Thread: Please help me with photography?

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Ive notice some really great photos on the board and wondered if anyone would share their tips, tricks, and equipment list for getting those awesome pics?

I use a small fujifilm 12mp and seem to get lousy shots in low light. Ive messed with the settings a bit, but they seem grainy instead of vibrant, softened, with nicely saturated colors.

Im also looking for tips on shooting prop pics for an e-store. Well-lit photos with good background effects......your basic product shots.

Any tips or links would be most appreciated!!

Go to the PPANE website or the PP of A website, both are for professional photographers, but you should be able to get some good info from some of the articles.

To shoot good pics in low light without all the grain you will have to learn to shoot in full manual mode and not use the automatic modes and also use a tripod. The reason you are getting all the grain is because the ISO is too high.

I really think the key here is to have a camera capable of separate PASM settings (Program, Aperture, Shutter and Manual) I have slowly moved up over the years in terms of cameras and have finally gotten myself a really decent Nikon D3100 entry level DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera. My last camera (a Kodak) allowed me to slow down my shutter or open my aperture but the options were really limited to the company's recommendations (for instance, the maximum time i had for shutter speed was 10 seconds) With my new camera, for example, i can leave the shutter open for up to 30 seconds.
With all of this, now for the upcoming Halloween season i can use my tripod with a nice slow shutter setting and the built in timer and pictures of my haunt will look almost like daytime. I can also incorporate other effects and add different elements to my pictures.The four pictures i've added here show the versatility of the camera. By changing Aperture and Shutter settings and with the use of a tripod, i can change the feel of a picture and even show things that you did'nt think were there before.
What i can't stress enough here is, if you have a camera capable of adjustable settings or even (for example) night mode, night portrait etc. USE A TRIPOD for your photograph because with the slower shutter settings, the camera is gathering the maximum amount of light and it is important NOT to move or jostle the camera during the process. Also, while taking the picture, anything moving within the frame will show as a blur (great if you are trying to portray a ghost in your picture...

Yep, agree: Tripod and manual settings!

Also, a good photo editing software program like PhotoShop. They will help rescue a so-so shot.

Tripod, tripod, tripod. I just use a cheap HP automatic camera, maybe 5mp.
One trick to getting more detail in a shot is shooting at dusk.
There's a narrow window when your lights add color but natural light is still helping.
Here is an example of looks as the natural light fades.
It helps to use lights of a similar brightness so it stays within the range of camera.
I use all color CFL bulbs. I also include some white cfl light in the shots.
Things that are lit warm (reds, yellows oranges) appear closer while cool light (blues, greens) helps things look farther away.
If you move your light off to the side top or bottom you can bring out texture vs. aiming it straight at your prop.
blue light hanging from a tree and slightly behind tombstones really looks like moonlight.
Now that my leg is healed and I'm good climbing ladders again, thats how the cemetery is getting lit this year.

Seems everyone is covering everything great.

One last bit I would like to add is ISO and RAW settings on your digital cameras.

Automatic settings on a camera LOVE to raise the ISO setting (the camera's sensitivity to light) to keep your shutter speed down. This invariably results in grainy pictures.

Using a tripod, you should not need to worry about shutter speed at all. (use timer mode or a remote, however, because at super slow shutter speeds even pushing the button will blur the photo) You want QUALITY. All cameras are different, but in a very general sense, you want your ISO to never climb above 200. Most digital cameras have the best performance between ISO 100-400. Some allow you to drop ISO below 100, but this can result in a 'soft' picture.

Finally, RAW mode.

Yes, it EATS your memory card, and often renders your LCD preview next to useless. But, shooting in RAW enables you to have ALL the information of the original photo, unprocessed. Any other mode uses the camera's software to process the pics, and this is where you can REALLY get crappy shots. If you have a camera that 'just don't take good shots', try shooting in RAW, then run THAT through a compatible photo editing program on your computer. You'll be surprised at what your 'crappy' camera is really capable of...it just has lousy software.

One trick to getting more detail in a shot is shooting at dusk.
There's a narrow window when your lights add color but natural light is still helping.

In films this is referred to as the magic hour and most films incorporate some shots at this time of day, but you have to be ready for it.

I use an older Sony digital camera and it's just fine. You have to use the night setting, NO FLASH, a tripod, and at least a simple photo editor to sharpen up the shot a little bit. If you don't use an external snap trigger on night setting, which is the best way to get sharp shots, you'll still need to sharpen up the shot in a editor a little. On night setting, just taking the picture is enough to get a little blur, even on a tripod.

Dan

Thanks for all of the great advice everyone... I'm taking notes!

That makes two of us chop. This is one area that I want to get better this year. I also thank everyone to for posting all your great and wise input.