File puptcrit/puptcrit.0902, message 755


From: "Puppet People" <puppetpeople-AT-nycap.rr.com>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:22:32 -0500
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] TECH: Better promo pics


Hi all;
    I think this is an important subject for all puppeteers who advertise. 
Please spend the money to get a good commercial photographer to take your 
photos.
    When we first started basically gave out fliers with drawings of the 
show, they were fast and cheap to make. When we finally decided to get 
photos done our business double that first year and continued to double for 
the next 4 to 5 years. It was definately worth the investment.
    As for your websites, my opinion is to make sure your photos are more 
prominant than your text. People dont have the time to read an exended 
description about you or your work, just show it to them.
    Just as we have experience getting a good photographer might take a 
little footwork but it is totally worth it. To see some of our photos please 
visit our website www.thepuppetpeople.org Thanks Mathieu for bringing up 
this subject.

Mark
The Puppet People


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mathieu René" <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 4:20 AM
Subject: [Puptcrit] TECH: Better promo pics


Hi fellow puppeteers.


I can't sleep from too much excitement (just saw our short puppet film on a
big cinema screen),
so I thought I'd spend the time trying to be productive...


BETTER PROMOTIONAL PICS OF YOUR PUPPETS

INTRO:
I think a big portion of the touring theatre companies that have a website
have a major problem.
Wether or not they have a decent interface (which is also important), the
pics are often too small, and/or badly taken, and/or too few in numbers.
I'm sure people who book shows or order puppets really appreciate good
quality material to help them make a decision about whom to book.
And fans (such as myself) get better inspiration to strive for bettering
their own work.

EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW:
Special mention and congratulations to our fellow puptcritter David Syrotiak
(and team), for the new website, with beautiful photographs of the puppets
in action, in the sets! Very true to Theatre look!
I think we can all learn from this example. Now I NEED to get more pics of
my creatures in action, and also create more refined works!.  The site is
simple and efficient, and has everything picture-wise to convince a customer
to book a show. Lots of those pics are worthy of printing as posters. I'd
definitely buy a large poster like the photo I once saw, where all the
Syrotiak's marionette cast were photographed together. It could become a
best-seller and a classic.
http://www.nmtshow.com/Photos.html


WHAT IS A GOOD PHOTO?
I'm not talking about photographing every single puppet in every single
angle, using the services of a pro photographer. That would probably be
overkill, and overly expensive to most.

I'm talking about taking the time to make your puppets look their best in
photographs, tuest to what they look like in person, and/or on stage.  It
will inspire more people, and even bring you more bookings and more
commission work. As a total fan of admiring other people's works, I truly
enjoy when I see quality photographs of quality puppets.

If you don't enjoy taking pics at all, you could exchange services with
someone who does enjoy it, and knows how to do it. A lot of peope have
family members or friends who are pretty good at taking pics. I'll be
sharing tips here (below) that could help beginning photographers become
much better, in no time at all, with just a little effort.  I know they
work, I learned those tips the hard way.

My first puppet and mask portfolio dates back to 2001. It cost me over a
hundred dollars just in film and processing. I really wanted it to look
good, so I took many shots with my 35mm camera.
It still ended up looking a bit cheap, as I didn't know much about doing
good photography without the pro equipement I had been taught to use in
College, but could no longer afford.
Still, when I look at people's websites today, I see many photos that are
just as bad as mine were when I spent so much time and energy on that first
portfolio.


TIPS: HOW TO DO BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY WITH VERY LIMITED EQUIPEMENT:

Maybe the large amount of poor photographs of puppets is because
non-photographer people don't really know how to take better pics?   Here
are the bests tips I know, to help you improve your pics, if need be.
Understanding and applying the following tips will turn the most unsure
begginners into decent photographers, when using a good digital camera. I've
seen it happen.

