Shooting Pictures from a TV
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| Title: | Shooting Pictures from a TV |
| Creator: | Diane Roe |
| Date(s): | September 1989 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | |
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| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Shooting Pictures from a TV is a 1989 article by a fan in Art Forum #2.
The subject is telepics.
Excerpts
I'm tired of using the same studio released photos as reference for my illustrations. Got any suggestions?
Sure do. If you have access to a VCR and tapes (or live broadcast can do in a pinch—more about this later) containing images of your subject, and a totally manual camera (typically a 35mm SLR— single lens reflex; no instamatics), you've got an excellent and exciting alternative. You can shoot your own photos off of the TV screen, thus increasing the poses and facial expressions available to you.
[snipped]
Before you start setting up your camera for the shooting session, take a picture of something "normal" that will fill the entire picture frame. This is to provide the technician at the photo lab with something to line the printing machine up with—otherwise you may wind up with your pictures missing part of the image on one side. If you are doing your own printing, this is not necessary.
Do I need a flash?
No. Do not use a flash. The camera is recording the light emitted by the TV; a flash will defeat this (and cause glare on the glass). Also, do your filming in a darkened room; and with the lights off. (Note: a flashlight would come in handy, otherwise you'll be turning the lights on and off a lot. Turn the flashlight off while I shooting.)
[snipped]
Set the speed at 1/8 second. Turn off the light. Shoot. Turn light back on and record both the f-stop and speed. Change the f-stop to the next full setting (the next number print on the lens) for print film, or the next "click" or half-stop (in between the printed f-stop numbers; you can write this setting down as f4/5.6, i.e. the "click" in between f4 and f5.5) for slide film. Slide fil» is less forgiving than print—a half- stop can make a difference. (Rewind the tape if not using a pause setting on VCR—more later.) Turn off the light. Shoot. Light on and record settings. Continue this process up to, and including, f11 or fI6. Change the shooting speed to 1/4 sec. and reset the f-stop to the first setting. Repeat as before.
Is the image I select for the test important?
Yes, very much so. Select a scene that reflects normal lighting situations; for instance, the bridge of the Enterprise, not of Vincent prowling the streets of New York at night. Choose one scene only and shoot only this for your test (but pick one you like).
I don't have a VCR. Am I out of luck?
No, it is possible to take pictures off the screen during a "real time" broadcast, but this complicates matters. Not only are you not able to rewind the tape to shoot the same scwte for testing (see above), you lose another advantage of tape—it can be rewound. Say you want a shot of Data showing his fingsr to Picard ("The Naked Now"), and your timing's off, and you hit the cable release too late. Just back it up and try again. Or better yet, do a practice run or two, to get the timing down before taking it for real.