Photography help

I've noticed that the photos here are quite high quality. At the moment I'm using my cell phone and I am not happy with the results. Hand shake being a major problem for me. What kind of camera do you use? I have an old Canon film camera with the macro lenses that I'm sure could transfer to a digital camera. Thanks

I use my phone for quite a few, but if I want to take better ones, I have a Nikon SLR 3500 digital camera with a number of different lenses — though most of the time, I’m too damn lazy to change them out, and I don’t have any decent lights to make the kind of quality shots that many do here.

I'm not really the best person to ask, but here it goes anyway. While I bought a couple of nice (at the time) Nikon digital cameras a few years ago, I am usually too lazy to dig them out and then transfer to computer, etc., so I've been using my phone's camera for years. Apart from camera quality, which may or may not be an issue, I suspect lighting may have an impact. Try getting one or two task lights with bendy necks or otherwise with adjustable height and bulb angle, maybe something where you can toggle between light intensity.

Answers will vary, as the photography interests and skills on this board range from simple phone cameras to much more professional equipment, depending on the person. ; ) 

As for myself, I'm stuck using an old phone camera at the moment, and one with a scratched lense to boot, so I'm likewise probably not much help when it comes to photography advice. I do agree with GF though that good lighting, whether natural or artificial, can make a dramatic difference in the overall 'quality' of a photo. I tend to prefer natural daylight, since it's the only decent light source at my disposal. Others here will no doubt have much better advice when it comes to equipment and lighting, though. : ) 

Re: the hand shaking issue, it can indeed be difficult to hold steady enough for such small detail, especially if the lighting is not great. One thing you could look into is if there is a phone tripod that would be compatible with whatever phone you are already using.

Oh I meant to comment on hand shaking, but forgot. Yes, that will be a major problem. If you are taking photos of figures you have on a desk or table, try supporting some part of your hand(s) on the surface -- this can eliminate or largely reduce the effect of shaking. Or make sure the bottom edge of the camera (horizontally or vertically) is resting on the surface while you are gently pressing the button. You can also use a makeshift platform (box, book, whatever) if that helps.

Thanks these are all good tips. I'm working on a really restricted budget at the moment. I may end up taking out my old tripod and duct taping the phone to it and monkeying around with different lights. Neither my eyesight or my hands are what they used to be.

drachenkinder wrote:Thanks these are all good tips. I'm working on a really restricted budget at the moment. I may end up taking out my old tripod and duct taping the phone to it and monkeying around with different lights. Neither my eyesight or my hands are what they used to be.

Welcome to the club.

I was trained in a professional photography school, so let me give you my two cents worth. First off, you can shoot rather excellent photos with almost any digital camera these days, however you will find it easiest if you get yourself a DLSR. The reason is that the best photos usually require you taking control of your camera rather than letting it make most of the decisions for you.  You can do this with a lot of non DSLR types too, but the controls are so small as to be difficult and irritating to use, making it time consuming to change any setting.

Finally, about blurriness in the images.  This can be caused by two things; one is being out of focus, the other is camera shake while you are shooting. The one we are concerned with here is camera shake. Camera shake is a completely normal result of the camera moving slightly as we release the shutter. The longer the shutter opening, the more likely you will have camera shake. Whether you are using a phone to shoot your photos, or a $3000.00 plus pro camera like mine, you can have blurry photos due to camera shake.  The solutions to this are:

1. Shoot using flash, allowing you to use higher shutter speeds.
2. Shoot at higher ISO allowing you use higher shutter speeds.
3. Use a tripod and shutter release.

Guess which option all first year photo students are taught to use first.  Hint; it's number 3. The tripod and shutter release is the easiest and easiest way to get consistently sharp images, no matter what your lighting situation since you can use whatever shutter opening you need to get the right amount of light in. In addition to this, if you do multiple takes of the same shot, bracketing your exposures, the tripod is the ONLY way to make sure that the framing will be the same in every shot. Do NOT scrimp and buy a cheap plastic tripod! They are worth nothing and will break very easily. If you are serious, get yourself a quality tripod like a Manfrotto (known as "Bogen" in the USA) and you will never regret it.


