THE LEAD PAINTERS LEAGUE 11 - GENERAL DISCUSSION

[haydn]

Thanks Boss,
have set diary to vote on Tuesday.
Being an Aussie, can not trust the pomy's to be on time. 

many thanks for the quick reply.

[Captain Blood]

Last call for entries for round 5.
20 new teams received. 18 still to come - or round 4 teams will roll forward to round 5...
By tonight if you can please. (Or, being exceptionally lax with the rules) by first thing tomorrow at the latest 
Thanks all.
Richard

[AWu]

The hour on end date of sending entries is loose point of the rules.

I try to meet the hour given for first turns admission - ie 23 GMT but its not clear :>

Sent mine few hours ago.

After hell of trying to make photo of them..

How some of you are doing such crisp photos is just beyond me.. Some kind of magic.. :V

[mikedemana]

Tripod, a camera that allows exposure of several seconds, and a form of diffused lighting is key!

Mike Demana

[Dr Mathias]

Tripod, a camera that allows exposure of several seconds, and a form of diffused lighting is key!

This is pretty important. Diffusing the light does two things- it allows you to use more light without getting glare, and cuts harsh specular highlights.

There is quite a bit of technical know-how behind good photography, but there are a few basic things that can be taken into account, providing you can manipulate some settings. Most cameras and even phones have some control over settings. If you don't have a tripod it is very difficult to shoot anything at less than 1/60 second and avoid blur. Even setting the camera on a book for stability is better than just holding it free form.

Apeture (f-stop): This controls your depth of field, which is how wide the zone of focus is. A group of figures in a line parallel to the picture plane is easier to focus on than figures arranged in such a way that some are closer than others. With a tripod and f16 you should be able to get a group of figures that are set apart a bit (some deeper into the picture) all sharp and in focus. Having the camera a little further away from the subject can also help focusing. If I have a lot of figures I actually shoot at something like f18 or f20.  I use a lot of light though, so I can keep the shutter speed down to half a second or so (which is actually a long time in photography).

Shutter speed: This is how long the shutter is open, letting in light. If you go to a higher f-stop (smaller aperture, more sharpness over a deeper space) you need to correspondingly increase the length of time the shutter is open. The longer it is open, the more blurring there will be unless you have a tripod. Deep depth of field requires a high f-stop and thus more time. If your figures are not arranged too deep, a lower f-stop (like f8 or f11) could be used. I always try to get a higher f-stop though.

Auto settings try to even things out, and usually try to get to 1/60 second or higher to avoid blur- which means it is also auto-opening the aperture to get more light... reducing depth of field and making focus more challenging (or even impossible).

If you have the ability, I would recommend 'bracketing'. Take several shots at f14 and f16, with different shutter speeds.

Not sure if any of that helps

[philp]

For some reason I didn't get notified of Season 11 and just found this now so did my voting fro Round 4.

Did go through all the earlier entries and some great jobs out there as usual.

[Lt. Hazel]

I totally agree with Dr. Mathias. Taking good photos is a art in its own.

[Captain Blood]

Okay then... Voting on Round 4 is closed, and preparations for Round 5 now begin!
There are a lot of VERY nice entries following the 'ship's crew' bonus theme.

Just to note, I haven't received replacement teams for Round 5 from:

Bugsda
Dr The Viking
Khmorg
Vonkluge

Gents - if you think you have sent in your Round 5 entry, well, I don't seem to have it. In which case please get in touch as soon as you can.

Otherwise, I will roll your R4 entry onto R5.

[AWu]

Thanks Dr

I have tripod (not the best one - wobbly, but its ok when I use 5 seconds delay).
I am starting to believe I need more light, but I will try to experiment with bracketing..

My wife's camera has very large and unwelcoming manual :O

[Plynkes]

Even with a tripod you'll often get a little bit of camera shake from pressing the button, which if you are on any kind of long exposure will ruin your pic. Best use a remote or timer.

My pictures were terrible until I had the brilliant idea of actually bothering to read that little book that came with the camera.  They're by no means perfect now, but they are much better. On my camera you can set the depth of field you want (depending on just how much of the stuff in-frame you want in focus) and the camera automatically calculates the exposure time needed based on that and the amount of light available. It seems remarkably idiot-proof, and lighting is of minimal importance. I only use ambient lighting with this method, no fancy lighting rig at all and the result has been satisfactory to me, providing I remembered to set the white balance (else the colours can come out a bit funky).

[Dr Mathias]

Even with a tripod you'll often get a little bit of camera shake from pressing the button, which if you are on any kind of long exposure will ruin your pic. Best use a remote or timer.

My pictures were terrible until I had the brilliant idea of actually bothering to read that little book that came with the camera.  They're by no means perfect now, but they are much better. On my camera you can set the depth of field you want (depending on just how much of the stuff in-frame you want in focus) and the camera automatically calculates the exposure time needed based on that and the amount of light available. It seems remarkably idiot-proof, and lighting is of minimal importance. I only use ambient lighting with this method, no fancy lighting rig at all and the result has been satisfactory to me, providing I remembered to set the white balance (else the colours can come out a bit funky).

Great points- a remote (or cable release) is going to produce even better clarity.

Setting the aperture for control over the depth of field is the main goal.

[von Lucky]

Round 5 is up - post date is 26 April?!

Were the threads posted then, and hidden (and now unhidden) or something else?

[Captain Blood]

Round 5 is up - post date is 26 April?!

Were the threads posted then, and hidden (and now unhidden) or something else?

Do you scent a conspiracy theory? 

I set up all the polls in a separate preparation area well in advance. Then once all the entries are in, I simply have to populate them. Then move them across to the LPL board proper on the day. Cuts down the work the day before, but yes, makes the date look wrong 

[von Lucky]

I see you edited them 12 hours ago (6am Sunday my time) - which adds to my confusion. The reminder in the top right of every page is something that's working for me this year, definitely the judge(s) should follow in the future.

Your detailed prep has me guessing you've been bitten by a German zombie

[Captain Blood]

I see you edited them 12 hours ago (6am Sunday my time) - which adds to my confusion. The reminder in the top right of every page is something that's working for me this year, definitely the judge(s) should follow in the future.

Your detailed prep has me guessing you've been bitten by a German zombie

Yes, I set them up last night and sent them live this morning (UK time).

The truth is, I have various limited slots during the week to spend time on this, and so I prepare as much as I can in advance