Even if you can't afford a good camera, a "passable" point-and-shoot
automatic camera will yield "pretty darn good" results, if you try some of
these tips. You could even boost your possibilities when using your cell
phone's camera! After all, the first personal cameras were something like a
box with a pin-sized hole in the middle, to expose the film inside slowly.
And people still got relatively good shots with those, with proper patience
and technique.  Today, we live in an abundance of powerful, affordable, easy
to use photography technology, and we have all the required information
online, and in books.

Here's what works for me:

=95Camera
Get a decent digital camera of a good brand, with at least 6 megapixels of
resolution. I recommend cameras by Nikon (coolpix are good), Canon, and
Pentax. Right now, I have a Pentax k100-D, and I love it. I chose it among
other because it was the only fll manual camera that used regular AA
batteries as a powersource. Propriatary batteries are a money-making scheme
that makes it very inconvenient to get repleacements (special orders),
especially on trips. But you don't need to spend 600$ on a camera to get
good shots. Maybe 200$-300$ would be an acceptable lower price range for
puppet companies who want real good quality. This is the only "expensive"
investment in these tips. Using your cameras's Manual Mode (if it has one)
and knowing how it works will save you a lot of headaches, and give you
total image control. I was stubborn with my first digital camera, and waited
for one year before really reading the camera's instructions manual. I
realized only then that I had been missing out on a lot more picture
quality! It suddenly felt like I had gotten a much better camera. Still,
knowing the options on your automatic modes will help you get better pics,
eveyrtime, by choosing the right mode for the right lighting situation.
A good capacity removable memory card is a good investment. It is very
frustrating to run ou of card space when everything else is going right. An
extra card can't hurt either.
Usually, the card that comes with the camera is nowhere near a decent
capacity, so spend the xtra 30 or 60$ to get a large capacity card at the
moment of purchase of the camera (some places will give you a rebate if you
ask for it at that big purchase time).
If your camera is one of those pocket-sized extra lightweight, it could
bring a problem with stability, making your shots fuzzy. A friend of mine
has a much better resolution on his camera than mine.
When I use his camera, even with all my tricks, I find it near impossible to
get a good shot without a tripod. Adding a bit of weight underneath it
(using the screw hole meant for attahcing to a tripod) would help stabilize
it when not using a tripod.
This inspires me to build him such a weight device as a gift, or at least a
rope tripod. The git is for me too, as I am his usual graphic designer, and
his fuzzy pics are slowly making me lose my mind.

=95Camera settings:
This will vary a lot depending on your camera and lighting
conditions/equipement.
To make things short here, I'll give you my preference for best sharpness
and finer grain.
It will differe for many people, so experiment.
White Balance: adjust according to your lighting types: Incandescent,
Flurorescent, Daylight, etc...
You can also play with different light types in the same pic: daylight is
more blue than incandescent, for example.  ISO: 200 (finest grain on most
cameras) . You'll need more light in the studio for this ISO setting, and
you'll need to close your aperture if working in bright outdoors condition.
Aperture: as low a number as possible without losing depth of field (the
smaller the subject, the less depth you need to have everything in focus).
For my average sizes, I open the aperture to the max (lowest number, in my
case 3.5)
Picture quality: as much as you need. In my case, I use the maximum format
p=F4ssible without it being RAW, which would be overkill, since it does not
change the pic quality for my uses.
A full quality JPEG from my 6 megapixel camera can probably be printed
tabloid-size without any loss of sharpness, which is more than I usually
need.

=95Tripod
You absolutely need one if you want really sharp, focused pictures with all
the details.
Anything stable will do. You can even make your own, by adding proper
hardware (quarter inch bold and three hex nuts) to a tall piece of
furniture.   Still, an actual tripod with adjustable angles will be very
practical, and portable. My main tripod is an old video camera tripod, from
which I removed the super strong spring which was for stabilizing heavy
video cameras. Now I can use it for my digital photo camera without needing
super human strenght.

