Photography Guidelines

Overall photography guidelines are:

• Images must be at least 800x600 pixels.

• You'll be prompted to crop images to 4:3 if necessary.

• Documents (not images) should be PDFs.

• Make sure your images are not CMYK. They must be RGB.

• Choose multiple files with the shift key.

• Images cannot be over 10MB.

Tips for Shooting Your Project ¶ 

1. Before shooting, check your camera, card, and settings. ¶ 

• Know your camera’s settings.

• If you have small details to shoot, make sure your camera has a Macro function (for shooting close-ups). This is the only way to get great, detailed, shots of your small work. Some projects need the macro lens to communicate these small details.

• Point-and-shoot cameras are good for overall shots and large shots, but they’re usually not good for details. Find friend with a DSLR for best results. If you must use a point-and-shoot, make sure its file size is big enough. Most point-and-shoots made in 2005 and newer have sufficient file size; their limitations may be in the control functions (Auto or Manual) and the lens restrictions. On the Auto function they tend to default to a high ISO; this is not good. You have to shoot these on Manual.

• Check your memory card! Make sure you have a fresh card in the camera that will hold all your shots. Every photographer has experienced that moment when they realized the memory card was not in the camera or it was not formatted; don’t let this happen to you.

• Play with the ISO settings (grain). Just make sure you do not go over 400 ISO, because the images become grainy. Stick to lower ISO.

• Know how to turn on and off the flash so that you can control its light.

• Make sure you’re shooting on the highest resolution possible (this is the size of your file). Again, small files cannot be made bigger in Photoshop.

2. Set up your project and mini studio. ¶ 

• Location. Find a well-lit area that’s clear of visual distractions and provides you with enough room for shooting. If you shoot on a workbench, clear the clutter. Extraneous items only confuse the reader and make a good project look bad.

• Know your “light temperature.” Light temperature means the color of your light, and it affects your camera’s “white balance.” (Most DSLR auto white balances work fine, but did you ever notice your whites look really yellow or green? That’s because the temperature of your light doesn’t match your white balance. This may have to be set manually if you see this problem; check your camera’s manual).

Most cameras react best to daylight, which is a bluish light, and we strongly recommend shooting in daylight. Shooting your project near a big window (with no direct sunbeams coming through) is a good place to start. Shooting outside in smooth shade is good option too (but not in speckled tree shadows).

Your flash is daylight balanced, so you can use your flash as a “fill"” or secondary light to fill shadows. (Your flash should never be the main source of light, unless you’re using a real strobe system.) Also, most of those compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs are close to daylight balanced; they can be a nice fill too. Just be careful not to mix the color of your lights. The white balance on your camera will get confused if warmer light is in the room (like a normal household tungsten-filament light bulb), conflicting with the daylight or CF lights. Choose the light temperature you’re shooting with, and stick to it.

• Background. Use a clean, simple background, nothing too distracting. Pick colors that go with your project or make it stand out. Don’t use black. White is fine. We tend to use bright colors, but we recommend not using red, as red is a very difficult color for digital cameras.

• Place your project on a level and straight surface.

• Test your camera settings. Take a few shots, then check the images on your computer (ideally in Photoshop) to check focus, brightness, file size, grain (ISO), and fine details. Sometimes a setting can be off. It’s best to know now, rather than find out when you're done shooting.

3. Now shoot your project. ¶ 

• Hold the camera level.

• Use a tripod if you need to gain more “brightness” by extending your shutter speed. Make sure the tripod is sturdy, you don’t want your camera falling over or moving during your shot.

• Think carefully about what you want to capture, and which details you want viewers to pay particular attention to. Anything really difficult to explain?

• Make sure your focus is sharp on your project. You want crisp, clear shots that show off your work. No out-of-focus shots will be printed. If only a small portion of your picture is in focus, you may have your f-stop set too open (lower numbers). This creates a shallow “depth of field” — which can be really nice for some shots, but confusing for others. It can also make focusing more precise, and more difficult (especially with a point-and-shoot camera set on Manual).

To check your focus in Photoshop, zoom the picture to 100% (this percentage will show up either on the top or bottom bar of your image workspace). Move the picture around and look at all important details at 100% (no more, no less). This is the only way to see what is truly soft.

• Play with the lighting, both on your camera and in the room. Using the flash outdoors can create a nice overall light on the subject, but watch out, you don’t want your subject to be washed out. Shiny surfaces can “blow out” too. So check the power and distance of your flash. If your white or shiny surface has no detail or texture in it when viewed on your computer, you have overexposed or “blown out” your surface. Reshoot it with a mellower (diffused) light source. This is also why you avoid sunbeams (mentioned previously). Some shots may need a flash, others are better on your tripod with a longer shutter speed. Each shot is different, even on the same project. So be prepared to change your lighting setups as you go.

• Move around. Get shots from different angles.

• Watch out for shadows. You want to avoid shadows on your project, and try to prevent your project from casting a shadow on your surface. Filling or bouncing the light is helpful here.

• It’s best to capture everything regarding your project. This way nothing is left out. Pretend you’re talking to a 9-year-old; you can’t skip any details because they won’t understand.