How to take your own reference photographs?

[Dahlium]

Hi!
I'm thinking about taking my own reference photographs. I wonder how does one do this? I found out if I take them at the night in my home the lightning is getting very yellow etc... I have a pretty high quality camera so that in itself shouln't be a problem.

[vineris]

For the incandescent lighting problem, either set the white balance doohicker on your camera or take your photos outdoors during the day.

It sounds like you'd benefit from reading a basic photography how-to book. Eventually you'll want reference for colours, composition and entire scenes so being able to take good photos will be a useful skill. And there's just too much stuff to type up in a forum thread.

[Dahlium]

Seems like I have to learn how to photograph then XD

[vineris]

Seems like I have to learn how to photograph then XD

It'll be fun. Just think about how much your family holiday photos will improve! You will never again have to send off a picture where you look like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car and hope that your aunts or friends don't put in on the wall.

[kennygeeze]

If your pictures and turning out yellow indoors then your white balance is probably set to daylight or something. Your camera's manual should show you how to change the white balance... indoor lighting of your home is probably tungsten... most DSLRs have presets for different lighting temperatures.

For the reference taking itself try to zoom in to 50mm or beyond... this will lessen the distortion towards the edges of the picture and make it a little easier to draw from.

[nocozo]

Try starting out with black and white photography. Helps you to understand values and how to arrange them, just like in painting before going onto color. They also have you do this in most photography classes.

[Steamhat]

out of curiousity... why?

i mean by all means reference is important, but there is stock out there that can be the perfect reference for nearly anything, be it texture, figures or objects....

if you're taking pictures for your own needs, surely something inspiring is more important, something that suddenly inspires you, you capture it quickly to inspire you later with the same idea, be it a collection of tangled tree roots or a specific silhouette... then when you see the actual photo you took it doesn't matter that it's good quality or not, it's the idea that's more powerful...

i dunno... personally i wouldn't worry about this, speaking as someone who has tried to do this exact same thing...

[Dahlium]

Steamhat: There're many reasons, for examply the copyright rules. Also, I can't find what I always want on the web. Many photos I've watched are made to look good as photographs (for example very flat light to make the models skin look nice) but I can't make any form out of it.

Also if I take my own stock pictures I would be more part of the process:)

And everybody thanks for your kind advice! :)