Of equal, perhaps greater importance is your lens. Your macro lens will be next to useless here. They are awesome for shooting photos of insects and so on, but if you try to use it for your 1/6 scale figures, you will find only the portion of the figure you focus on to be in clear, sharp focus and the rest will be out of focus.  Moreover, if you buy a new DSLR, even a consumer model, they are often sold as kits, usually with an inexpensive zoom lens, which while it may not meet pro standards, will still deliver fantastic clarity.

Finally, a word about megapixels. Don't get fooled by MP counts. When I started my photo training, the best pro DSLR's were at 12MP's and the average consumer DSLR was at 6MP. Today, I shoot with a 36MP camera that's already 7 years old because I have no need to move beyond that. Most consumer DSLR's today are 24MP or higher which is twice what pro cameras had available in 2006. Unless you are printing images that will be blown up to very large sizes, you get nothing from this surplus in MP's. Most of your photos will be posted to the internet at 72 or 96 PPI and you will get nothing for the money spent going to huge pixel counts. I print photos and print big, so the pixel count matter to me. But I also use lenses that cost more than most people pay for camera and lens put together. Don't base your choices on my needs; base them on yours.

Finally, be aware that there are several critical decision essential to good photography that no camera can make for you, no matter how sophisticated.

1. Where to position the camera?
2. What is the subject of the photo?
3. How to frame the photo?
4. What elements should be in focus, and what elements should be out of focus?
5. When should you release the shutter?

Kamiko Observes by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Any modern DSLR, including a pre-owned one will deliver excellent results if you pair it up a with a decent lens, good lighting, and a bit of skill.

I get around camera shake with timer delay for 3s. Set up the camera/phone (ideally with tripod), press button, then leave well alone. No camera shake, and unlike people, no danger of your figure fidgeting and getting bored waiting 3s.

The only tip I have is to use natural light. I tried all kinds of cameras and settings and lighting inside but I was never happy with the results. Now I shoot in a covered area outside and even the photos taken with my phone are good.

I think the biggest error most people make is not enough light or too dark background without consideration of the result if you do it handheld.

If you want to photograph a thing in front of a rather dark background, the camera sees all the dark parts on its metering system and thinks "Oh I either need flash" or "oh better use a longer exposure time to make it look brighter." But longer exposure time = longer steady hand needed = easier to blur because of shakes. Best case is using a mini tripod, there are cheap ones on amazon or ebay for smartphones. 5-20 euro.

Even better when you combine it with small bright lights from the side or angle. Makes the figure looking more interesting and not so flat.

And yes, using a cheap used DSLR with a good lense is best budget option imo.

Hi, love to see you join this figure family!!! Since you got so many valuable advises, I just emphasize their tips that I think might helps you...

I don't really use a phone to take photos but I still don't recommend you buy a camera just for fun or post your picture here, because that is a kind of huge investment if you go deeper and deeper. But unless you plan to start to go into photography and your wallet doesn't stress that, then buy a camera and have fun wise



Your phone tends to keep lighting situation balance even your room is not enough light, that will sacrifice your shutter speed and you will get blurry images even you breathing, because your phone keeps taking movements until the photo gets enough "brightness", that is why your picture blur.

So the fastest way to get rid of that is putting your figure under the ceiling light, or near there, then put your phone to something can hold it, as they mentioned, then touch your phone focus point to the figure face/ or the thing you want. And the last thing, zoom a little bit before taking the picture, because the phone camera is really wide and you will distort the figure, zoom a little bit and make sure the figure fits center of the image, you can always crop afterward.....      And don't forger set up a 2 seconds or 10 seconds shooting delay mode, so your hands don't create shaking problems

And of course, we keep mention lighting is one of the most important things in this game, you can experiment with your current stuff, like a torch, old phone led light etc....it all depends on your taste...



Here are some samples from my phone (above) and camera (below)




Enjoy your figure life...

drachenkinder, do you have an iphone or is it a samsung? Also do you have a Harbor Freight in your area? The switch light is very good and portable. They do have the mini tripods at BestBuy and Walmart. For shaky hands, have you tried those VR guns that you attach the phone. You could set the timer on the phone and just point.

I use my phone with a tripod and headphones with a volume control as a shutter release when I shoot my stopmotions. You can get phone tripods super duper cheap and they’re pretty stable! I like the ones with bendy legs so you have more flexibility.

For most of my ‘good’ photos I use a DSLR, using a tripod when I shoot indoors.