Subject:
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Re: Hey, BrickShelf-users, seen this? Some more photography basics
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Thu, 7 Sep 2006 08:08:09 GMT
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Hello!
I’m happy that this issue seems to be an issue which is starting to be discussed
here and elsewhere at 1000steine.
There have been some valueable informations in this thread concerning online
pictures of MOCs. To show your great MOCs online you need to go along a chain of
several steps. I will explain the way I normally go:
Input - Taking pictures
First of all you need to take pictures of your MOC. Here are some basic “rules”
I follow:
-- get in touch with your camera, read the instructions, get some experience
while going for a sunday walk, an evening dinner with the family, etc.
-- use a digital camera instead of a phone cam
-- use the highest resolution your camera can handle
-- think about what is in front of the lens, no LEGO fan is interested in your
furniture, wallpaper, bookshelf, computer desk, ashtray, etc.
-- use a neutral background
-- use daylight, somewhere outside is a good choice, direct sunlight is a
challenge to deal with
-- do NOT use flash lights, reflection on LEGO bricks is bad
-- plan your session, take allover view pics and pics showing details
-- use a tripod if your hand is shaky
-- use the macro function of you camera
-- take some time and take as many pics as could be stored on you flash card or
microdrive
Putput - Editing Pictures
The editing phase at least takes the same time as the photography session!
-- Do NEVER upload you picturues directly form the camera to the internet!
-- Download all files form the camera memory to your harddisk, name the folder
eg. “LEGO raw material”. This folder will contain a 1:1 copy of each shot
you’ve taken. This is important cause you never know if you destroy a pic
while editing it. So have a copy!
-- Create supfolders “large” and “small”. The large-folder will contain all pics
in the original format, you could use this for printouts, wallpapers,
pictures on T-Shirt, etc. You will work in this folder for the most of the
time. The small-folder will later contain the copies of your pics which will
go online.
-- Get familiar with any kind of picture editing software. Could be complex
Photoshop or onboard software like Microsoft Picture Manager which comes with
MS Office or Irfanview, ACDSee, etc. The software could offer some basic
editing tools like resize, cut outs, batch processes, turning 90°
clockwise/anticlockwise, renaming of files, etc.
-- Go to your large-folder an start your work:
---- Get the orientation right - noone will flip his head 90° right or left all
the time while surfing on Brickshelf. -> Save the files!
---- Sort out the crap and keep the best. Delete the crap (you will have a copy
in your raw-folder). It’s useless to have 10 or more moreless identical
shots at an online gallery. Where is the difference? One shot per viewangle
is enough! Delete blurry, dark, bad pics!
---- Rename your pics. Cameras use an internal code to name the files. I allways
use a “counter” in the beginning like 001-; 002-; 003- ... Use
“speaking” names, these days there is no 8-digit limitation for filenames
any more. Avoid blanks and spaces in the filename, use underscore if spaces
are needed.
---- Cut-out: If you haven’t been aware of the object and the background while
taking pictures, the software offers tools to cut your pictures. Get rid of
useless backgrounds, we wanna see your LEGO creation!
... all this happens in you large-folder. After doing all this, copy all files
form the large-folder in the small-folder.
-- Go to you small-folder and keep on going with your work.
The copies in this small folder will go online. So the aim is to reduce the size
of the picture and the size of the file. Attention: There is a big difference
between the filesize and the picturesize!
My 7 megapixel camera makes pictures in the Large mode which are 3072 x 2304
pixel and have a filesize approx. 3 MB. Even with a screen resolution of 1400 x
1050 pixel I can’t see the full picture on my screen when it is shown with a
zoomfactor of 100% in any software. This size is great for huge printouts, but
we want to get good pics for the internet.
There might be philosophical discussions about the right size of a picture on
the internet. Noone seems to surf with a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels
anymore. I recommend a picturessize of 800 x 600 pixels for pictures which I
show online. For specail cases I use higher sizes, but I name them to warn a
user that this files might not be display correct on a normal screen resolution
(eg. wallpagpers: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=113126)
If you have split you pictures in “overall” and “details” it will work for both
if you use a 800 x 600 size for online pics.
