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Jedi Ranger
12-22-2005, 12:20 AM
Okay, first let me make perfectly clear that I am most definately NOT a professional photographer.

Now then.........

As more and more people purchase/upgrade to digital cameras, they often underestimate how different the picture-taking process can be. They often fail to read the entire manual, or just dont' practice using the feature on their camera. Anyway, here we will discuss tips on photographing our lightsabers.

The biggest topic containing photos, is about the hilts. There are plenty of blade picture around, but not a lot to experiment and customize with. So no great need to show off blades.

For photographing your hilts, there are several MUSTS.

1) Lighting is crucial. Natural light is always better than a flash, or other artificial light. Digital cameras have automatic and manual settings for color balance. Most newer ones are fine when left on manual. Anyway, always have the subject well lit. Try to have a contrasting background. Chrome does not turn out very well on a very dark or very light background. Try to find something that will not blend in with the reflections.

2) Close up photos are best for showing off the details, but here is where many people mess up. All digital cameras (at least from the last 3 years) have two obvious modes. There is a basic standard normal mode, and there is a close-up mode. DO NOT USE ZOOM. The close up mode will usually look like a flower. This mode is used when taking pictures about 30cm, or 12inches, away. This mode is great for partial hilt pictures (pommel or emitter ends - one at a time).

3) Posting - I recommend resizing AND cropping your pics down to at least 1024x768, maybe even 800x600. This will help in speeding up the topic page loading. Feel free to LINK to larger resolutions. Cropping the pic will allow for a large image of the hilt itself, while eliminating the wasted space (background).

If you need a program to do these things for you, IrfaView is FREE, and supports nearly EVERY image type.

I hope people use this. Let's show off our work (and other's) as best as we can. If there are questions, post them, and I will do my best to answer them. I'm sure I'm not the only one around here that could answer, though.

Don't be afraid to practise, and good luck.

*********************************
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informalmyx
12-22-2005, 06:40 AM
i would also say get a simple background maybe lay it on a pillowso you background doesnt mess with the focus of the picture

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xwingband
12-22-2005, 12:00 PM
Yes, for a simple background go to a fabric store or Wal-mart and buy a cheap fabric that is a neutral color. Use this to lay on something to photograph your sabers. It's better to have a nice background if you ever happen to want to sell your saber and we don't want to see the junk on your workbench.

For taking pictures of your blades lit up you will have experiment with the flash and exposure levels of your camera. Flash will almost always kill the look of the blade. I find turning up the exposure 1 notch and flash off will get the most accurate look of the blade.

Exposure explaination: Exposure is the amount of time the apeture (opening) of the shutter on your camera is open. The longer it is open the more light is allowed to enter your camera and register on the image sensor inside.

If you mess around with exposure settings know that the chances of the image blurring are greater. The more the shutter is open the more of a chance it will catch you wobling. A tripod is great but simply bracing your arm or camera may be all you need.

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Photo editing with a program:
As Jedi Ranger already mentioned. Resizing helps it show better on our screens and make it so it doesn't take a minute for someone on dial-up to see it. Changing your image size will most likely be under edit and image size. If you have a save for web feature on your program use it.

800x600 is good as mentioned but almost as important is resolution. Most new cameras will save at some resolution 300+ which is great for if you want to blow an image up but not for viewing on the web. Monitors go at 72 pixels per inch so any more than that is overkill.

I haven't used IrfaView but another free program is GIMP. It's an open-source program that has many of the advanced features as pay programs. If your interested in paying for a program Adobe Photoshop is the holy grail of programs but costs out the wazoo. PhotoImpact is another notable program too.

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Mi Gin Gonn
12-22-2005, 05:37 PM
One more thing---I've posted this elsewhere so if you've read it already my apoligies---a slow shutter speed can give you a nice movie-like blade if both camera and subject can hold still enough. That's how I was able to get that top green saber pic that's on the hilt thread.

Also, I haven't tried this yet but it's a cool idea I think---if you're doing the classic "X" clash pose of two sabers, having a third person hold a flashlight where the blades crisscross should give a nice clash-flash effect if it's aimed at the camera lens. Just make sure that your flashlight holder is disguised enough to not show in the pic, and that the flashlight is just above or below the polycarbonate saber blades (it'll look close enough in the pic, but won't make the blades physically silhouette).

