posted
Gotta take a picture before sending out that panel. These days it seems like outside it's either too bright (sun and snow) or too dark when it's cloudy. With the flash indoors I always seem to get a glare that pretty well ruins the picture. Conventional camera. Do you have any good advice or tricks? Thanks.
posted
Just get at an angle to the subject so the relection doesn't come back into your camera lense.
A trick to determining that would be to hold a flashlight in the same position you hold the camera if you see a reflection the camera will too...just move around til you get no reflection then shoot the picture from there.
Sound simple? ...it is.
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
posted
I do like Monte said. I use a kodak digital to take pics inside,and always step a little to the side so the direct light of the flash doesnt glare off of the sign. It works great that way.
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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posted
Take the panel to Wall-Mart. Let them take the picture in their kid picture area. Probably costs a whole 8 bucks...less tha a roll of film and devleoping.
[ January 26, 2003, 11:38 PM: Message edited by: Dave Draper ]
posted
I took a whole roll of film of my panel ... step 1 up through a dozen of finished panel ... not 1 decent picture in the bunch. A couple good enough for a step/by but all the finished pics sucked. And dufus me shipped the panel before developing the film. My panel was all curvy like so there was no good angel. Luckily I got some good digitals by taking them outside in a not too sunny spot.
Develope your film before you ship if you want to make sure.
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
If you use a SLR camera, get a polarising filter. I took several picture of my windows (painted by the inside) and it works perfect. On other hands, I think that the use of flat colors is the way to go since the glare does'nt distract the eyes from the beauty of the signs.
-------------------- Pierre Tardif P. Tardif Inc. 1006 boul. PIE-XI sud Val-Belair QC. Canada G3K 1L2 418-847-4089 pierre@ptardif.com Posts: 800 | From: Quebec city | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Thank you all. I will try to shoot it from an angle, maybe add some extra indirect light? What is an SLR camera? And Duncan, I do not "frown", I look "rather displeased"
if the flash is built into the camera you will need to rig up a deflector. Use some white posterboard or note card and tape it to the camera under the flash in such a way the light is bounced upwards just slightly so it doesnt hit the panel directly. Then you can use another piece of posterboard above the "flash deflector" and angled so it reflects the light back onto the panel.
I use methods similar to this to shoot photography for my dad's jewelry business, except instead of using flash, I put the jewelry on a black card stock and set that down on my light table then use white posterboard to bounce the light from the light table back down onto the jewelry. This makes for shadow-free, glare-free shots which is extremely difficult with highly polished jewelry. I shoot these in digital and produce higher quality images than his previous photographer (an advertising firm) could ever achieve.
Shooting on cloudy days and in shady spots or early morning and at dusk are good times for even lighting if you want to shoot outside (less effort and headache).
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
I always take the pictures in a shaded area, under some trees, in our country, anyway. Also i tip the top of the panel forward to take the glare out of the finish too. Hope this helps, and i also use 200 film in my pentax
-------------------- Mike Norcross Mikes Signs and Graphics Box 1232 172 adams street Afton, Wyoming 83110 Posts: 82 | From: Afton, Wyoming | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
I thought an SLR WAS a conventional camera.
SLR is Single Lens Reflex. When you look through the viewfinder, you're actually looking through the lens which captures the picture. This differs from a rangefinder type camera, like most of your "point n shoot"s, which frame your intended picture through a separate lens; which seldom lines up with the real lens. When you trip the shutter & before the curtains (shutter curtains) actually move, a mirror angled to deflect the image upward into the viewfinder, lifts up out of the way to allow clear view from the lens to the film. Once the curtains open & close to capture the pic, then the mirror drops back down into its original place.
The best way to eliminate glare is to take pictures without a flash. With an SLR you can set the shutter speed slower. I've taken great pictures with the speed at 1/30th & even 1/8th of a second. In order to do that, you must keep the camera steady. Try not to breathe while taking the picture. If you must, then try after you exhale. Or, use a tripod & a shutter release cable. Morning light (if available) seems to work best. As others have stated, be aware of the glare & try to avoid it. Sometimes some glares just can't be avoided. A polarizing filter might solve the problem but be aware, it might also require longer exposure. Also with an SLR, you can adjust the F-stop. & you'll need a "working" exposure meter.
If using a "point n shoot" (which has auto exposure), turn off the flash, hold it steady & shoot. The auto setting should adjust the shutter speed automatically. But you still might have to use a tripod anyway. If your camera has a remote, that also might help.
Good luck,
-------------------- Bill Cosharek Bill Cosharek Signs N.Huntingdon,Pa
bcosharek@juno.com Posts: 705 | From: N.Huntingdon, Pa, USA | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Might not work for something like this as I don't knoe how well you could remove it But you can kill some glare with hairspray, It's clear but matt. You can also buy expensive stuff for the same thing.
-------------------- Mike Pulskamp Pulskamp Arts Sacramento, CA mpulskamp@earthlink.net Posts: 165 | From: Sacramento, CA | Registered: Dec 2002
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