Picture Taking Tips

[White]

srry, this is my second thread in one night lol, and I apologize for that. And yeah, when ever It ake pics of my drums they dont do them justice, the flash reflects off the finish making it look sick, and when I cover the flash its too dark, so what do you guys do to enhance your drums, without using photoshop, do you find the surrounding area of the drums adds on alot 9I know its gotta help) so yeah ,whats your Ideas/tips on better pictures. And if I move my drums into a nicer room with it make them look nicer in the pics???? thanks alot. Jeff

[Drum Monkey]

Is it possible to change the intensity of the flash on your camera?

My pictures come out fine... my set is only located in my basement which is lit with 60 watt lightbulbs...

I find that many un-professional pictures, (even some professional) don't do the drum finishes justice... i.e. Sonor's Autumn High Gloss...

-DM

[theflame85]

A Flash sucks for drums, because of the chrome hardware, and the finish on drums can sometimes look not-its-best. Cymbals turn out brown aswell.

A good suggestion is natural light. lots.

[Raymond]

Use lots of natural light if you don't want very bright, annoying chrome parts/cymbals. Also, take the drums outside (weather permitting) and turn the flash off of your camera if you want some good pictures.

Flash=bad usually in drums. Other than for captuing color.

[White]

yeah, I have the Amber stain, theres "A" similarity between the two, both autaum colors, heres what I mean by my pics come out bad

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c110/drummer54321/CameraPictures1005.jpg

My drums just look incredably ugly there, its too bright I find. and when I cover the flash this happens

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c110/drummer54321/CameraPictures1.jpg

so, IM thinking if I have a spot light (well just a bright light) shining on my drums, with the flash covered, think it will work?

[-TheGlassPrison-]

Use a spotlight.
Turn the flash off, use a tripod or another sturdy surface.. take the picture.

Example of how this turns out:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/-TheGlassPrison-/Drums/Hi.jpg

[LostInMusic464]

What I do is turn off the flash and get some good lighting on the drums. If you have a very bright light for lighting, and it makes the drums look wierd when it is pointed at them, then point it at the ceiling and that should get you the right amount of light.

[White]

yeah lol ,I was gonna ask you to come help me out on this threrad, you seem to have some amazing pic taking technology or some amazing skill haha, Yeah ,well, Ill try to move my drums into my living room infront og the big window, but what do you think the hardwood floor will make the pics look like, im scared it wil make some sorta sick light reflection

[moogoogaipan]

learn how to setup lighting properly. Good photographs are taken with a flash...they are taken with proper lighting setups and white balance.

[poppinfresh]

you need enough natural light, but not enough to make it glare. have enough light bulbs or open the garage or windows but make sure the sun or any direct light source doesnt hit it too hard.

[crolfe1]

This pic was taken with a 1000 watt flood light placed about 50 feet away.
Digital camera @ 2MP, ISO 400, auto focus, at night. Not the best, but one of the better full kit shots I have.

http://www.fiveshotslater.com/CR/villadrum.jpg

[Joonas P]

I don't know how good your camera is, but a couple of general tips:

If you want sharp pictures without flash, get a tripod (a small stand for your camera, you can get these for $10 a piece) and you need a good lighting in the room. When taking a picture with a tripod, I suggest using a timer, so your hands are off the camera when it shoots and it will be perfectly still when taking the pic.

One neat trick would be to put white cloth in the background, it reflects light and will not take the focus off the drums, like lots of small details would do.

If you must use flash, don't take the pic at a 90 degree angle towards any drum, so the flash won't reflect right back at the camera. Try taking pics from low or high. Hope this helps!

[alvyn]

hmm photography tips..

u'd classify this under Studio Photography, which requires A LOT of tweaking and playing around with different lightings.

you could use flash, but only if u adjusted the flash so it was pointing up, thus "reflecting" or bouncing the flash, creating an ambient lighting. direct flash towards the drumset would ruin ur shot, simply because the high gloss finishes would reflect the flash! (along with the chrome)


If you want sharp pictures without flash, get a tripod (a small stand for your camera, you can get these for $10 a piece) and you need a good lighting in the room. When taking a picture with a tripod, I suggest using a timer, so your hands are off the camera when it shoots and it will be perfectly still when taking the pic.

