alias_marks Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Hey folks, hope all is well. I'm panning for some ideas out there about the best way to prepare for a site visit to take some photographs that will eventually become photo montages. The thing is, I'm going to be traveling to Chicago for this one and want to make sure I've got everything I need and get all the right photographs as quickly as possible (it's not a light affair flying back and forth to the site just because I missed something small). Usually I've had the flexibility to drive down and get some more photgraphs if I need them. So what do you guys do to make sure you get everything you need? How many exposure/iso variations do you take of the same angle? do you pick different perspectives to do ahead of time, or do you explore when you get there to see what might work out best, or a mixture of both? What sort of notes/photographs do you take for reflections and environment lighting? (I don't really have the resources to generate my own HDRI's) Anything else you might add that I may be overlooking? What are some of the mistakes you've made that you wish you hadn't? Appreciate the feedback, answers to questions, or generally any past experiences you would be willing to share with the rest of us. Take Care, DownTownMikeBrown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 The more picture you can take the better. Remember to shoot stuff that may be reflected. Try to shoot with a tripod and not only bracket your exposures, but shoot the same shot (the ones you believe you will use in the montage) several times to get varied cars/people. you may end up wanting that truck you didn't notice out, and its nice if another shot shows what's behind it. Shoot typical details. Bring batteries, lots of batteries. Bring a written, logo'ed description from your client of what you're doing so you have something to show the cops and/or security when they try to haul you off to jail or want to eject you from private property. Get permission in advance in writing to be there and photographing from the building owner, include a contact name/info for security to check with. Patience, courtesy, sense of humor. I had a guy threaten to kill me if I photographed him, but he was standing in front of my subject, so I had to tell him to get out of the way. A smile helps here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 If you're shooting Digital be sure to shoot in RAW format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Watch the weather forecast Oh, and check the orientation of your building for the kindest light/time of day for shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias_marks Posted March 20, 2007 Author Share Posted March 20, 2007 Thanks for the thought, tips, and ideas gentlemen. I'm not sure if this is the thread to do it, but I'm curious Jeff on what your motivation is behind shooting raw. I'm not really excited about going out and getting boat loads more memory cards and would appreciate your insight on what the trade off in value is for shooting raw vs. the highres jpg's that most camera compress to. Seems like most of the images we end up generating are for online viewing or for maybe a 30x42 baord. Both of which I've been satisfied with jpg's so far. I get that holistically there's a pretty large discussion about compressed vs. raw all the time, but thought maybe you could shed some light on how it might apply specifically to ArchViz. Thanks again for the feedback all. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Thanks for the thought, tips, and ideas gentlemen. I'm not sure if this is the thread to do it, but I'm curious Jeff on what your motivation is behind shooting raw. I used to think like you as well and shot hi-res JPG for years. This year I switched to RAW and I can't tell you how much I regret not doing it sooner. You have SOOOOOO much more control over editing the file and correcting color balance, exposure and a host of other settings that you can not do with a JPG. You can create your own HDR images just by bracketing RAW images imported at different EVs. It's so more forgiving and considerably more flexible. You don't need that many more memory cards. I purchased a 4GB for my D70 (6MP) and was able to get around 500-600 images on it. I can get around 200 on my 2GB card. If your camera has the ability I'd also shoot RAW+JPG so you can preview the images more easily. Or just get Adobe Lightroom. Shoot RAW, Shoot RAW, Shoot RAW...did I mention you should shoot in RAW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernest Burden III Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Instead of using many memory cards (and they are getting bigger and cheaper every year) you could bring along a laptop to download to during your shoot. It would also be good to have a cloer look at your shots while you're still in the city, so you can spot a problem and re-shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 But this could be an awful lot of heavy stuff to carry, especially if shooting somewhere a bit dodgy! You'll have severay thousand dollars worth of very obvious hi-tec electronic equipmnent with you. Maybe take a mule and a pistol..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3D_IC Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 As TommyL mentioned sunlight is the major un-predicatable factor. I've learnt this the hard way. If you want to get in - take pics and get out. Make sure you know what time of day the sun will be in the right position to highlight the chosen facade. You may only get a few hours depending on the location. If the subject is in a high traffic area go before rush hour in the morning when the streets are dead and only the occasional tramp will bother you for a $ pistol and mule sounds like a good idea too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batteryoperatedlettuce Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 I purchased a 4GB for my D70 (6MP) What photo editing software do you use? I've been using RSE, which is a free download. I was a bit annoyed about having to purchace the Nikon software and I didn't think much of it after completing the 30 day trial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 Photoshop is ubeatable. It has a reputation as choice of the pro's for a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 GIMP is fun they have a thumbdrive version that you can bring anywhere. If I was doing this I would spend a full day getting the know the site and the light. And I mean a full day sometimes the sunrise light is pretty nice. Take polaroids and study them. And if possible the lap top is a great idea, you can take your fill of images and then grab a coffee and look everything over and go back and get the images you missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfa2 Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 The more picture you can take the better. Also if you are going to remove things (trees, other buildings, signs etc.) from the picture make sure you walk around and get shots of what is behind the offending object. This can be tough because the angles change, but to have something is better than nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted March 22, 2007 Share Posted March 22, 2007 Make sure you have the right place. This is not entirely a joke, I went out and took about 300 photos of 2 city blocks, just to find out next day in the office that it was the wrong city blocks, I should have been 2 streets over..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKitts Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Make sure you have the right place. This is not entirely a joke, I went out and took about 300 photos of 2 city blocks, just to find out next day in the office that it was the wrong city blocks, I should have been 2 streets over..... HAA! that's awesome, I'm glad I'm not the only goof in this world.... I shot the wrong side of the street for a project I'm working on right now. There are two empty lots across the street from each other and I didn't think to check the street numbers as to which one was the actual site. Didn't even realize it till I started working on setting the sun and started comparing the building orientation to the entry and and the site photos. Luckily it's here in town, but it raises a good point.... check the address Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias_marks Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 haha! funny stuff. I will definitely make sure we're at the right address. Thanks again for all the tips. I'll look into shooting raw for the future Jeff. Ya, I would say Gimp is pretty handy for the enthusiasts that haven't got Photoshop yet. I would also recommend GimpShop which puts a "photoshop" skin on Gimp so the transition is easier from one to the other (workflow wise) http://gimpshopdotnet.blogspot.com/ Still, photoshop is really second to none for photo editing. Great tips! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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