Taking photos of displays...

From: Tom Jennings <tomj_at_wps.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 13:02:25 +0000

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005, Bryan Pope wrote:

>> I've been playing around with all the manual settings on my camera and
>> just experimenting (using any kind of auto mode results in banding on
>> the computer's display, and of course use of flash is no use for a shot
>> of a glass screen). So far results have been mixed though...

With chemical photography:

When I had some artwork professionally photographed, to catch all
the indicators etc the photographer did multiple-exposures, as
suggested here. "Static" display equiv.

The stuff was operating, and illuminated and photographed
normally, then again with lights-out, longer exposure, enhanced
the light-generating parts. He did a number of exposures, I picked
out the ones that looked best (slides).

That way also you don't get color reciprocity failure; with really
long low-light exposures, the dyes in the color film don't all
react at the same rate, so the colors get all muddy.

Don't use a "one hour" developer under any circumstances, pro
developers don't charge much more, take a few days, and do
excellent work.

"One hour" places work by literally turning up the heat on the
development process, which ruins grain. I suspect they don't
change chemicals as often and I can tell you, my pro photos look
great after 10 years while the "one hour" photos look like crap at
10 years. It really makes a huge difference.

Pretty much all "brand" film these days is pretty good, its all in
the development, even with a relatively crappy camera.

I've noticed my low-light digital photos look muddy too, I don't
know what's goin on there, maybe someone here does.
Received on Mon Feb 28 2005 - 13:02:35 GMT