You could play with ur shutter speed this way, but chances are your pictures will turn out slightly overexposed. But it definitely beats using a flash!


Is it possible to change the intensity of the flash on your camera?

My pictures come out fine... my set is only located in my basement which is lit with 60 watt lightbulbs...

I find that many un-professional pictures, (even some professional) don't do the drum finishes justice... i.e. Sonor's Autumn High Gloss...

-DM

yes, even on a consumer digital camera, ie. canon, minolta, sony etc, you can change the flash intensity. but from my experiences with PNS (point and shoot), changing it does minimal change to the flash intensity.

Crolfe and TGP's kit shots are one of the few shots that didn't utilize flash, and the difference is evident. the only thing about TGP's photo is that the white balance seems a tad off, and its kinda yellowish. TGP are u using a DLSR? drop me a line on msn man. as for Crolfe's, nothing slightly more shutter speed wouldn't cure.

For those with spotlights, play around with 2 or more spotlights! Use em to accentuate the brilliant finishes on your crashes/ride/hats/splashes, or use em together to get a nice silhoutte effect. Alternatively, you could use em conventionally, and if its too harsh, drap a white cloth over it. That'll scatter the lighting. Play around with the locations of each spot light, and how you illuminate your kit.

:chug:

[White]

wow, you know your stuff^ lol. But yeah ,thanks for all the tips, im trying to find a good space for taking a pic with good light and nice background, thats everyone, keep posting more tips to, thanks

[The Ska Man]

srry, this is my second thread in one night lol, and I apologize for that. And yeah, when ever It ake pics of my drums they dont do them justice, the flash reflects off the finish making it look sick, and when I cover the flash its too dark, so what do you guys do to enhance your drums, without using photoshop, do you find the surrounding area of the drums adds on alot 9I know its gotta help) so yeah ,whats your Ideas/tips on better pictures. And if I move my drums into a nicer room with it make them look nicer in the pics???? thanks alot. Jeff

Is New Brunswick in England? Your language is similar to ours (except worse), SO LEARN A BIT OF GRAMMAR!

[-TheGlassPrison-]

New Brunswick Is in Atlantic Canada.

Beside my province.

[The Ska Man]

Go Watch Hockey!

[White]

lol, I just got done playing hockey. And yeah, hockey is a great sport, but I find its boring as hell to watch, and I dont like you english lol, your accent pisses the hell out of me. but dont worry, we are still pals haha. Oh and GP you live in NS dontcha? what part exactly?

[-TheGlassPrison-]

Truro.

Your sentences are torturing me.. they just keep going and going.. my god.

[Tama-King]

Glass Prison Lets See Ur Kit

[Aaron]

^his is Post#6 of this thread.

[Drum Monkey]

New Brunswick Is in Atlantic Canada.

Beside my province.

Tu vis-tu en Québec? Or do you live in P.E.I or N.S.?

-DM

[The Ska Man]

That's funny, I like canadian accents. Also, I've found myself self saying "eh" often lately.

[Drum Monkey]

That's funny, I like canadian accents. Also, I've found myself self saying "eh" often lately.

haha ya "eh" is the way to go eh? :thumb:

I find [some] Americans have [strong] accents... Although we have accents to them :(

-DM

[The Ska Man]

:Is Italian:

[Drum Monkey]

:Is Italian:

I wasn't implying you are American... I'm saying that even though Americans and Canadians speak the same language and boarder countries so close, we have completely different ways of speaking...

-DM

[Seafroggys]

Outdoor works extreamly well. Especially in the shadows.....check out these pics from September:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/seafroggys/Drum%20Pics/summer_drums_05.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/seafroggys/Drum%20Pics/summer_drums_02.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/seafroggys/Drum%20Pics/summer_drums_03.jpg

they look a tad purplish though, but I still think they look pretty good

[Futuro]

WOAH Nice kit! What kind of Hi hats? :p

But seriously nice kit.