Model Photography

Hey I am new here , been on a couple of weeks. I did a search in the how tos on Photography but didn't find anything. Anyone know of any previous threads?
Well if one doesn't exist it should, some of the posted pics on here look like there was vaseline on the lens.
Its kinda funny when the posted message says " Tell me what you think? " or " Check this out" and the pic is so bad you can't even tell what model it is.

I was thinking the same thing...

I've been shopping for a new/used digital camera and have been wondering what cameras people are using.

:tongue:

This help??

How can I take pictures of my models? (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=579019#post579019)

Cool, thats what I was looking for. I just wanted to reference it when I have to look at one of those pics that make me think I need new glasses.

Dont know if people want suggestions on cameras, but I'll go ahead and list mine. I just bought a Kodak DX6340 3.1 megapixel digital. For a 3 megapixel it takes excellent photos. Its got a 4x optical zoom and 3.5x advance digital zoom. It sells for around $329. The only crappy thing is it doesn't come with a memory card(althought it does have a 16mb internal memory. Not too bad. Anyways, just thought I'd share my digital camera with ya.

Originally posted by Ferrari TR
I was thinking the same thing...

I've been shopping for a new/used digital camera and have been wondering what cameras people are using.

:tongue:

If you want one that will take good pics of your models, Nikon's have the best Macro mode out of all the 'affordable' cameras on the market. Most of the other brands are about the same as each other.

Don't get fooled by digital zooms either. All they do it take away the quality of the photos. If you want zoom, find a camera with a good optical zoom.

I use a Sony, and while the macro isn't as good as a Nikon, I can still get up to within 6 inches and take good photos. Plus it's pretty easy to use, and is quite adjustable.

Go ask around local camera stores, and have a look at the actual cameras, so you can play around with them and feel which one is the most compatable with you. Quite a few specialty camera stores sell second hand cameras these days too, which would be the best place to start looking if that's the alley you want to go down.

If you want one that will take good pics of your models, Nikon's have the best Macro mode out of all the 'affordable' cameras on the market.

I agree, I'm a newbie to the digi-cam world, and I bought a Nikon 2500. It is so simple to use and the macro function is a god-send.

i got a Sony Cyber-shot 2.0 MEGA PIXELS and then it says SONY LENS/OPTICAL 2x MULTI POINT AF f=6.3-12.6mm 1:3.8

:cwm27:

FerraruTR , coming tonight, bring a few to shoot, I have a slick new set up. BTW in the $400 price range the Pentax 330OptioGS is an awesome camera, always used Pentax always will, if you are there you can check it out tonight along with the newl ightbox and sweep

Yo Dag,
I'll be there tonight. I've got a couple of cars packed up.

Any Casio QV series users out there?
(I've got a QV-10 and a QV-200) and I can't get them to talk to my 'puter.
:tongue:

I've been a photographer since '76 shooting both models and real cars and I like the simple SLR for film work. I started with a Mamiya and now use a Pentax K1000. Get the most light available(preferably natural) and use the smallest aperture you can for sharper pics and to have more depth of field to work with. For digital I now use Hewlet Packard hp215 that's around $150 and has good macro and I think does a pretty good job on models. What do you think?

http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Jul/20037125303941673243139.jpg

Agreed, I wore out my K1000 so when I work with the 35 mm I use my ancient but reliable ME Super. for 35mm I always shoot at least f20 for depth of field, don't like flash for models , if you can natural lighting is best, unfortunately most contests are indoors w/ flourescent so if your are doing 35mm you must use film that corrects the color, regular film does not reproduce the colors corectly.
The nice thing about digital is that on most cameras you have several white balance options from auto to outdoor to incandescent or flourescent. Any digital is fine providing it has a good macro and a high resolution 3.0 or higher.
Hey Bill I don't have last nights pics handy can you post the best pic of your pickup for me as an example of what you can achieve with digital.
Thx nad oh yeah sorry so long winded

Originally posted by dag65
FerraruTR , coming tonight, bring a few to shoot, I have a slick new set up. BTW in the $400 price range the Pentax 330OptioGS is an awesome camera, always used Pentax always will, if you are there you can check it out tonight along with the newl ightbox and sweep


Pentax are awesome cameras! We have 2 of the older model ones which are just starting to have problems after about 25 years of use. Easily fixable though! The camera I use is only 1.2 Megapixels, does the job don't need some 5.5 megapixel camera just for model photos, too expensive and the files are too big to.

here's a couple from Friday's Photo shoot.
http://photo.starblvd.net/~D2Photo/3-1-4.jpg?i=1060656036
http://photo.starblvd.net/~D2Photo/3-2-1.jpg?i=1060656141

I edited these for size, but did no color correction. :tongue:

THx, I think the top one is just about right but the white balance is off on the truck , the best one is the one from the rear with thte small one beside it

This one?
http://photo.starblvd.net/~D2Photo/3-1-5.jpg?i=1060656103
The big one is the AMT Coke release, the little one is a modifed HotWheels La Troca FE.
:tongue:

Yeah, funny they post a little different than when you view them directly. Anyhow I am pretty pleased. I am going to try one more new lighting source. My scanner broke but the light works so I am going to remove it and use it to light at ground level. We'll see how that works