Photo opinion

Figures, collectables, customs and collecting.
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Which photo looks best?

Poll ended at Mon Jan 16, 2017 12:31 am

1
2
33%
2
0
No votes
Time to try again Hotshot81
4
67%
 
Total votes: 6

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HotShot81
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Photo opinion

Post by HotShot81 »

Alright all of us know trying to get the perfect shot of the toy in the box is at best difficult.

I am asking for others to look at the two photos and say which looks better. The photo has a number written on it for the mean time.

Just cast your vote.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Turn the flash off and put the camera or phone on a solid surface such as a few books? Daylight can also work wonders.
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Skyquake87
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Post by Skyquake87 »

The flash one looks best, but there's too much glare where its caught the packaging. Second is a shade out of focus and a bit dark.

As Denyer suggests, daylight gives you better results. Or even if you can knock up a rudimentary back drop with some white card and a suitable lamp.

I struggle with box shots myself and they never look great :(
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HotShot81
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Post by HotShot81 »

I am going to respond to the questions, so we're on a level playing field.

Photo 1 was taken on the floor, white light above it, flat black cardboard behind it.

Photo 2 was taken on a bed, just background light, flat black cardboard behind it.

Equipment used: Canon Elph 160 powershot

The reason why I prefer to use a digital camera is since it takes photos in higher resolutions, which means while say at 2 feet a photo sucks due to glare, while at 5 there is none and it looks great.

Both of them were laying on the materiel in question. If I go to reshoot, I am toying (pardon the pun) of going horizontal, same background, possible swap to white. I can also get a white light on it, so all the colors come out more pure.

Denyer, the big problem with daylight is I am in the northern hemisphere, right now daylight is at a premium, so I've got to adopt.
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Post by Denyer »

When you say 2 was taken on a bed, are you holding the camera? I don't think that Elph/Ixus has any built-in stabilisation, so photos in low light without a tripod or the camera being on a hard surface and not knocked when snapping would be difficult to salvage afterwards.

"White light above" = ceiling light? Softer light works better - eg, a desk lamp with some cloth, a piece of paper or frosted plastic over it.

It does look like that model allows you to set the white balance and ISO manually, which added to having the camera steady in the first place should make a decent difference even if there's no manual control over the exposure.
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ganon578
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Post by ganon578 »

I like #2 for the lack of glare, but #1 for the brightness. Can I vote for 1.5?
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Post by HotShot81 »

Denyer,
I'll clear things up (no harm)

What I mean by white light is that some lights in my home have a certain tint to the light. While a few others are pure white, as in they have no tint. Does that clear things up?

My bed for the most part is flat, which is why I view it as an acceptable surface to take photos on.

Just so everyone realizes something, when this poll expires, I will either go back to work or say Astrotrain, roll on out!
Denyer wrote:When you say 2 was taken on a bed, are you holding the camera? I don't think that Elph/Ixus has any built-in stabilisation, so photos in low light without a tripod or the camera being on a hard surface and not knocked when snapping would be difficult to salvage afterwards.

"White light above" = ceiling light? Softer light works better - eg, a desk lamp with some cloth, a piece of paper or frosted plastic over it.

It does look like that model allows you to set the white balance and ISO manually, which added to having the camera steady in the first place should make a decent difference even if there's no manual control over the exposure.
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Post by Denyer »

HotShot81 wrote:What I mean by white light is that some lights in my home have a certain tint to the light. While a few others are pure white, as in they have no tint. Does that clear things up?
Use the custom white balance setting --

http://www.canon.co.uk/support/consumer ... 14-1227358

The less light the less the camera can adapt to any movement at all. Apart from old tricks like holding a camera close to the body and taking the shot after exhaling, a solid surface or tripod is really the only way to reduce blur.

None of the Canons I've had have had image stabilisation (too old, the most recent is a beater A495) but as long as you treat them more like traditional film cameras than point-and-click models they've usually got reasonable lenses and image quality.
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Post by HotShot81 »

Alright, even if the poll hasn't run its time, I went back to the photo lab.

From a fan perspective, if you see flash back in an area of the box that is transparent like below the lower right hand corner. Is that bad for you?
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Post by Mr_Hi_n_Mitey »

Photograph Two looks much better.
:devil: Image :angel:
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