I wan't too happy with the photos though, when I came to Spain my youngest daughter allowed me to hang on to her Cannon DSLR and I must have spent hours messing around with the settings in order to try to get the hang of it. I just took a few shots on my IPhone 7 that I tend to use for my Facebook page, which is mostly about our new life in Spain, and they are so much more focused! OK, so I'm never going to be a photographer, but my main aim here is to present half decent images of my growing 40mm collection. Today I have been working on the bases of the 92nd foot and this has carried over to the 60th Rifles. The intention is to bring all of the collection together using my new static grass mix and Vallejo Flat Earth. Note all will need a final drybrush on the groundwork. The lighting was poor , but the images so much sharper, I think it will be the phone in future!
92nd (Gordon) Highlanders with newly painted mounted officer and 60th Rifles.
Hi ‘Lee,
ReplyDeleteThey are looking really nice old chap and funnily enough I prefer using my IPhone (or IPad) for pictures.
I reckon you should hold a grand review of the entire collection once you have finished them!
All the best,
DC
Thank you David, I am rather proud of them. Another month or so should see the completion of the planned 'phase 1' so I will certainly present them all on parade.
DeleteLovely job, this project is really making headway.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, before you give up on the DSLR, try this;
Shoot in 'A' mode with auto ISO
Select F8 to F11 (probably F11 for the shots you have above, but try F8 first to see if everying from front to back is sharps as that setting will let more light into the camera).
Pull back a bit with the camera, a bit further back than you would like to be. The picture can be cropped later and you will get more out of the best part of the lens (the centre) and less chance of barrelling that comes with close up shooting and more importantly, blurry edges. Your sensor size will allow decent cropping.
Light up the front of the figures, if using flash dampen it down with tissue paper over it, if using a light source, try and make it LED and then set the white balance to 5600 Kelvin (daylight). You have brilliant outdoor light there, so that may be the preferred option early morning or late afternoon, just set the White Balance to give a correct cast.
In post processing, crop to get the image you want and then reduce the size further to have the width at 1300 - 1500 pixels wide, this should give a nice image at a sensible resolution for uploading to Google blogs.
Anyway, it's there or thereabout …… or just click with the iPhone :-)
For ages I have been uploading at less that 700 pixels wide to save on my Google 15 GB allowance, but it just wasn't doing the pictures justice, they were looking rough. If you look at my last post on terrain (not the current one that is a map shot through plexi! blah) those images were uploaded at around 1300 pixels wide.
Anyway I know some of that is hassle and posts take long enough to do as it is, so I am only mentioning in case any of that helps - cheers Norm.
Thank you Norm for taking the time to write the above. I will certainly now give the camera another go using your guidance and see how things go.I must admit to having little knowledge of camera settings but can understand what you say and I don't really want to give up yet. Some of my best images are pure accident, it pulls into focus and I snap away, I really must try and get to grips with the technicalities of it more. Thanks again Norm and I'll let you know how I get on :)
DeleteKilts and bagpipes...splendid!
ReplyDeleteCheers Phil :)
DeleteLighting is my bugbear regardless of what I'm taking pictures of. One day I'll address it!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, beautiful painting on these figures! (I've painted a few of these figures myself but not as well! )
I really should not be complaining about lack of light, not here in Spain! Thanks for the comment on the figures, they have a lovely old toy soldier appeal when I pick them up.
DeleteLovely looking figures, I've given up with my DSLR for posts,I just use my android phone but I do everything with the phone,no laptop is used to post so it's just easier,I am tempted to try again after reading Norms informative post though!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain. I'm going to persevere with the DSLR following Norms advice, I hate giving up on anything!
DeleteNot a fan of Apple products but I have to admit the picture quality on the pictures my daughters take with theirs are superb...
ReplyDeleteYes Steve, the quality of the IPhone camera is excellent. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get shots of the newly painted mounted officers but could not capture the rich shades of scarlet, very flat, but with the IPhone it was point and 'snap' 100% better. I'll persevere though thanks to Norm.
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