=95Lights:
Digital photo cameras are very needy in terms of light, no matter what mode
you use.
Yet it is even more important if you use the automatic modes, because it
will try to compensate in lack of light, and give you very grainy images as
a price for versatility. Get one very strong light source, and two or three
medium strenght sources.  That's for studio work, and to control your
environment better, either work in a room where no outside light can come
in, or work at night with curtains closed.   When working outdoors, use what
sunlight is available, and better yet, go take pics at times when you have
the best type of light for the project you have. An overcast but bright day
is really good for a diffused light situation, it will cast only soft
shadows. I like bright sunlight too, but for those moments, I'll take my
pics slightly in the shade.
Note: Winter temperatures will make your camera's batteries temporary feel
drained, very fast. They will regain some of their vanished charge when they
get back to comfortable room temperatures.
My main lightsource is a hallogen worklight, with twice 300W bulbs.  My
secondary sources are two desk lamps. In one I put a 100 watt bulb, in the
other, a 60W.
Some people are very happy with using colder light sources, such as
fluorescents.
They cast a more even diffused light, which can be very flattering to most
subjects.
I don't yet go for those, because I hate their blue-ish cast, and the
headaches that they sometimes cause.  The blue temperature of these lights
are not seen on the final pics, as most good cameras have a light
temperature adjustment, and/or you can use a photo software to correct it.
For now, I'll keep with my yellow-ish incandescent lights, and just be
careful when handling them, as they get pretty hot.

=95Should I use a flash?
If you can avoid using the integrated flash into your camera, please do so!
You don't need a flash if you have the light sources (or similar) mentionned
above.
If you have an independent flash you can position anywhere and still work
with your camera (pricey!),
you can use it instead of your main light, with great results. If you must
use the integrated flash, diffuse it by placing a white sheet of paper in
front of it. play with distance and angles to see what works best for your
subject. Be careful, the flash's light often bounces off the sheet into your
eyes, so better close them at the last nanosecond.

=95Reflectors:
Any large opaque white (or other light color) panel can be used to bounce
some light into the shaded areas, so as not to loose details and definition.
Different surfaces will give different effects. lots of people like ot use
white Foamcoar, because it bounces light softly. For even more reflective
power, some shiny metallic surfaces are very helpful. Car window reflectors
(one side gold, one side silver)  have been adopted by many pro
photographers as cheaper alternatives to the studio product.

=95Backgrounds:
I use a black Theatre curtain for most of my puppet and mask pics. It's
always set up, since it splits my main room into two. I love it because it
blocks all the street light, I can sleep in near total darknes. Best
investment in years!  Sometimes I'll use a white panel as a background. For
very small objects, I'll use a home made light tent.  Many tutorials are
available online for free, to build your own light tent. It makes a world of
difference to have those two walls and ground all white, bouncing the light
all around your subject. You also need less light when using the light tent,
and it can serve as a light diffuser if lit from behind.
I also like to go outside and use various natural or human-made settings as
background.
I take those as extra shots, and as a fun artisitic activity, but I still
take the controlled studio shots.

=95Filters:
I don't use special effect filters, as I want sharpness to better represent
my creations.
Less is better.  I would however sometimes use filters and attachments that
enhance the clarity or quality of my pics, if I had any. Examples: macro
filters, basic color filters to bring out or eliminate a certain color
range. For artistic shots not meant to feature the puppets in precision,
anything goes: nylon sock over the lens (or other material), blowing some
condensation over the lens for a few seconds of blurry fog effect.

=95Setup:
Main light source is usually set higher than my subject (tink "like the
sun"), either hung from a wall, installed on a tripod, or on my sculptor's
trestle, pointing at my subject. Experiments are necessary to see what is
the right distance for the ideal light level without having a hot spot
(which would destroy details in lighter areas)  My secondary light source is
set on one side, at about a 45 degree angle, pointing to my subject.  If I
have a third source, it's set anywhere I need it, but further away from the
subject, to make it softer.  It's called a "filler". A filler can also be
used behind the subject, to light the hairs, and make them visible against a
background that would be too close in color to it.
My camera is set (usually on the tripod) at the best angle to see the
puppet. Usually for me, that means I center my subject in plenty of empty
space around it. I take my pics at full quality (although not RAW, which I
don't need) a bit further away from my subject, to avoid lens distortion.  I
can crop closer (removing extra frame) in a photo software later.

