Setup for photography of completed builds

[hooterville75]

I'm currently looking for a better option for taking photos of completed builds or upgrading my current way. My first completed build I just used my cell phone to take the photos but came to see after posting in a thread the photos were TINY and resolution was a issue. I was going to get a digital camera from my mother for this but I don't have what I need to transfer the photos from the camera to the computer. Is there a way I can change the size of the files from the photos I take with my cell phone before I post them on here or would I need a resizing program to re size the photos before I post ? I'm also assuming that I need a bit more light when taking the photos as well ? Thanks in advance for any info or advice.

 

[Quaralane]

Most cameras come with the cable to do the transfer work these days.

As to the posting thing, I would post them someplace like Photobucket, Flickr, Imageshack, or others, then link to them.
That way, you can work with the full sized images

 

[hooterville75]

So if I continue to use my cell phone to take the photos and then upload them to per say Photo bucket, I could then re size the photo through that actual site itself ? I like that idea. To buy another camera Id like to be able to purchase a DSLR for taking photos at athletic events I attend but right now that's not in the budget ha ha. Anything I spend a great amount of money on in the real near future will be scale model building related ha ha.

 

[JMac]

Do a search for threads on the topic of photography Hooterville. I know that there are a few good ones kicking around already. Here's a link to one I had going a while back, some great advice from the other members.

http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/index.php/topic,3297.0.html

Hope this helps.

 

[hooterville75]

Thank You Sir!!!!!

 

[spud]

If the pictures are small and you make them bigger you will just make the pixels bigger and wont gain better pictures

Digital cameras all use some kind of USB to transfer files

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

I bought a $300.00 Kodak point and shoot years ago and with the right lighting and photo editing software I can get magazine quality photos. When I had problems with it, I bought a refurbished one off ebay for about $60.00 and have been using it ever since for the same purpose.

 

[hooterville75]

I guess sometimes cheaper is better. Ill have to get the camera and just buy the additional cord I need to transfer the photos to my laptop.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Does your laptop have a slot for a memory card?

That's what I do, simply put the memory card into my 'puter and go from there, no cables required.

 

[Holden]

Most compact digital cameras come with the USB cord to download to the computer. Even the cheaper ones do, my old DXG 552 is about as cheap as you can get and it came with softwear and a USB cord.

 

[Ian]

A dedicated digital camera will take much better pictures than your phone. Make sure the lighting is bright and even - a basic desk lamp would work - and put the model on a plain background.

This recent shot is just lit from above, on some basic white card stock. It could use a little fill on the left side however to soften those shadows.

 

[hooterville75]

Im getting the digital camera from my mother as she got a new one and is giving me her older camera but has misplaced the cord. I have a sd card Mr. Abrams if that's what your talking about. If so then that's super, I can just use the card like your saying. I'm unaware of how to use the card though because I don't believe that my laptop has a card reader ? Ill have my wife take a look at the camera and see what she recomends because shes the computer tech brains of the family ha ha.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

I have a sd card Mr. Abrams if that's what your talking about.

Yes, that's what I use. My PC has a slot right on the face and I just go from the camera to the 'puter and back etc.

...and please, call me Ken.

 

[hooterville75]

You got it Ken ;D I have a Compaq Walmart jobby laptop that was on sale here about four or so years ago on Black Friday ha ha. The oil must have came from my latex glove I was wearing because I washed the entire kit in warm soapy water before I gave it the primer coats. The Primer took to the model perfectly. I could have gotten something on the glove though. Ill see what I can do to correct it, Im hoping that its gone when I return to work on it some more ha ha. That would be ideal.

 

[the Baron]

I use a Nikon Coolpix for my photos, which I download to my computer and then edit using Microsoft Paint. The camera is designed for general use, but it takes decent pictures of miniatures and is easy to use. MS Paint comes with Windows, so it's free, and it's also basic and easy to use.

I've picked up a habit of cropping my images in Paint, to remove the dead space around them, and then resizing to 1000 pixels at either the horizontal or vertical dimension. I started doing this, because a lot of forums that I belong to have size limits on photos to upload.

Once I have the photo finished the way I want, I upload them to a photo hosting website, Photobucket. There are various such sites, that allow you to store your images free of charge (up to a certain amount of space, at which point they will ask you to become a paying customer). The advantage of using such sites is that they automatically generate the links that you can use to make your photo available in a post in the forum, instead of attaching the photo to your post. Attachments may be limited because of size, but a link is a link back to the photo stored on the photo hosting site. Here is an example of a linked image:



If you click Quote to my post, you will see the text of the link to the photo.

That might all sound pretty technical or involved, but it's a pretty simple process, once you step through it.

Hope that all helps!

 

[hooterville75]

Thanks, nice build by the way.

 

[Ian]

I have a sd card Mr. Abrams if that's what your talking about. If so then that's super, I can just use the card like your saying.

Another option that I use is a simple card reader that plugs into your USB port.

http://amzn.to/NHi51O