Taking pictures for plan views...

[pauljs75]

Some things to note for taking plan view type pics:

Lighting: For plan style pics you want fairly even diffuse lighting. Not always possible, but preferable. Yes, it's not that dramatic. But anyhow for drawing blueprints or modeling - strong shadows and highlights can cause problems. Diffuse even lighting allows one to see the actual lines.

Lens angle: If possible use a lens with a higher focal length. This means getting back from the car and using a zoom or telephoto. This is because such lenses flatten the image (desirable for plans.) Remember to keep a better eye on focusing. Longer focal length lenses also shorten the depth of field (if I recall right.) Avoid short focal length lenses (fisheye, panoramic) as they tend to distort the image.

Exposure: Try to set the exposure to meter for the color on the car that represents the midtone of all the shades represented.

Focusing: Some autofocus systems have a difficult time accurately locking on shiny surfaces, etc. If possible try to switch to manual focus. Either that or try to focus on a part of the car that is relatively non-reflective and reframe for the actual picture.

Not sure how good that advice is, but it couldn't hurt much. Anyone else?

[Icekid84]

Interesting advice, hopefully someone will find it usefull. You take many pictures of blueprints?

Not offhand... It's not pictures of blueprints, but rather how to take pictures for them (illustration references.) Just relaying some information I've gathered and the such.