Hope you guys like my ideas, happy holidays all. [:)]

"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

scaloth
12-22-2005, 05:47 PM
speaking of photographing lightsabers.....does anyone have a picture of an LED saber with a red blade? i looked on the gallery and wasn't sure if the one red saber there was an LED or an EL. i'm thinking of making my next saber LED but i don't want to attempt it if the best "red" i'll get is just as orange as it is red.

Mi Gin Gonn
12-22-2005, 08:51 PM
scaloth-i think there's some pictures over on the jedi council led blade forum. from what i understand, amber and red-orange LEDs are orange and orange-ish red respectively, but red is just as red as it can be.

btw, i forgot, some digital cameras have a setting for "night flash", which looks great for saber pics taken outdoors at night. that's what the person who took my outdoor pics used, i think they came out pretty good.



"Chaka, call off Dawson, will ya?!"

LAN-ED-TUL
12-22-2005, 10:28 PM
yes scaloth i posted my newest creation a heiland synchronar converted to darth vader ANH with a red/orange 3 watt star in it along with a sound board/ i posted pics of the blade and the hilt in a seperate post folling the blade pics. theyre in the post your pics section.

GeluKhanGharr
12-24-2005, 01:36 PM
scaloth, the red Luxeon led is the same color as the MR Vaders. Usualy they come out orangy looking in pictures, but not to the naked eye.
Here is a good example with comparisson pics between the two:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6590184016&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESO%3AIT&rd=1

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JediSaberSmith
12-26-2005, 03:26 AM
He is a comp pick of a red-orange LED next to a Vader FX.

http://www.jedisabersmith.com/led.html

JediSaberSmith
An Elegant Weapon From A More Civilized Age

Darth Poo Head
07-10-2006, 10:22 AM
thanks for posting that link J.S.S. I've been wantign to see a side by side comparison of the red / amber like that.


It's not the Jedi way....
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LizardJedi
07-10-2006, 11:28 PM
I'd like to echo what xwing said.
Persornally, I learned my photo tricks with an old-schoo film camera with no flash. This has gotten me to the point where I almost never use a flash.

So, if you want a nice picture of the blade lit up, put the shutter speed (probably known as exposure speed) a little slower than normal. If you have a light meter, and know how to use it, use it! (then again, if you do, you probably already know this info)
Tripods are best, but if you don't have one, here are some other alternatives:
Shoebox-stair case. Basically, put some fabric down (unless you have really clean carpeting) and put the saber down on top. Get a shoebox, or something similar, and just use that as the camera's own tripod.
Now, if you want to have a picture of you holding the saber, like, next to your face or something, get another shoebox thing, and stand them up in a kind of staircase array. This way you can angle up the lens (this is when it pays to have a camera with a non-digital viewfinder). If you want to look really tall, put this setup on the floor. If you want a more head-on view, put the setup on something resembling a table.
This can also obviously work for pictures of just the hilt, so you don't get any nasty lens flare whiting out the shot.

This was also mentioned, but if you don't have a photo-editing program, you may want to play with your lighting settings on your camera. Every brand is different, but basically, realize that flourescent lights will sometimes cast a bluish-tint, while incandescent lights will almost always put an orangish-yellowy tint. Outside may be your best bet, but even then, the contrast may be off. There are normally settings on the camera that will compensate for these things. Each one is different, so read the manual!

As for photo editing... if you want free, GIMP is the way to go. If you want to pay a little more, Photoshop Elements is a lot cheaper than real Photoshop, and has most of what you would need for basic photomanipualtion, and editing. Also, there is sometimes free-trial versions of Paint Shop Pro that can be handy.

LAN-ED-TUL
07-10-2006, 11:29 PM
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by scaloth

speaking of photographing lightsabers.....does anyone have a picture of an LED saber with a red blade? i looked on the gallery and wasn't sure if the one red saber there was an LED or an EL. i'm thinking of making my next saber LED but i don't want to attempt it if the best "red" i'll get is just as orange as it is red.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

i think i posted the mr vader converted, but maybe i didnt i dont remember .

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Lan-Ed-Tul
The Brotherhood Of The Sith

You dont know the POWER, of the dark side...