Karls RAF Journey. Pt1. Airfix 1/72 Spitfire Mk.1a.

[Tim Marlow]

The picture issues you are describing are a combination of the light source and the algorithm used by the camera when taking JPG images Karl.
The fluorescent tube is probably a “warm” colour temperature one. These are favoured in temperate climates, and by emphasising yellow and red tones make us feel warmer in the colder darker winter months. They are analogous to the old fashioned yellow tinged bulbs used for very many years. Apparently those in tropical climates prefer cool blue toned tubes for precisely the opposite reasons. They give the user a sense of being cooler……..
The phone camera takes JPEG pictures. These are post shot processed by an inbuilt enhancement algorithm designed to emphasise the same tones to make the picture “pop” and be brighter and more appealing to the viewer. You can’t switch this off, it is an integral part of the JPEG image, and is why photography enthusiasts and professionals shoot in what is called RAW format. RAW is not manipulated in any way and shows exact what is seen by the sensor on the camera. The photographer can then process the image on software such as photoshop and only bring in the enhancements they want.
Combined, these aspects could well be responsible for the anomalies you see. If you want to minimise it for your model shots, just use a mid grey background in place of the cutting mat. This should help the sensors get the correct exposure and also minimise any over enhancements and colour casts.


Still think it looks good though

 

[KarlW]

Tubes are actually daylight temperature tubes, the LEDs are "cool white" which are better than the "warm white" you can also get.

 

[yak face]

I do have a proper camera, but the phone is handier for quick shots in the shed.
My lamp has flouro tubes and my overhead is LED, I suspect the flicker from the tube lamp is causing some sort of interference at the image sensor on the phones camera. Didn't get it with my old phone though so that's progress for you........

I found that mains AC led lights give that flicker which really confuses the light sensor on the phone or camera , the image can look vastly different on successive shots . I started using battery powered led lights as the DC current doesnt give the flicker. Still dont know why the different colour background messes with the colours though, some sort of techno witchcraft thats beyond me !

 

[Tim Marlow]

Tubes are actually daylight temperature tubes, the LEDs are "cool white" which are better than the "warm white" you can also get.

Just the phone trying to make the green (dominant colour) pop by enhancing the yellow content then Karl……

 

[Jakko]

You can’t switch this off, it is an integral part of the JPEG image

It’s an integral part of the camera software you’re using on the phone. JPEG just encodes the pixels and usually a colour profile,¹ but the camera software does the processing you talked about and saves that as part of the JPEG it produces. I’ve never looked into it, but I suppose there must be different apps for taking pictures with that don’t do this kind of thing?

FWIW, I would recommend not taking photos of models with a cluttered background, but use a fairly even-coloured one — just a sheet of coloured paper or thin card that you can buy in any stationer’s or craft shop will do fine. Also, I tend to switch on the HDR option on my iPad when taking model photos, especially ones where there is little contrast between colours (like white plastic card against grey kit parts) because it generally produces photos in which the details are more visible.


¹ That last one is a kind of specification of how the phone’s camera sees colours, so that other devices can change the colours they display to hopefully match.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Still dont know why the different colour background messes with the colours though, some sort of techno witchcraft thats beyond me !

In basic terms Tony it’s because our eyes and brain show us what the colour “should” be and the camera shows us what it actually is.

 

[KarlW]

Same picture, flouro tubes off, no interference cast.
I do have a shooting table with an infinity curve some where, moved house losing a bedroom and garage in the process, still not recovered everything from everywhere it went while getting a shed built. But for quick WIPs the bench will do.

 

[Tim Marlow]

It’s an integral part of the camera software you’re using on the phone. JPEG just encodes the pixels and usually a colour profile,¹ but the camera software does the processing you talked about and saves that as part of the JPEG it produces. I’ve never looked into it, but I suppose there must be different apps for taking pictures with that don’t do this kind of thing?

That’s correct Jakko, I never made that clear. The various selectable picture modes (landscape, portrait, snow scene etc) actually use a different post processing algorithm to enhance that particular scene…….JPEG also significantly compresses the image file size to save space, by the way. This can lose fine detail, but would probably only be noticeable in larger image sizes.
As I said above, if you don’t want that sort of processing in your picture shoot in RAW mode. The files are much larger but are generated exactly as the sensor sees them. It’s not an app, it’s processing free. It just saves the picture direct from the sensor without any image processing. On an IPhone, for example, you apparently use Apple ProRAW as your setting.

