I am one step closer to my goal of good figure photography with this little baby i bought yesterday.I didnt consider getting a tripod until ive seen a huge quality boost in meronpan figure reviews the last few weeks.One of his secrets is the use of a tripod and the 3 second delay setting to avoid any shaking.Some of my first quick shots (NSFW) are after the Jump!
My current Setup looks now like this:
The tripod increased the sharpness of the pictures alot and im really happy with the result.Another thing thats now possible are high exposure rate shots and the like.The problem here is that i have no idea what im doing (even tough ive read some stuff in the net beforehand).Ive had very mixed results and im going to show 3 pictures as an example.
Too Long Exposure
Low ISO,Short Exposure (I really like how this one turned out)
Pretty Regular settings
The next thing i need to improve on is the knowhow about camera settings and how to use them for the wanted effect.My 3 shots illustrate pretty good that a few changes in the cameras setting have a huge impact on the outcome.Right now things tend to turn out for the worse when im playing with the settings.I plan to change that but depend on your help.Please give me some hints on where to find easy to understand guides or just tell me straight what im doing wrong ^^
tripod is essential, good tripod will give you better & sharper picture
I always use 10 sec delay for my photos
always use lowest ISO, and set the shutter speed longer if you want it brighter 
ron~´s last blog post..1/7 Yagami Hayate ~ Alter
what the brand of your tripod ? mine is not good enough
good buy
James´s last blog post..Yagami Hayate 1/7 (Alter) review
Yea a good yet cheap tripod is essential, though the settings is also pretty much another major aspect, such as the manual settings indoors. You probably really have to keep playing with your camera in many different environments to get the feel for what kind of setting is needed each time you take a photoshoot, and even then you have to test out shots beforehand before starting.
Panther´s last blog post..Deus ex December
i wonder if that’s the same tripod i got – looks familiar ^^;
you may have already read all this, but just in case:
low/high iso – the higher the iso, the more sensitive the camera is to light, but the more noise (grainy) you’ll get. i think high iso is generally for when you can’t control the lighting, allowing you to compensate for low light. since we’re in a controlled environment, sticking to low iso you get the lowest noise.
aperture size – when you decrease the aperture size (which are *higher* f-numbers, i.e. my camera goes to f/8), you decrease the amount of incoming light and increase the depth of field. you can compensate for the lower amount of light by increasing your exposure time. conversely, if you increase the aperture size (lower f-numbers, i think my camera bottoms out at f/2.8 or something), more light is coming in, and you can cut down on the exposure time.
I pretty much am still only goofing around with aperture and exposure time and that’s the extent of my knowledge so far ^^;; Hopefully it’s accurate and good luck! Looks like you’re off to a good start!
meronpan´s last blog post..ただいまもどりました～
@ron~
Common sense should have told me that a tripod is essential but my common sense seems to be broken^^
@james
Its a Hama Star 61 tripod
A local shop had it on sale for 20€ and the ratings were pretty good so i snatched it
@panther
Yeah i fear that there is going to be alot of trial and error involved in mastering the manual settings.
@meronpan
I guess most look the same ^^
Thanks for the Info! I didnt know what the the aperture was doing at all.Gonna play a bit around with it
Tripod is important. It’s essential gear, I think.
super rats´s last blog post..The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
I might have to get better gear come tax returns… digital camera+holding in hands = fail
Persocom´s last blog post..Vocaloid2 Figma Group Shoot
I think You should also consider the lightning directions.
phossil´s last blog post..Desktop wallpaper
i’m thinking of getting a new tripod since i somehow broke my current one. my current one is the same type like yours but i find that the handle and knob is a pain to adjust. will be considering getting a ball joint type in future. ^^;
gordon´s last blog post..One Zero Zero Zero Zero Zero Hits Get (Again?)
Ah du willst so richtig professionel ldeine Figuren fotografieren?`Respekt XD
Ich hab mir noch die andere Alice bestellt, bzw kriege sie. Meine Pastel Ink Moetan (die mit der Dioramabase) war nicht komplett und der Händler wollte mir eine Neue zusenden. Ich kann hier aber keine 2 gebrauchen, deswegen hol ich mir die Alice und er erlässt mir die Versandkosten <
Glück gehabt, aber ich geb in letzter Zeit eindeutig zuviel Geld aus <_<;;
@superrats
It is…I dont know why i didnt buy one earlier^^
@persocom
There are some pretty decent cheap tripos out there.its pretty nice to work with one
@phossil
Thanks! All Critic is appreciated
@gordon
I wonder how you can break a tripod?I can imagine thats its alot nicer to work with a balljointed one.Im happy with my current model for the next time tough^^
@sari_manion
Ja man tut eben was man kann^^
Glück gehabt oder Verhandlunsggeschick… Ja Geld gebe ich auch viiiiiiiiel zu viel aus
Nice buy. I need to get one for myself XD.
