I am constantly working on improving my photos. I asked a couple of people, who had really nice photos, about their lighting. Both mentioned "Daylight" bulbs. I finally bought a couple yesterday from Home Depot, and I can't wait to shoot a video with them. I did a couple test shots and here are the results. By the way, I bought 100 watt flourescent daylight bulbs. Make sure your lamp can handle 100 watt. You could probably get away with a lower wattage.
With the camera on the proper settings, I had to do very little photoediting to these photos. They could use a little more tweaking, but all in all, I am happy with them. This was taken with just one lamp, whereas I normally I have to use 2-3 lamps for even something as small as this.
It is very important to have your camera setup correctly prior to taking pictures. I haven't used the auto setting on my camera for quite some time now. I played around with the (P)rogram button on my camera awhile ago, and was happy to have more control over how the pictures were turning out. Of course, the more I experiment, the better I get. Last night I took the shot below with the same lighting as above, and look what happened.
This is a case of incorrect camera setting. On most cameras there is a "White Balance" setup. In the program mode, you may have different choices, such as flourescent, tungsten, daylight, open shade, etc. My camera was set on tungsten, prior to taking this picture. As I mentioned above, I was using flourescent light bulbs. I changed my camera setting to flourescent and here is the result. No photoediting was done to either photo.
Of course, if you choose to use the Automatic setting on your camera, the daylight bulbs will still make a huge difference.
P.S. This is the second post of the day. You can see the first post here.
Thanks for this info. I'm lazy and usually leave my camera on automatic setting. I use a 3-lamp pole light when taking photos but usually only one light along with the overhead room light. I'll buy some 60-watt daylight bulbs to see if they improve the lighting with the automatic setting. But I really need a new camera and while at it, I need a new computer, too.
ReplyDeletedbg
DBG - I need a new camera, too. My camera is only about 16 months old, but it experienced a battery issue just out of warranty. The battery will not stay in the camera, so I have to keep it plugged in when shooting. Talk about a pain. Of course the camera is not made to be plugged in all the time, so the plug frequently falls out and I have to turn the camera back on regularly. I don't complain though. I just do what I have to do and just try to laugh about it. As we can see, it hasn't stopped me from producing videos and taking pictures, which is the important part. I have been researching about cameras and I have learned some major differences to consider when buying my next one. I want to make sure I get one that has the features I need. There is this wonderful sight that compares all the camera features. When I find where I put the link, I will do a post about it.
ReplyDelete16 months old and the batteries won't stay in? That had/has to be painful. But yep, you've dealt with it beautifully.
ReplyDeletePlease do share the camera comparison link when you find it. I don't plan to upgrade anything (computer or camera) until after my second born returns at the end of this month.