Everybody loves looking at nice Lepin pictures, but what’s the difference between F-stops and aperture. And how much should you spend on your photography gear? Most of us rather save our bucks for another cool Lepin set.
Good equipment is definitely helpful, but don’t blow all your life savings on it. A standard camera will do, but personally I’ve spent a few bucks on a nice 85mm Meike lens.
Two thing you’ll need on the camera is a macro setting and a delay feature. Macro is a setting (often with a flower icon) used to capture small objects close to the camera. You’ll want to use this for small and medium builds and capturing up-close details on large builds. A time delay, when used with a mount, will result in clearer pictures by removing any motion blur from the button press.
Stop shaking, use a tripod!
Our hands are not as steady as we think. The best way to remove blur from a photo is to not be touching the camera when the photograph is taken. The delay feature mentioned above is half that battle; the other half is a mount. You can get a cheap one, it doesn’t need to be fancy.
Proper light
It really helps if you have proper lighting. A good reading light will help, but if you’re willing to spend a few dollars, I can really recommend this foldable lighting box/micro studio from Viltrox!
Like a great many things photography is both science and art (much like building Lepin!). You can know all the tricks and techniques but unless you experiment and try, you will never improve. When I photograph a model, I’ll take several similar shots. Maybe it’s flash and no flash, a different lighting adjustment, a slight repositioning of the camera, etc. I took a photography class in high school many years ago now. I’ve forgotten the vast majority of what I learned about F-stops, apertures, ISO numbers and such. I will still experiment with them if the picture isn’t coming out right. But I have learned that no amount of post-processing will fix a bad image. This is something I’m bad at, but keeping a written log may be beneficial in your photography journey
I hope this article has helped you to see the possibility that good Lepin photography can be accomplished inexpensively, and has given those unfamiliar with the photographic side of our hobby a good entry point. For those who like me who are OK photographers perhaps, I hope I’ve given you a tip or two that helps. And for those who are really good, well hopefully I didn’t get too much wrong!
