Tips for taking pictures?

[Astralav]

Hi guys,

I have to admit I have big difficulties to capture the colors of my lavalamps.

I tried a custom white balance, and it was a little better, but the result is still far from what I can see with my eyes.

I guess HDR could manage to capture the right hues, but as the lava flow, it's impossible to do HDR.

So do you have the same problem, or did you find the solution?

Any tips welcome!

Thanks

[Tim Gill]

I am not a keen photographer my self (I only take pictures of lamps really).

First of all get a good / semie good camera - you don't need a SLR (but it helps if you can afford it) so a relatively good compact will do.

With taking pictures basically just get your lamps flowing well and take pictures with different camera options and see which ones are the best - i.e. with flash on, flash off and with different colour modes on the camera.

When I get the photos on my computer I then edit them using Iphoto to enhance the colour, contrast, crop them etc.

I think the best photos come after editing - as long as you have something decent to work with in the first place.

[Astralav]

Tim,

I've got a dslr, and I'm using it in full manual, so usualy I've got no problem to get the pictures I want.

With lava, colors are shifted, and I can't get what I see no mather what I do.

I'm sure it's because cameras don't have enough dynamic range to render what a human eye can see, but maybe there is some tricks to get close.

Just for an exemple:

here is a picture taken with dslr of my Iphone taking a pic of a Fireflow (tricky I know :-) )

Big differences, and there is the same between the picture from the dslr and what I see.

[Wile E. Coyote]

I have a Cannon 5D, and I find natural light from behind you is the best for as close as possible, so to speak, for the color.  No flash if possible.  I've had decent pics with a flash with a tissue in front of it to soften it.  The reflection of the flash off the glass is greatly reduced.  I've started using a remote flash firing somewhat towards the ceiling from about the height of the lamps, and those are turning out nicely.  Should still be able to take nice pics with a non SLR camera, though.  Good lighting is the key I'm finding.  If you can mess with the ISO setting, I put mine a little higher than it should be.  Gets a better true color to the lava.  Then of coarse, a little Photoshop for dessert...

 

 

[Tim Gill]

I see what your saying and the SLR is clearly a lot better then the Iphone.

I think Wile is right - more light and the correct lighting in that picture would bring out the colour a lot more, if you are using the flash to get this picture try using a bigger flash and / or more photographic lights to light the subject more.

Astralav said:

Tim,

I've got a dslr, and I'm using it in full manual, so usualy I've got no problem to get the pictures I want.

With lava, colors are shifted, and I can't get what I see no mather what I do.

I'm sure it's because cameras don't have enough dynamic range to render what a human eye can see, but maybe there is some tricks to get close.

Just for an exemple:

here is a picture taken with dslr of my Iphone taking a pic of a Fireflow (tricky I know :-) )

Big differences, and there is the same between the picture from the dslr and what I see.

[Astralav]

Thanks for the tips Wile.

I never tried natural light yet because I usualy take pics of my lamp at night.

Will try to mess iso too.

Wile E. Coyote said:

I have a Cannon 5D, and I find natural light from behind you is the best for as close as possible, so to speak, for the color.  No flash if possible.  I've had decent pics with a flash with a tissue in front of it to soften it.  The reflection of the flash off the glass is greatly reduced.  I've started using a remote flash firing somewhat towards the ceiling from about the height of the lamps, and those are turning out nicely.  Should still be able to take nice pics with a non SLR camera, though.  Good lighting is the key I'm finding.  If you can mess with the ISO setting, I put mine a little higher than it should be.  Gets a better true color to the lava.  Then of coarse, a little Photoshop for dessert...

 

 

[Erin]

I usually don't use the flash, but if I must, I use one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Lightscoop-Standard-Universal-Ameri...

I have yet to buy an detachable flash, so this works in the interim. It gives you some extra light, but doesn't produce any kind of glare or reflection. There are some lamps, however, I just *cannot* photograph accurately, no matter what I try - yellow/orange, purple/yellow and certain reds. I can't photograph a red glitter accurately to save my life!

Most of my pics are taken indoor, in the evening, so this is always a challenge. I always play around with white balance and shutter speed, too. I don't have a top-of-line the camera, just an entry-level DSLR, a Canon Rebel XS. 

Check out my pics here:

http://oozinggoo.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName...

[John Sylte]

I have an old Canon SD630 point and shoot. And it seems to work well with the following settings.

- no flash

- high shutterspeed

- use tripod

- use 10 second timer