 

[Tim Marlow]

View attachment 464042
Same picture, flouro tubes off, no interference cast.
I do have a shooting table with an infinity curve some where, moved house losing a bedroom and garage in the process, still not recovered everything from everywhere it went while getting a shed built. But for quick WIPs the bench will do.

Like that! Shows the importance of lighting. We have to think for the camera because they are pretty dumb objects at the end of the day

 

[Mark1]

I get the same stripes on my phone when taking a picture,its interference from the led lamp,dosnt show so bad in picture after its taken though.

 

[yak face]

We have to think for the camera because they are pretty dumb objects at the end of the day

No Tim , between me and the camera , im the dumber object !

 

[Tim Marlow]

No Tim , between me and the camera , im the dumber object !

Bet you can tell the difference between white, mid grey, and black though….a camera can’t, it varies the exposure and tries to make them all the same colour…..

 

[Jakko]

Bet you can tell the difference between white, mid grey, and black though….a camera can’t, it varies the exposure and tries to make them all the same colour…..

This, by the way, is one of the ways you can tell moving images shot on videotape or digitally, from those shot on film. If you’re watching some old footage on TV and the picture goes dark and then becomes lighter again when the camera is pointed at something dark, it’s almost certainly been shot on videotape. This is because the video camera, like a modern digital one, tries to average out the brightness of the image, but takes a little time to adjust after being pointed at a generally dark (or light) area. Film doesn’t have this peculiarity: it just stays dark or light, because it’s simply recording the amount of light that’s there, without trying to balance anything.

(Old videotape footage can further be identified because it’s often gone blurry with age.)

 

[Tim Marlow]

It’s why top professional stills cameras don’t have all the bells and whistles……the photographers that use them would just switch it all off and use them in pure manual mode LOL….

 

[KarlW]

It’s why top professional stills cameras don’t have all the bells and whistles……the photographers that use them would just switch it all off and use them in pure manual mode LOL….

I go as far as Apature priority and that's about it......

No bench time last night as I had family visiting to wish me a happy birthday, and they drank all my beer......
So tonight I got the black and white wings done and sprayed the areas to be silver black too.

I am loving the way these (MRP) paints behave around masking, that white was masked off not 5 minutes after spraying then the black applied, airbrush flushed and masking removed. No peeling or marking at all.
Effin chuffed to bits with them.
Might get the silver done before bed, if strictly celebs on ice wearing masks is over......

One for the spitfire experts, how silver was the silver?

 

[KarlW]

Ah go on then, I'll do the silver before bed.....

 

[JR]

Looking fine Karl.
This paint business is very confusing for me !

 

[KarlW]

Looking fine Karl.
This paint business is very confusing for me !

You mean the bits that aren't green?????

Though seriously these acrylic lacquers are better than a kebab on the way home from the pub after the correct number of beers.

 

[JR]

You mean the bits that aren't green?????

Though seriously these acrylic lacquers are better than a kebab on the way home from the pub after the correct number of beers.

The whole term Lacquers is confusing to me Karl as as it normally applies to a clear coat of a cellulose or French Polish from the Lac Female Beatle .These Lacquers work by the evaporation of a solvent to produce a hard finish. Today it seems to have been applied to paints as well ,I know in the car refinishing trade you get Lacquers . Going to look up the term Acrylic Lacquers on Wilki.

 

[KarlW]

The whole term Lacquers is confusing to me Karl as as it normally applies to a clear coat of a cellulose or French Polish from the Lac Female Beatle .These Lacquers work by the evaporation of a solvent to produce a hard finish. Today it seems to have been applied to paints as well ,I know in the car refinishing trade you get Lacquers . Going to look up the term Acrylic Lacquers on Wilki.

https://www.scalemodeller.com.au/blogs/from-the-desk-sms/so-just-what-is-an-acrylic-lacquer
And I believe acrylic lacquers were popular in the auto trade from the 20s to the 60s.