Focusin' your photos! By ToneGuns and LordRaven
 

*there are slight grammatical edits* - Sonneilon

Lord Raven says:
Hey there everyone, Me and TG here are going to go over some tips and tricks how to make your shots a lil more in focus

Lord Raven says:
I think the first thing we should talk about is the equipment. It's true what they say that your equipment is everything.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Have to agree in this one. A good camera can make the difference.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
But, you don't need a super 10MP to do great shots

Lord Raven says:
Goodness no, if you're in the market for a good camera, make sure it has one feature I use and can't be without. MACRO

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
MACRO. That's the whole point

Lord Raven says:
Macro is used to take close up shots of small objects, like our Joes. If you look at a camera, you can see it's options are usually a small mountain icon or a flower icon. This Flower icon is MACRO, at least, on my lil Fuji camera.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Normally a flower icon.

Lord Raven says:
You can get pretty up close and personal with your Joes with the Macro feature activated.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
My camera works of a funny form. You put in the macro as you approach, but still thus it is unfocused. It is necessary to push the button half way.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
So you can get the image in focus.

Lord Raven says:
Mine is just a step up from entry level camera, and doesn't have a normal focus lense. I just switch over to MACRO and get close in, make sure my lighting is good and shoot.

We're lucky in the digital age where we can look at the shot we just took and if it's no good, we delete and go again.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
I do have to choose macro to do a close shot

Lord Raven says:
Every camera is different. Get to know what yours can and can't do. Read the manuals, and experiment.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
It is very important give a look at the camera manual.

Lord Raven says:
So, as you can see, the Manual reading is doubly important

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
You have to look and try. The worst thing in a pic, at least for me, is a non focused shot.

Lord Raven says:
I touched on Lighting before, but it's just as important to have the right lighting.

Flashes are generally FAR too bright to be used as close as our photos are. I learned this the hard way with my first few posts here being replied to as "Turn off the flash". Now, I hardly use my flash

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Flash sucks most of the time in close shots

Lord Raven says:
Turn the lights on in your room, use the sun, flashlights, lamps, anything. Heck, I've been using the small LED flashlight on my cell phone these days.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
There are many alternative light sources.

Lord Raven says:
Even using a white piece of paper to reflect more light into your shot works too.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Yeah, the professionals do the same thing,

The greatest question is: How much effort you want put into a pic to show it to Joe comunity?

Lord Raven says:
One thing that happened to me alot was blurry pictures, not from being out of focus, but because my hands shake.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
You have many way to finish it.

Lord Raven says:
I found two things that solved that instantly

1) I bought a VERY inexpensive pocket tripod. I think it cost me about 3 dollars.

2) All Cameras should have a timer setting. Once the picture was ready, I'd hit the timer and totally back away from the shot.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Totally back away, LMAO

Lord Raven says:
Even your shadow can get into a shot at time.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Or reflection on a windshield

I had this problem sometime ago.

Lord Raven says:
Many simple, easy to avoid things can ruin a shot.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
You just have to try another angle.

The other think is the scaled background.

Lord Raven says:
If you put objects for our real world into a 1:18th scale world, it totally destroys the suspension of disbelief that this is a real photograph

If you want to take a Jungle shot, find shrubs that aren't as thick around, the right size trees for Joes.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
You can always look around you. Do some shots, look at it on the PC.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Somethings may work others not.

Lord Raven says:
One other thing is taking the shot at eye level with the Joes themselves. get right down there, as if you're a Joe taking a picture of your buddies

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
To lie down in the ground the times can help, has taken a towel, a great cloth.

Lord Raven says:
You can't be afraid to get a lil dirty if you're doing outdoor shots. Try taking shots of your Devilfish in the lake from the shore and staying dry...not going to happen, but the picture turns out great and you'll dry off later

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
Isn't hard turn on in a 1:18.

I just need to think like them

Lord Raven says:
Well, I think we've covered just about everything.

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
DONE

Lord Raven says:
We hope this helps everyone in thier endeavors

ToneGuns - Yo JOE!!! says:
It just turned out, not how some STB guys would talk

Have fun

YES, Macro!

My last camera was just a small econo type Canon (i forget the model). The "flower" setting is the best. I would have to continually press the shoot button to calibrate it as best as I wanted. I've been doing a little research for my next buy. If I can hopefully score an inexpensive SLR type unit with interchangeable lens setup for a dope macro lens, I'll be way happy.

Keep in mind theres a variety of focus types and light metering. Firstly, all auto focus cameras require contrast in the scene to properly calibrate the lenses, so don't block your auto focus aide light (usually a small red grid light that projects out while depressing your shutter) if you have one or bring a small light to flash on your subject while the lens adjusts itself. Cameras meter the light for the most dominate tone in the picture... if its sunny or dark the camera will deliberately under or over expose respectively. You can compensate for this using either a grey card (which measures at 40% grey on the zone system) or the point at the grass or ground first which is a more neutral color, then your camera shouldn't over or under expose your scene. To eliminate flash hot spots in close up photogrpahy, look into flash diffusers which look like clear plastic grates. Or you can try tissue paper over the flash but that sometimes leads to harsher shadows. Like these guys mentioned, a mini tripod is great or you can use a small bean bag or weighted bag (pocket size) for more stability when resting your camera. If you're having trouble getting as close as you want to your subject, keep in mind all cameras have a minimum focusing distance which is in your cameras manual... and if you can't get close enough to your liking, try getting as close as you can while in focus and set your camera to a higher resolution and just crop in on your scene later. Lastly, if your camera has manual over-ride or aperture/shutter priority you can increase your depth of field. A small aperture (the diaphram that lets light in through the lens) gives you a greater depth of field (f8-f32 are small apertures) but that usually gives you a longer shutter time so make sure you have added support. If you want to blur your background, either switch to telephoto or set your aperture to a larger opening (f6-f2) which will cause mostly your subject to be in focus. And I believe the general rule with the smaller aperture openings is 1/3 in front of your subject and 2/3 behind will be in complete focus, so measure accordingly and you should get better results.

Thanks Luke, for a bit more TECHNICAL knowhow on your cameras settings. Always good to hear from one of the masters how they get thier stuff lookin so great.