Saku´s last blog post..Toronto Bloggers Meet-Up
I never use my tripod…I have one cause it came with my camera…got to love Hong Kong and their deals.
Well, now I might start using it as I got a new way doing shoots…
I would like to say you need more lighting…
The main reason is to make the shoot more brighter…
Just mess around with the settings until you get a good result.
I did and that did take a while…
Rin´s last blog post..Blogger and Otaku Meet…Planning…
@Blowfish: Yup, some folks need it for serious sharpness, other folks don’t like to be tied down by it… Though I might be looking into a new quad-pod (i.e. chair with masking tape). ^_^
xJAYMANx´s last blog post..Blog 178 > Blog Antics & Anime Battles
Schrecklich – wieder 4 neue Figuren gekauft. Sogar eine Nendoroid…dabei wollte ich so eine garnicht aber die sind echt niedlich x_X
Ich bin in letzter Zeit echt gut im Figuren zerstören, bei meiner Jibril hab ich den Heiligenschien durchgebrochen, konnte man aber auch kleben =.=
Ist die Schleife wieder heile?
I’m pretty sure a tripod is essential, although I shouldn’t talk since I have yet to get a DSLR and actually try taking pictures. I suppose the best way to learn, though, is through practice; or at least, that’s what I’m hoping ^^;
ETERNAL´s last blog post..ef – a tale of melodies [ep 9]
Tripod is a good buy, hope you didn’t shell out insane bucks for it. Some manufacturers charge an arm and leg for what is really just a bunch of plastic and carbon fiber.
A tripod will definitely help you – you’ll be able to take high intensity shots without shakes
Len-Vesper´s last blog post..Hayate’s Magic Cured me from Sickness!
I got a tripod some months ago, before I did my Ignis photoshoot. They really help ^_^ Except it’s easier to switch angles without it. But at least I won’t have to worry about blurry photos (except when I use my dad’s old lens which requires me to manually focus).
As for camera settings, I just fiddled around with the aperture and shutter speed. Getting the right balance is fun ^_^ It’s really up to you anyway how “bright” or “dark” you want your photos to be ^^
What camera do you use?
picchar´s last blog post..Final Fantasy Meme
Nice. So ein Ding will ich eigentlich auch schon lange erwerben, genauso wie ein richtig anständige Kamera mit einem anständigen Objektiv. Was ich auch noch erwerben muss, ist mehr Zeit für Figure Reviews. Irgendwie. Anyway, lass die Pics kommen! Ich freue mich schon.
Gruss
Herr Melonpan
Melonpan´s last blog post..Emocafe – Heute: Kinder!
Wow, it’s almost the same tripod as mine xD
Gargron´s last blog post..The inescapability of the Christmas period
@saku
Do it! You wont regret it!
@rin
Really?I cant live without tripod anymore
Yeah finding the sweet spot is incredible tricky
@jayman
Interesting concept ^^
@sari_manion
Schrecklich?Toll!
Jaja Nendoroids haben mich auch erst kürzlich in ihren Bann gezogen^^ Also ich würd meine figuren vor dir ja verstecken XD
@eternal
Its not as easy as i thought ^^;;
@lenvesper
Dear god no!Im not one of those guys that shells out a big stack of money for state of the art equipment.It was fairly cheap and does it Job
@picchar
I use a Nikon Coolpix P50 point and shoot camera.Its nothing as fancy as a DSLR but im happy with it.I think i know now alot more about settings.Gotta play a bit more with them and hope for a good outcome
@melonpan
Wie immer dachte ich im ersten Moment WTF MeRonpan postet auf Deutsch aber dann wars doch nur unser aller lieber LoliconHikikomori MeLonpan^^
Die KAmera mit anständigen Motiv muss noch warten bis mal Geld vom Himmel regnet.Figure Reviews sind in der Tat immer sehr Zeitintesiv aber ich hoffe doch mal jetzt morgen noch eins auf die Reihe zu bekommen
@Gargon
Fate? ^_^
A tripod is one of the things I’m eyeballing now as well. I never really needed one before, but when you’re thinking about creating a blog which will likely include figure reviews, one suddenly seems very necessary.
Funny that I only saw this blog entry after talking to you on ICQ right now.
that’s the same tripod i use, it pretty good