No, it's not my eyes, it's your picture
Jul. 3rd, 2008 06:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdymonkeyYou're proud of your [unnamed, undescribed item to protect the guilty parties]. You slaved over it for [insert period of time here] and you can't wait for people to see it.
I'm happy for you. Really. I get it. I like showing off my work too.
But why do I feel like I'm trying to look at it through the side of a dirty fish tank? After wiping dust off my monitor? And putting on my reading glasses? And taking off my reading glasses again? And squinting. And rubbing my eyes.
Seriously, if you want to display your work, a dingy cell-cam photo shot in a dark bedroom isn't the best way to do it.
Here are some easy tips for taking a picture. These are pretty much the ones I posted when I was soliciting photos for the Samurai Eye project:
1. Natural light trumps flash. Flash trumps the inside of an old boot. If the camera can't see it well enough to register an image, neither can anyone else. At least turn on a lamp or something!
Compare inside with good afternoon light and some judicious cropping vs. flash-only and no cropping. (See, I'm not perfect either!)
2. An uncluttered background will not detract attention from your Magnificent Thingy. Even if you're shooting in your work space at a work in progress, try to clear the immediate surroundings or crop your photo. (Can you tell how much other crap was on the counter from this picture or are you too busy looking at my work?)
3. If you've done more than three camera-in-the-bathroom mirror photos and posted them on the web, think about investing in a tripod. I got a decent one for about $20. Both the shots of me in #1 were taken with a self timer and a tripod. Practice setting up and framing your shots by figuring out reference points in your background to help you find an angle that will make you look good. Again, the blue yukata shot is better than the white Regency because I rushed the pics of the Regency and didn't take the time to set up the camera a bit better.
I'm happy for you. Really. I get it. I like showing off my work too.
But why do I feel like I'm trying to look at it through the side of a dirty fish tank? After wiping dust off my monitor? And putting on my reading glasses? And taking off my reading glasses again? And squinting. And rubbing my eyes.
Seriously, if you want to display your work, a dingy cell-cam photo shot in a dark bedroom isn't the best way to do it.
Here are some easy tips for taking a picture. These are pretty much the ones I posted when I was soliciting photos for the Samurai Eye project:
1. Natural light trumps flash. Flash trumps the inside of an old boot. If the camera can't see it well enough to register an image, neither can anyone else. At least turn on a lamp or something!
Compare inside with good afternoon light and some judicious cropping vs. flash-only and no cropping. (See, I'm not perfect either!)
2. An uncluttered background will not detract attention from your Magnificent Thingy. Even if you're shooting in your work space at a work in progress, try to clear the immediate surroundings or crop your photo. (Can you tell how much other crap was on the counter from this picture or are you too busy looking at my work?)
3. If you've done more than three camera-in-the-bathroom mirror photos and posted them on the web, think about investing in a tripod. I got a decent one for about $20. Both the shots of me in #1 were taken with a self timer and a tripod. Practice setting up and framing your shots by figuring out reference points in your background to help you find an angle that will make you look good. Again, the blue yukata shot is better than the white Regency because I rushed the pics of the Regency and didn't take the time to set up the camera a bit better.
