Would anyone mind giving me tip on taking pictures, like these?

always remember that good lighting is the first rule. it does not matter what camera you have or how experienced you are with photoshop. you must have a good image to start with on the negative or digital file before you can enhance it to make it even better. this is the MOST important step and people always undermind this key element in photography. do not rely on digital enhancing alone. you can only do so much with a badly lit or exposed picture.

for starters, use the three point lighting setup- Key light, Fill light, and Back light. from there you can expand and explore different ways of lighting, color tones, hard shadows or soft shadows using diffusers, and placement of lights, all depending on the mood or style of photography you want to take.

and no matter how much we want to believe our dollies are alive and real, they are subjects that fall into the still life category. what will work for real people may not work for dollies. they are the perfect models because they do not move, but to make them look alive and feel lifelike, lighting is the only thing that will make this element believeable.

take my word for it, i went to filmmaking school and took many classes in photograpy and it took me forever to learn the hard way that only lighting and your creativity matters. the best cameras only take as good of pictures as you allow them to. the camera does not create the picture, the art directing does.

 

Evildolly uses 2 softboxes and a DSLR when taking her pictures. I'm pretty sure she doesn't do much photoshopping either. The key to using indoor lighting is getting the proper exposure for each shot.

As for the picture you linked to of her Soah, that was taken outside. She might have used some reflectors.

 

Hello Angie ~!

Why don't you grab a model, set up your shot the way you normally would, do whatever PS-ing you do and then post it and we might be able to offer some concrit based on seeing your photograph! Lighting is what photography is all about and learning to "see" light is something to really work towards achieving.

I'm not familiar with your camera, but a macro lens is one of the keys to glorious close-ups...do you have a macro option on your camera?

 

I agree with Zag...you should post some of your work.

And Steph (Evildolly) uses Softboxes and an SLR. Plus you have some depth of field that she is playing with (i.e. playing with f-stops). You may want to just contact her directly and ask her as well for specifics. She's very nice and I'm sure she'll give you pointers.

But honestly, you are better off taking pictures, LOTS of pictures and finding your own groove. Finding your own style is about the best thing I can suggest. She can tell you EXACTLY how she does it, but you have a different eye, hand, camera, light, etc...the picture will never be exact...and that's what's great. I'm sure you'll come up with something just as awesome with your own style. Just practice and have fun!

 

Sorry to hijack the thread a little bit, but I heard somewhere that flash is strongly not-recommended. Still, most lamps and things aren't really PORTABLE, so if you're not in a well lit room, but have an interesting photo idea with an unmovable prop, how do you go about it?

 

Clamp lights is something you should consider buying. You can get them at Home Depot/Lowe's type stores. That way, you can attach them to a chair and move closer to your subject/prop.

 

Ooohhh, now there's an idea. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep an eye open for them!

 

Clamp lights are a great idea - so are reflectors for outdoor photos. I shoot most of my stuff with just natural light coming in through the window and no flash, however, I use a tripod and manual settings and sometimes my shutter speed can be up to two seconds long!

Another idea for indoor shooting, but using the on-camera flash would be to try and DIFFUSE your flash. If you can manipulate the camera while still holding something transparent in front of the flash you may find you get better results. A thin piece of linen or cotton such as a handkerchief works well - experminent! (Digital) Film is cheap.

 

*nods*

*is taking notes*

 

Ah, natural light... so hard to come by in the UK when you get home at 6pm lol ^^; Roll on weekends and nicer weather...

 

Forgive my ignorance...but what exactly are softboxes and SLR? I'm in the market to buy some good lighting and I've seen several things that call themselves softboxes on ebay....white fabric boxes, boxey studio lights on stands, etc. I have no clue what an SLR is. Does anyone have a picture or a link to a picture/auction of these items? .... or some advice about the specs I should be looking for.

Thanks!
Lindsay

 

Those are great questions - and we all had to start somewhere!

A SLR is a Single Lens Reflex camera - that's what most people think about when they think about film cameras. A camera body with interchangeable lenses. But there are digital SLR camera bodies as well. Nikon, Olympus and Canon all make bodies that can use special digital lenses, but they also can use lenses that work with film cameras. The advantage is CONTROL! And the ability to change lenses. I use a Nikon D200 SLR digital body because I have two Nikon film bodies and a ton of lenses.

A softbox is a tool used for lighting. It is exactly what it sounds like - a fabric-covered box with a light inside. However, to get the optimum use from a softbox, it is best to use it with synced lights that are fired when the camera fires. If you want to get the effect of a softbox without studio lights, there are other options, such as taking a regular desk lamp and covering it with a thin fabric - careful of fire, obviously.

What camera are you currently using? And with what sort of lighting? Outdoors, lamps, on-camera flash?

 

A SLR camera is about as manual as you can get it.

"This is a camera where the photographer sees exactly the same image that is exposed to the film and can adjust everything by turning dials and clicking buttons. Since it doesn't need any electricity to take a picture, a manual SLR camera provides an excellent illustration of the fundamental processes of photography."

-from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/camera.htm

LOL! Ah well, watch us all answer at once!

 

Thanks for the info! ...but I'm confused, do you put stuff into the softboxes (photocube)?...or shine the softboxes onto stuff (studio lights)? I'm only asking because someone said Evildolly used 2 softboxes and how would that work? Pics/link would be awesome.

My camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W1 with 5.1 Megapixels, 3x Optical Zoom, and Carl Zeiss lens. I don't like taking pictures outside...much prefer the "studio look". The best pictures I've gotten have been of my tinies like Yo-SD and Cutie Delf. I shine 4 clamp lamps with natural light bulbs on them and it gets rid of most shadows. Then I set the camera to indoor lighting and don't use the flash....then photoshop a bit to get the colors right. The main problem I have is when I try to photograph my DoC (45cm) or DoT (60cm) standing up. They are just so tall that the light I have isn't enough to hit all of them and I get mad shadows everywhere. That's why I'm trying to buy some bigger lights because I want to get the effect of a completely white background (no shadows if possible) and not have the photo get washed out...plus my contrast is wacky...no details in black clothing, etc.

 

No, a softbox is not a photocube - the light is fired from within it, it acts as a giant diffuser.

That's a good camera and the lens is stellar.

Glad you outlined so clearly what you're concerned about and what you would like changed. I think a softbox would be perfect for you - you won't be able to sync it, but you could use it with a pro light source and get the results you want! I think investing in your lighting setup would be a great move for you.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to answer me and for that link! It was really informative. I finally know what I'm shopping for now. See, this is why I love DoA so much.

 

Here's a good place you can learn some basics on lighting.
And it'll answer your questions regarding softboxes, lights, fill lights, etc.

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/

Please note that the URL is to a lighting store, but many of these items can be made easily at home with a little bit of forethought, or purchased cheaply on ebay or places like craigslist.com