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Darkhorse1
August 4th, 2008, 08:08 PM
Hey all!
I've been desperatly trying to take photos of the length of my hair to share with you all, but for the life of me, I can't get them to turn out.

My bathroom has yellow lighting, and my bedroom, it's very dim. I can't seem to get a day shot because I'm running around so much, it doesn't dawn upon me until night time.

I have a digital camera, and I'm trying to figure out a way to get a photo to share my hair length with all of you, as I love seeing everyone's photos here :)

The photos are coming out too small/blurry or the flash is in the shot and blinding. Ugh!

Xandergrammy
August 4th, 2008, 08:10 PM
Is there any chance that you can have someone take the picture for you? I'd never have any hair shots if I didn't have my DH to take pictures.

Anje
August 4th, 2008, 08:12 PM
See if your camera has white balance adjustment settings. For your bathroom, you most likely want "Tungsten," assuming you have incandescent lighting. Your camera probably also has settings for fluorescent light, but fluorescent always seems trickier.

Any friends at your stable who could take some length shots for you?

Gumball
August 4th, 2008, 08:21 PM
See if your camera has white balance adjustment settings. For your bathroom, you most likely want "Tungsten," assuming you have incandescent lighting. Your camera probably also has settings for fluorescent light, but fluorescent always seems trickier.

Any friends at your stable who could take some length shots for you?

I just had to pop in and say that checking out the tungsten setting was more or less like a light going on. Har har. Very handy though! Shows how much I know about white balance with cameras. :)

manderly
August 4th, 2008, 08:37 PM
I set my camera on my entertainment center with the timer set. I get the best light in the living room.

My bathroom turns me green/yellow too. I'll have to look into the tungsten setting thing :)

Gumball
August 4th, 2008, 08:54 PM
For my length shots I just pop my camera on a shelf, set the timer and stand far enough away. I've got no tripod so I've got to figure things out if I'm taking a picture and I have nobody here to humor me by taking it themselves. If I'm in the bathroom my camera has a wrist strap so I just loop it around the curtain rod in the shower, set the timer and just as before I stand a bit away from it.

Chromis
August 4th, 2008, 09:14 PM
Another trick, stand with your back toward the mirror and use a little hand mirror to set the shot up with the digital camera. Then you can see the screen and avoid having ninety billion shots of your blurry left ear. Drag a lamp in near enough to illuminate but not reflecting in the mirror if the lighting is odd and/or fix the colours afterwards (Picasa is free and easy to use, GiMP is free and heavily featured).

My current problem is that our mirror is too small and too high up. I have to stand tip toe on a phone book and still have trouble getting my full length in the shot! :doh:

spidermom
August 4th, 2008, 09:23 PM
Friends and family; they all seem happy to oblige.

Darkhorse1
August 4th, 2008, 09:42 PM
Thanks ladies! I think it'd be best if a friend took the photos. My bathroom is really tiny, and I think that's part of the problem. I have these little light bulbs, which are very yellowy. I could get some shots at the barn, but when I'm at the barn, my hair is always tied back and lately, horses have been having issues ;)

I noticed I have a timer on this camera, so that's also a thought, but I'm not sure if I could set that up right. :D

I'll see if I can do one during the day tomorrow and see if cleaning my mirror in my bedroom might help with any glare problems.

Thanks a bunch! :)

Kiraela
August 4th, 2008, 10:23 PM
For me, the timer setting is critical, as is the flash. I don't get great light anywhere, but the livingroom is the closest to good... having the flash on makes it much brighter. I set up the camera on a table at the far end of the room, set the timer, and stand a good 10 paces away like a dork until the flash goes off! Then I use photo editing software to fix the colors a bit and crop out my chubby upper arms, LOL. Either try taking photos in your living room with the flash on, or have someone take a few for you during the day, at the barn.

Chromis
August 5th, 2008, 06:26 AM
Friends and family; they all seem happy to oblige.

Mine are happy to oblige, but none of them seem to be able to work my camera as well as I can :lol:

ohjezebel
August 5th, 2008, 06:53 AM
Mine are happy to oblige, but none of them seem to be able to work my camera as well as I can :lol:

That's my problem! I ask for a length shot, and either it's blurry, out-of-focus, or poorly composed.

That's what I get for shooting with a DSLR. People don't know to actually *look* through the *viewfinder.*

I get my (rare) length shots at hair meets, mostly. Kleis and Doodlesmart are excellent photographers. Mr. Doodlesmart isn't bad either.

Siava
August 5th, 2008, 10:48 AM
ohjezebel, your kitty pics are so cute!!

Curlsgirl
August 6th, 2008, 09:16 AM
I like to take my camera out on the back deck and set it on the rail so it's daylight, then I set the timer and experiment until it comes out pretty good.

trolleypup
August 6th, 2008, 11:20 AM
Timer is good, white balance adjustment is good. A little tiny tripod can really make things easier...things like the gorillapod (looks like a three legged octopus) can adjust to uneven surfaces, or even clamp/wrap around a fixture.

Outdoors with a timer is usually pretty good...set the camera up (without standing in front of it when you start the timer (that can cause mis-focusing)). Go stand where you think you need to be...mark the spot! Go back and look at the mis-framed image, move your mark appropriately, repeat...eventually, you should get something decent.

Remember, with a digital, film is free, so practice, practice, practice!

Moving up in cameras? Look for something with a wireless remote, preferably with a little delay (set things up, press the button, ...2...3...beee-click!)

burns_erin
August 6th, 2008, 11:27 AM
An easy fix as far as lighting goes is to simply change the bulbs. For myself i had to put different light bulbs in my livingroom to get shots to work. I also have my sister take them for me.

Darkhorse1
August 6th, 2008, 06:53 PM
I have 10 foot high ceilings--changing light bulbs in my place is not an easy task ;)

I tried again last night, but they didn't turn out. I have a friend coming over tomorrow, so I'll see if he can get a photo of my length :)