How do I take better photos?

[longhorn]

My photos never come out quite like I want them to. There is some great photo work on here...any of you want to share your method? Thanks.

[Spike-A-Pike]

Finally a subject I have a little background in... your former tax dollars at work.

Digital photography has simular challenges to traditional photography. Take some time to actually work with your camera and learn as much about as you can.

1. When you take your photo, determine what you are actually try to capture, focus on the subject and illiminate as much background cluter as possible.

2. Set your camera to take the highest resolution as possible. This will capture the maximum amount of detail (data). This isn't always possible because of memory (storage capacity) and is a compromise at best.

3. Most digital cameras come with some form of software to "develope" the pictures. Actually, this software will normally assist you with transfering your pictures to your computer and storing them. Your computer is sort'a like a digital darkroom. You can crop "distractions" from your photos, you can select the resolution (the file size) to save the photo. This can be a goofy issue, example you can save a photo at 1200 pixels per inch - that will look great as a printed photo, but, the internet limits the resolution to a mere 72 pixels per inch. That photo will look pretty good on your monitor, but if you download that same photo to a PC and try to enlarge it you will discover how much data was lost.

Network administrators are always asking user to be mindful of thier photo size (resolution) because a server has a finite amount of storage space. There was a recent post to the Hard Bait forum about this subject a few days back.

Alot of folks use a photo hosting source on the inter-web and a hyper-link in thier post to that off-site photo. http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj18/spike-a-pike/Musky%20Spinner/Bend_10.jpg

It's kind of like fishing... you learn to do it once and spend a life time perfecting it.

Bruce

[Delw]

Also, make sure you have a light tent, either one you build or one you buy.

Its makes a huge difference as lighting is the key problems with taking pics of baits.

Some guys don't use them and take some great pics.

your camera will have settings for indoor and out door and maybe even different light types.

you need to play with the camera and take as many different pics as you can.

this is the cool thing about digitals, you can take hundreds of pics and upload them look at them then delete them and do it all over again and it doesnt cost you anything but a few mins-hours

[captsully18]

Delw, would you expand on "light tent"? Sorry 'bout showin' my ignorance but don't understand and would like to take better pics.

Thanks

David

[Delw]

heres how I built mine

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/03/pvc_light_box_light_tent.html

I then used a bed sheet to cover the top and sides of the frame to allow the light to equailize on the paper with the product.

make sure you get the right lights. or you can experiment with different lights.

My camera has settings for a bunch of different types of light sources

[Delw]

oops heres the correct link with instructions

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

[Delw]

heres a really good video on how to build it

http://www.ignitecast.com/player.seam;jsessionid=B18426E06E0F8BDF7FDA44B8063C5D31?conversationId=10919

[LooksLikeSinbad]

Longhorn -

1 easy trick that might help is to photograph your lure outside on a nice sunny day with the lure lying on a white piece of paper and the flash off. If you have a tripod that might help, and if not, you can rest your camera on a table or other fixed object.

What kind of camera are you using?

[saint308]

This is a topic I am very much interested in. If you have ever looked at my site you will notice my pics are terrible. Sinbad, your avatar looks awesome. Did you take that pic? Saint.

[LooksLikeSinbad]

This is a topic I am very much interested in. If you have ever looked at my site you will notice my pics are terrible. Sinbad, your avatar looks awesome. Did you take that pic? Saint.

Saint, thanks for the compliment. Yes, I took that photo and the ones in my gallery. I use a Nikon d40 digital slr. IMO, this is the best camera in it's class (around $500 including lens). I also color correct the photos in photoshop.

You should try some of the tips above and see if you can get better shots with your camera. If not, you could buy a nicer camera or hire a professional photographer.

[captsully18]

Delw, thanks for the links. they're great. and thanks to all of you for info. even though I didn't pose the question I have learned a lot. Great place for info.

Thanks

David

[Vodkaman]

My tips would be to look after the background. Try to make it mildly interesting but not distracting. Try to include something that will give the viewer scale or you will be asked, "so how big is it then?".

[longhorn]

Thank y'all for the great info. Lots of stuff I'd never thought about.

[Senkosam]

KISS (not you, but KIS in general).

1. I'm assuming you are using a digital camera and the subject is a lure. If so, most digcams have a macro icon in the quick menu. Use it if available.

2. Most digcams have an auto exposure setting. Use it and you don't have to worry aperture or shutter speed or if your not sure if the natural or incandescent light is enough.

3. Natural lighting - the sun- especially a morning or setting sun, makes for some really nice warm shots. Indoor lighting is nice without flash, but only if you use a tripod (about 7 bucks for a short leg), auto exposure and timer. The object will be in focus and the shutter left open long enough for adequate object lighting. (Heck, a timer and tripod are great to take pics of yourself and your fish when you're alone.) Shaky-hand shots = crap pictures.

4. For close ups, stay just outside the effective focal range unless you are using a macro lense attachment. (I'm buying a kit of 4 lenses on Amazon for 14 bucks and will post some pics.) Blurred unfocused close-up pictures are as bad as shaky-hand shots. I've also propped a magnifying glass over the subject and gotten nice detail.

5. A neutral background (medium dark, like wood or stone) is adequate for most lure color brightness. A white cardboard or cloth background is nice for dark colored lures. Flash is optional, but better IMO for dark colored textured lures.

6. A good photo shop type program produced by Microsoft, is on Amazon for about 19 bucks or if you want a free Google based program, you can download and store or send pictures with Picasa and I highly recommended it! You can use the program's sharpness tool, modify brightness and contrast, hue and color saturation, chose a format size (forum size, on-line storage such as photobucket, photo, etc), alter hue and color saturation, and a bunch of other neat stuff. It can be used to send pics by email or any site. Both are super user friendly.

Note: just because you use high resolution to take a shot, doesn't mean you have more resolution. More mega pixels are needed when you want to print a wall size poster. For the 5x5 to 8x10 shots you want to post, the lowest resolution is more than adequate and requires less resizing. JPEG compression will clobber all those little extra pixels anyway and average everything to a smaller size.

7. For underwater shots (ie shooting down into the water or into an aquarium, a polarized lense attachment is nice. (Polarized sunglasses allow us to see into the water.)

I'm no expert, but I like the way my shots come out taking into consideration the above.

8. For film type or single lens reflex cameras, you're on your own! (of course, most of the above is relevant.)

[LaPala]

Here's a tip for those of you who are serious about taking awesome pictures for baits and lures. The search term tto use is "product photography"; you'll find a lot of relevant information either on Google or Yahoo, maybe a full year of reading lol.

Here's one good How-tos: Although there is no relevant category there for baits and lures but you can read the similar stuff. Like lures that's shiny and reflecting light: Jewelry, Silver ware. Shooting a transparent SP, try the tutorial on glass etc. (Note: the site advertises it's EZcube light tent which Delw describe a DIY one earlier.)

And here's one that includes how to Photoshop your photo later for the pro look.