About indoor shooting

[rysouke]

I also do alot of indoor shooting...and plan to get some nice backdrop and is there any smaller version of backdrop available in this market??? As 3m x 6m seem so big...

And what does soft box use for?

And also when i am doing some indoor shooting for figurine...and i dont wish to on my flash therefore i am using Av mode to shoot...and i have gotten the right exposure even though my shutter speed when too slow..and i just compensate it using a tripod..but i always got problem catching its eyes..and it always look so dark when the picture is out...only when flash is on..then the eyes can be seen but it will be too bright and not nice...so anyway to solve this?? And why is that so?

 

[android17]

Set spot metering, and lock exposure to the figurine's eye before u compose ur shot. U can also increase ur exposure compensation if u find ur picture too dark. But locking meter from ur figurine's eye should be sufficient.

Also I prefer to use manual focus when photographing figurines. Just my personal preference though.

 

[rysouke]

Set spot metering, and lock exposure to the figurine's eye before u compose ur shot. U can also increase ur exposure compensation if u find ur picture too dark. But locking meter from ur figurine's eye should be sufficient.

Also I prefer to use manual focus when photographing figurines. Just my personal preference though.

Ok i will give it a try to see how is the result...and for the lock exposure do u mean using AE lock??

 

[android17]

Ok i will give it a try to see how is the result...and for the lock exposure do u mean using AE lock??

Yup the ae lock. That function is for accurately getting the right exposure of a specific area of ur subject prior to composing ur picture. Very useful when u wanna get a spot exposed correctly.

 

[android17]

come to think of it, shouldnt lock exposure to the figurine's eye (if its having black eyes), should lock to the face instead.

Cameras tends to overexpose when the auto exposure is metering off a very dark colour, and similarly it will underexpose when metered off a very light colour. Thus its generally not a good idea to meter off black or white (unless u wanna compensate for it). So metering off the face should be good enough.

Try it out and see which is best for you.

 

[rysouke]

come to think of it, shouldnt lock exposure to the figurine's eye (if its having black eyes), should lock to the face instead.

Cameras tends to overexpose when the auto exposure is metering off a very dark colour, and similarly it will underexpose when metered off a very light colour. Thus its generally not a good idea to meter off black or white (unless u wanna compensate for it). So metering off the face should be good enough.

Try it out and see which is best for you.

I have tried spot metering and locked the exposure at its eyes and face..as my camera(eos 500d) have the 9 pt in the viewfinder..and when using manual focusing, i can only lock the figurine face at center pt..however its eyes still dark....

the figurine not very big nor small..and the eyes pretty small and lock face or eyes...the center pt cover all...but the result still the same...

 

[android17]

canon's metering is taken off the center af point (unlike nikon's metering, which follows their af point), so it doesnt matter which af point u use as long as u correctly locked the exposure.

Im not sure how canon's AEL works. For my Sony Alpha, i can set my AEL between toggle (press once and it will lock) as well as hold (press and hold the AEL button to lock metering, but once u let go, the AEL is gone).

So need to check how ur canon AEL works. Is it a toggle (press AEL once and it remembers ur meter) or hold (press and hold AEL button, once u let go its gone). Im guessing Canon should be like my Sony, having the option to use toggle or hold AEL. If ur camera's AEL is set to hold, then it explans why ur metering is still wrong (cos u let go).

Try looking thru ur camera settings and check to see if there's any options for AEL. If its like what I mentioned, set it to toggle mode. If there's no option to choose, then it might be the Hold mode. In such case, u will need to focus the center af point onto ur figurine's face, press AEL and hold it (dont let go), then recompose ur shot and half shutter to focus.

 

[rysouke]

canon's metering is taken off the center af point (unlike nikon's metering, which follows their af point), so it doesnt matter which af point u use as long as u correctly locked the exposure.

Im not sure how canon's AEL works. For my Sony Alpha, i can set my AEL between toggle (press once and it will lock) as well as hold (press and hold the AEL button to lock metering, but once u let go, the AEL is gone).

So need to check how ur canon AEL works. Is it a toggle (press AEL once and it remembers ur meter) or hold (press and hold AEL button, once u let go its gone). Im guessing Canon should be like my Sony, having the option to use toggle or hold AEL. If ur camera's AEL is set to hold, then it explans why ur metering is still wrong (cos u let go).

Try looking thru ur camera settings and check to see if there's any options for AEL. If its like what I mentioned, set it to toggle mode. If there's no option to choose, then it might be the Hold mode. In such case, u will need to focus the center af point onto ur figurine's face, press AEL and hold it (dont let go), then recompose ur shot and half shutter to focus.

I have checked the manual book, for autofocus, i can manually select my focus pt but for manual focus i can only do it at the center pt...and to lock the exposure i just click the AE button to lock it...but i will have to press the shutter release halfway..to determine the focus pt & exposure then press the AE button on the camera it will lock it.

As what i understand...if i use auto focus mode..i can select any pt..and once it blink in red ..i just lock it..but still cant get the result...maybe the eyes really too small and need abit more lighting on too its face....

 

[J-Chan]

actually, if you want backdrops for your figurines you can try Popular or art shops for textured/art paper, A3 or bigger should be enough.

A softbox as its name implies, is a box with diffusion material that the flash fires into creates softer light. If you can get your flash off cam, you can fashion one out of a shoebox. Its the apparent size that matters, so you really don't need those huge 1m+ kinds. So in short, small models you just need to get small backdrop and small softbox.

This thread should give you some inspiration for your figurine shots. http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=591586

 

[rysouke]

actually, if you want backdrops for your figurines you can try Popular or art shops for textured/art paper, A3 or bigger should be enough.

A softbox as its name implies, is a box with diffusion material that the flash fires into creates softer light. If you can get your flash off cam, you can fashion one out of a shoebox. Its the apparent size that matters, so you really don't need those huge 1m+ kinds. So in short, small models you just need to get small backdrop and small softbox.

This thread should give you some inspiration for your figurine shots. http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=591586

Thank for the idea and providing me the link that help alot...btw backdrop is it made of normal cloth or does it make of special cloth that got effect when shooting?? Out of a shotbox mean??