[R-390] photo taking

[Mike Andrews W5EGO]

On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 04:07:26PM -0500, 2002tii wrote:
> 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.

Years and years ago, there was an article in PopTronics about taking
really, really good pix of electronics. The author illustrated it with
photos of his homebrew stuff.

His technique involved stopping the lens way down, opening the shutter, 
and moving a light around, so that shadows were eliminated and the      
innards were illuminated evenly, and produced by far the best images    
I've ever seen of electronics.                                          

Obviously, it's going to be cut-and-try for at least the first few 
tries, until one comes up with some idea of how much time is needed to
get a good image. 

-- 
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea at mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin