen". This means only the highlights of each picture will show through.

7. (optional) Especially with black models, you can easily color each layer with photoshop (image>adjust>hue/saturation) to get some interesting effects.

 

[kbalage]

I updated the topic of my BMW motorcycle with some behind the scenes photos and description of the motion effect created in one of the shots, you might find it useful if you'd like to create some dynamic photos of your Technic creations without the need to run with your camera :)

 

[BusterHaus]

1 hour ago, kbalage said:

I updated the topic of my BMW motorcycle with some behind the scenes photos and description of the motion effect created in one of the shots, you might find it useful if you'd like to create some dynamic photos of your Technic creations without the need to run with your camera :

Holy cow that's dedication.  I like the outcome.  The lazy man's way to do it is using Motion Blur in Photoshop.

You start with this:

Apply motion blur as desired:

But then you don't get to have a fun project.

[kbalage]

@BusterHaus I agree, you can replicate a lot of things in Photoshop and sometimes that's the reasonable way to do things. For this contest submission I wanted to avoid anything "faked", and it was more fun to find a real-life solution :) I have another project in the works where I needed smoke - again something that can be easily Photoshopped, but it was much cooler to achieve the desired effect with an electronic cigarette and an old foot pump :)

[BusterHaus]

@kbalage I like your approach - it's modern CGI vs what the special effects guys did for Star Wars in the 70's.  The Photoshop solutions isn't without its challenges, as you need to match the perspective of the background to the foreground, saturation, etc.  Sometimes the physical solution seems easier.

[HorcikDesigns]

Macro? Not the best, but I like the organic-tech-like texture. :D

All of my tracks... by Horcik Designs, on Flickr

[dr_spock]

Chibi style 8283 telehandler.

8283 Big Scoop by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

 

[dr_spock]

Keep big scoop away from cold water...

Shrinkage by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

 

[kbalage]

@dr_spock Haha that's a nice one :) Nice smooth lighting on the photo btw, looks like a 3d render

[Myers Lego Technic]

For subjects like tires, I like the earthy and warm feel of a worn wooden work table.  

 

 

Edited June 4, 2017 by Myers Lego Technic

[Tommy Styrvoky]

Would anyome have any good suggestions for removing reflections when using a green screen? As removing the background is easy, though to remove the green reflections on the model, I had to duplicate the photo, and convert one of the images to black and white. then mask the original to add back color to the colored parts. I also used an overlay layer to add the model's base color. Is there an easier method for doing this? As with a more colorful model, this could be more challenging.

Edited June 3, 2017 by Tommy Styrvoky