=95Taking the shots:
Using a tripod: when everything looks good in the viewfinder or the lcd
screen, just press the button.
If the tripod isn't all that stable, use the deayed shutter release, so that
it will have time to settle bettwen the button click and the shot being
taken. I use the multiple shots options when I can't really use a tripod. It
takes more than one shot every time I click the button. So even though I
move, one of those shots is probably more focused than others. It enables me
to select the best, sharpest pic of the bunch. Holding my breath before I
click is also a good way to limit unwanted movements. Some people like to
use a rope tripod, which is very simple to make. This is also a turorial
that should be easy to fins online.

=95Judging each shot:
Get used to how your LCD screen displays your photos, and know how to
preview the pics, and zoom them to the max. This will help you judge to see
if you have proper focus, light, and sharpness, letting you know if you can
move on to the next subject, or take extra pisc for safety.

=95Transfering the pics:
Use your camera's cable or a card reader if you have one on your computer.

=95Processing the pics:
The first step I do is to rotate the pics so that they are all upright, as
they were intended, if the camera doesn't do it automatically (mine
doesn't). Some free software are available for this. I use Rota, which does
it without any loss to the picture quality. It doesn't say so, but it only
works well if less than 100 pics are processed at a time (otherwise, some of
the later pics are not processed).
Then I take each pic at a time into a photo software (Photoshop, Photosop
Elements, The Gimp, etc), and adjust the levels, add a bit of saturation, a
bit of sharpness, and eliminate defects, such as dust particules,
distracting reflections, and even gadgets I might have used to hold the
puppet in place for the shot. I rarely resize a pic at this stage, as I want
full size and resolutio fro my archives.
But if I do resize, I do so under another name, in another folder, to keep
the good stuff good.
Everytime I resize, a subtle applicatio of sharpening is required, otherwise
you lose some finer detaisl and textures.  I save each pic under a clear,
recognisable name, in a different well-named folder. These are ready for
printing.  But I also use them as originals, to make my web version and
photo montages from.

=95Converting for web use:
Depending on the destination of the pics, you can choose what resolution you
give them.
Some online services such as Facebook will reduce your pic sizes
automatically, so don't expect huge full screen pics. Better host your best
work somewhere else, and link to it.

Most website pics are still at 72 dpi of resolution, although some are at 79
or 96dpi.
These are good resolutions for screen viewing, if the pic is big enough in
pixels to see the pic clearly.  It's safer to use this resolution, unless
you want people to start printing your full resolution pics for their own
"not always legit" use.  You can post full resolution pics (300 dpi and up)
to your own advantage, like when you want customers to print your posters
themselves for an event, or for press purposes, so they can display the best
quality possible in their article or TV show.  A full resolution is also
much appreciated when you supply free stuff to print out, such as patterns.
My current average single pic for the web is at 72 dpi and is 700 pixels
tall.  For a photo montage (portfolio), I try to use a size of  800 x 600,
as it fits within most browser's main window without the need for scrolling.

I hope this helps.
It sure helped me.
I get more bookings since I have better pics.
With the first portfolio, some people commented online about such and such
puppets, and a few months later, when seeing them in person, they had
forgotten they had seen them before.
People now remember my puppets from the pics, which is reassuring!

Here are a few websites that pop from memory with awesome pic quality and
ease of navigating. I never forgot about those sources of inspiration:
http://www.johnlambert.ca/english/ronnie/10days/photos_f.htm
http://www.michaelcurrydesign.com/index.html
http://www.craigdenston.com/
http://www.kimgrahamstudios.com/





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