Here's my first repaint

[mhensley]

Using one of my many Harbinger orcs-

Anybody have some tips on how to take better pictures with a simple digital camera? I had a lot of problems getting it to focus properly and the only time it did was when I left the flash on like this shot.

 

[Lalato]

Nice job on the repaint. I don't have any tips for you, except to say that you might want to also post this in the Crafter's Corner at http://www.hordelings.com (it's a website for D&D Minis fans).

--sam

 

[mhensley]

Thanks for the link.

 

[Stormrunner]

As you're finding out, the built-in flash on most cameras is too harsh for up-close pictures (it's optimized for targets about 5-7 feet away). What you need is lighting that's bright enough to not need flash, but more diffuse. This is why professional photo studios have those big white squares on adjustable stands, that they bounce lights off of in order to "fill in" any harsh shadows.
You can get a similar effect on the cheap with a "light tent", or in this case "light bucket". Get a cheap flimsy white plastic bucket from the hardware store. Turn it upside down. Cut a large arch out of one side of the bucket, so it looks kinda like a crude open-face helmet. Place a couple of bright lamps above and behind the bucket so they shine through the walls of the bucket and illuminate the interior with a directionless white light. Place your mini inside the bucket, and set up your tripod to shoot through the "arch". Make sure the camera sees only the bucket interior - don't get any of the lights "in frame" or your shot will wash out (if the camera has one of those lens hood things, use it).

For focus, make sure you're in "macro" mode. Shooting anything closer than about 3 feet or so usually requires macro. Look for a little stylized flower (apparently shooting close-ups of flowers is what NORMAL people use this for - but for the rest of us, it works well for minis...).

 

[frankthedm]

Anybody have some tips on how to take better pictures with a simple digital camera? I had a lot of problems getting it to focus properly and the only time it did was when I left the flash on like this shot.

[IMaGel]http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/3351/orcshotau3.jpg[/IMaGel] If you were holding the camera by hand, that was one problem. When using flash, the camera needs a lot less time for the lense to grab the picture. When taking a picture without flash, the shutter is open far longer and the natural motion of a human body can spoil the shot. If you do not have a tripod, set the camera down on a table or a book or whatever you got. People spend $100s of dollars on new cameras when their old ones worked fine because they think their blurry pictures were the camer's fault.

The second problem could be you were too close. Even a camera with a Macro [tulip icon] option can not focus very close to the lense. Take pictures as you pull back in 1 inch intervals. That should find you your camera's sweet spot for mini shooting.

Only other thing is it looked like you were aiming low on the fig because that area did manage to come in the most focused.