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Re: [DS] Photographing Minis

From: Allan Goodall <agoodall@a...>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 09:20:21 -0500
Subject: Re: [DS] Photographing Minis

On Tue, 25 Jun 2002 20:49:20 -0600, Control Robot <cqin@ee.ualberta.ca>
wrote:

>Is there any way of taking relatively clear
>pictures with an autofocus camera, or am I doomed to failure?	Is a
>high-quality camera, with good lighting, really necessary for taking
>pictures?  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you.

It depends on what you mean by "autofocus camera". 

If you mean a standard "point and shoot" (that is, a camera with a fixed
lens,
usually the type with little icons of a face, a group of people, and a
mountain/landscape), then you're right, you're doomed.

If you mean something like an SLR (single lens reflex; i.e. a camera
where you
can swap lenses) but which will automatically change the focus on your
camera
for you (you can tell this because you will hear a "whir" when it
changes
focus), then you can take good pictures.

Since most half decent SLRs are at least in the $300+ range, I'm
guessing that
this is _not_ what you want.

I have a Nikon SLR. I have a half decent telephoto zoom lens with a
"macro"
setting that lets me get in close. I also have some screw-on close-up
filters.
Using cheap studio lamps, I can get a half decent result. 

You can also get good results with a digital camera, but most digitals
can't
get close enough unless you get a close-up filter for it (digitals can
often
take screw on or "slip on" filters/lenses for this sort of thing).

Regardless of the camera, lighting is a very good idea. Digitals are
really
good at compensating for different coloured light and for low-light
situations. Most folks seem to forget, though, that you want lighting to
deal
with shadows, not just exposure. A digital will usually balance the
colours
properly if you use, say, a couple of desk lamps. Film is usually colour
balanced for outdoor sunlight, so if you use desk lamps you need to put
on
some special "blue" filters to get the colour more-or-less right. A
better
result comes from using photolamps that are already properly colour
balanced.

The short answer is, yes, you're probably doomed unless you get a better
camera. Some options, other than buying a new camera:

- rent a camera, which can be done if you live in a big city
- take pictures with your little point and shoot but from a distance.
Use low
grain film (i.e. 100 speed). Get the film processed onto a Kodak PhotoCD
or
have it scanned at _really_ high resolution. Crop and blow up the
picture in
Photoshop or something like that. You'll find the result will be
adequate for
putting on a web site or something.

Allan Goodall		       agoodall@hyperbear.com
http://www.hyperbear.com

"At long last, the earthy soil of the typical, 
unimaginable mortician was revealed!" 
 - from the Random H.P. Lovecraft Story Generator:


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