Next step is the file size. The file size isn’t necessary changed if you change
the size of the picture. I could reduce my raw-pics form 3072 x 2304 without
losing bytes. That is not senseful for online pics. For most LEGO online pics
*.jpg is recommended and works well. You need to play with the compression of
*.jpg. At least you should use compression for online pics. There is no benefit
if you do not compress the file size. The quality of non compressed online
pictures isn’t better. That is not the fault of the picture, it is the fault of
the physical hardware of everyones screen. A screen is not a photograph!
Again we could discuss endless what a senseful filesize would be. Try to keep it
around 100 kB, 180 kB or 65 kB could be fine also, depending on the picture.
If all this is done, check your pictures again. Will someone be happy if he/she
surfs this gallery? Ok, then make a *.zip file and upload it to Brickshelf.com,
flickr.com (or to any other server).
Make sure you use speaking descriptions of folders at Brickshelf. And try to
avoid keyword spamming. If you show a train moc then there is no need for a
“space” keyword. Otherwise keywords are useless some day. (with unnamed pictures
it will become impossible to find a picture again with the search engines).
Results - Presenting Pictures
Let’s have a final look what happens when you pictures are online? Pictures
could be either shown directly a the browser. The URL address is something like:
www.server.com/my-pic/001-space-moc.jpg
There is a picture filename ending at the end of the address like jpg, png, gif
(PLEASE do not use bmp!). Modern browser versions have a automatic resize
function. This is bad, because it does not make the user aware that the pic is
probably to big for the internet. Click on the image to see the real size.
Firefox offers a lens to zoom in.
Here is an example of a plain view. Attention, use a modern 28’’ screen to see
the whole picture:
Plain view on the picture:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Rollingbricks/Homepage/Gauge1/FreightWagonG10/g10_1.jpg
This is the address if you want to show a pictrues within a thread or at your
own website. Use the “img src=””" tag or the special formating code at lugnet to
include a reference to the pic.
The resize mechanism doesn’t work anymore. The picture in the thread is shown in
its original size. The example above shows a much to big picture. People get
angry about the size of the picture rather enjoying a great LEGO MOC.
There is a last thing you should consider. Even if you upload a 3200 x 2300
pixel pic online it could be displayed smaller when it is reference at a
website. The “img src” tag could be added with some width and height
information. This gives the browser the task to use the huge picture but to
display it smaller. ATTENTION: The filesize isn’t changed at all, a 3 MB pic is
just pressed into a smaller display “window”. The pic becomes “viewable” but the
traffic for download stayes the same.
This method is used by Brickshelf automatically. You see this at the bottom line
saying “Image resized from 2272x1704”. Again, it’s only the mode of display
which is resized, not the size of the picture nor the filesize of the picture.
Gallery at Brickshelf with resized display of a picture:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1996318
Remember, the full size is this:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Rollingbricks/Homepage/Gauge1/FreightWagonG10/g10_1.jpg
(Swich off the automatic resize funciton of your browser!)
Brickshelf Thumbnails
Another method is used by Brickshelf to create the thumbnail pictures in the
overview gallery.
Overwiew with thumbnails:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=203210
While uploading your pictures an batch process copies the pictures and makes a
new size and a new filename for the thumbnail pictures.
Thumbnail:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Rollingbricks/Homepage/Gauge1/FreightWagonG10/thumb/g10_1.jpg_thumb.jpg
And again the real picture:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Rollingbricks/Homepage/Gauge1/FreightWagonG10/g10_1.jpg
Take a look at the difference in the address of both pictures. The thumbnail is
not displayed in a compressed way, it is automatically edited and resized!
I hope that all makes it a bit more clearer and improves the quality of LEGO
pictures online.
Excuse my english, it is not my mother’s tounge.
Sorry Dirk for using your gallery for demonstration!
And have fun with small and big pictures at my own Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=matthes
Holger
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Bad examples are getting worse :-(
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| Hello, while surfing Brickshelf recent galleries another "highlight" could be found: An broken, 3504x2336 picture! (URL) No, your computer isn't broken, the picture someone uploaded was allready broken before uploading or brickshelf broke it ... The (...) (18 years ago, 7-Sep-06, to lugnet.general, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Hey, BrickShelf-users, seen this?
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| (...) Okay, I have read the followups to this post, and I have read a recent followup to another post of mine over at Lugnet Announce Creation/MOC's where ALE Linus Bohman kindly gave me some tips on photography for my MOC's. I am not camera savvy, (...) (18 years ago, 6-Sep-06, to lugnet.general)
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