[R-390] photo taking

2002tii bmw2002tii at nerdshack.com
Sun Nov 30 16:07:26 EST 2008


george wrote:

>Two simple things to remember of do when taking chassis photos- pay 
>attention to the reflection of the flash.  Shoot from an angle so 
>the flash reflection goes off somewhere else besides back into the 
>camera lens.  Better yet,  for closeups, get an LED ring 
>flash.  Mounts on the lens and then you have NO shadows.

Even with a ring flash, you need to watch out for specular 
reflections from surfaces perpendicular to the camera axis.

Another technique that works very well is bounce flash, if you have a 
white ceiling (the flash is pointed up at the ceiling and gives a 
very diffuse, even light that tends to fill in shadow areas and 
prevent reflection problems).  It took some experimentation and 
figuring back in the Bad Old Days, but with today's flash 
autoexposure systems, it is very easy.  Even many point-and-shoot 
cameras with built-in flashes will do it, if you put a 45-degree 
reflector in front of the flash to redirect the light upwards. It 
doesn't need to be an optical mirror -- a piece of bent pie tin, or 
even a white card work fine.  (You lose enough light that, with a 
low-power internal flash, it only works for close subjects -- up to 
5' or so.)  If you want to get really fancy, you can experiment with 
different weights of white paper to get some diffused direct flash 
(through the card) and some ceiling bounce to fill the remaining 
shadows.  I made a bent wire frame that clips over my point-and-shoot 
and holds one or two layers of tissue paper in the appropriate position.

Best regards,

Don





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