Photography tips needed

[LowestFormOfWit]

I finally got decent shots with my girlfriend's EVO 4G after using a small box of paper setup near our vanity. the important thing seems to really just be good and even light. They're no Mittens shots, but then again I'm not a photographer, nor do I have the reason to drop $1500-$2000 on a Nikon D90 like Mittens!

[MittenNinja]

I finally got decent shots with my girlfriend's EVO 4G after using a small box of paper setup near our vanity. the important thing seems to really just be good and even light. They're no Mittens shots, but then again I'm not a photographer, nor do I have the reason to drop $1500-$2000 on a Nikon D90 like Mittens!

By no means do you have to get a fancy DSLR like the D90. Any DSLR will be far superior to a point and shoot or camera phone because you can mess with all the shutter speeds, white balance, exsposure, iso, etc. I've seen D3100's on sale for under $500.

[goldenmeanie]

By no means do you have to get a fancy DSLR like the D90. Any DSLR will be far superior to a point and shoot or camera phone because you can mess with all the shutter speeds, white balance, exsposure, iso, etc. I've seen D3100's on sale for under $500.

True!

If you are camera shopping I’ll throw out the Canon S95. It is a point and shoot form-factor that will let you mess with all the settings like an SLR. AND it gives you hardware controls rather than having to dip into menus to do everything. ~$400.

[calculus]

Or a Canon Digital Rebel XT for under $200.

[calculus]

A technique you can use for uber lighting control, is to use only one light, and a tripod. Move the light, take a photo, move the light, etc. Combine afterwords in an additive manner. This lets you, if you feel like, light every surface in the scene exactly as you like.

For example, two ugly photos. This one, with an iPad lighting the foreground:



And this one, with the iPad lighting the background, and the scene from behind:


When combined (with a little touch ups), make:

[goshawn]

I just had a thought.

If any one is interested, I would be willing to do the photography bit for you. You just have to pay shipping to and from and I'll set up however many shots you want in my light tent with a background of your choice (white, black, red, blue), ship the mechs back to you, do the editing and Dropbox the pictures to you.

I know it might seem kind of silly to put the work in, but I understand the want to have great pictures of your creation and I will probably never design a great new frame design, so I would be happy to help in this way. Drop me a PM if you are interested.

[Ramcat]

calculus, that rocks!

[Joshua A.C. Newman]

My PowerShot gives you separate aperture and shutter speed control as well as manual focus (though it's hard to use). It's an amazing little camera. I got it for $250 a few years ago. I saw one at Radio Shack for a hundred bucks a year or two back.

It doesn't take a separate shutter control but I put it on a 1-second timer and that takes the shake out.

You mount an iPhone to a tripod for video. If I could use a separate shutter button (Griffin has promised one, but the total asscrap one I got at the Apple store should be grounds to sue) I'd use it for photos, too. I use an app called Camera+, which lets you set light/color and focus separately.