How to Properly Photograph CE Games for use on the site

[twistedsymphony]

Here is the process for taking pictures of games:

The Setup

• use a tri-pod if you have one to ensure that the shot is steady, if you dont have a tri pod you can set your camera on top of a box or a stack of books, if you're still having trouble getting steady shots use your camera's built in timer so the shot is snapped when you're not even touching it.
• disable the flash on your camera to reduce glare and washout, flashes mounted to the camera are garbage and do more harm than good, disable it and if you can't throw some duct-tape over it... trust me you don't want to use it.
• if you have a light tent use that, if you don't have a light tent then create a "scene" using a bed sheet, large sheet of clean paper or other fabric as a back drop, clean white or gray is best. (I described my own cheap setup below)
• light the scene from multiple locations, lights should be arranged such that the game is evenly lit with as little glare as possible, if you don't have a light tent or proper camera lights then just find a well light room. make sure the game is being lit from as high up as possible, hitting the front and the sides of the game (not from behind)... indirect lighting is the best.. meaning light reflected off of walls or through a filter... direct lighting causes glare. Lighting is the most important part of taking good photos.. If all else fails you can take photos outside on an overcast day (clear days have bad lighting)
• make sure that there isn't any obvious reflections eg: the Master Chief helmet on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition was tricky to photograph without any reflections off the shield.

My current photography setup is very simple and was relatively cheap (~$40). I bought:

• A roll of white, light-blocking, curtain fabric.
• 2 cheap clamp lights
• 2 "Reveal" Light Bulbs (these bulbs produce better color than normal bulbs)

I hung the fabric on the wall and draped the bottom over a table, then I clamped both lights on the ceiling pointing down at where the game will be. make sure they light the front and sides of the game box evenly.

Framing the Shot

• