Ken Toda wisely wrote:
>Anyway, here are the tips for bicycle photography.
>
>1) Get the ligjht source as BIG/LARGE possible, soft-shadow free as
>cludy day light.
>we call, the difused light source.
>
>2) Plan background, as sheet (king size bed. plain pattern) or
>seamless paper from
>photo supply store.
>
>3) Pay attntion in reflections, of light source is going to be
>"high" bright reflection on
>glossy surface, and dark area is where no light or white (lighter)
>area is control by
>white refletor (as large as possble). See the chome surface is very
>sensitive to reflactions,
>because 99% of what you on it see is reflections.
>
>4) Use long tele settin of the lens. Or, large magnifcation setting
>of viewfinder, this
>increase distance between camera and subjet, however; will give you
>true "perspective"
>relation ship to over all part of bike, NEVER to use wide angle or
>close up (except exreme
>spot close ups). Wide ange setting give you a lot of "bent" tube
>like destortions.
This thread started about photos at shows, where you generally don't have that much control over lighting and background.
Ken's advice is very good, but I'd like to add to point 2: Seamless background paper is surprisingly affordable. It comes in 9 foot wide rolls, typically about $40. Standard length is 36 feet, so one roll will basically last most people forever.
You'll find a lot of mail order sources if you google "seamless paper" but shipping costs on something 9 feet long are not trivial, so you're generally going to do better with a local photo supply store if you're anywhere near an even medium sized city.
Sheldon "Seamless" Brown
Newtovnville, Massachusetts
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours |
| of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills |
| and coast down them. |
| Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a |
| motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have |
| no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven |
| through as you gain by riding a bicycle. |
| -- Ernest Hemingway, By-Line |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
--
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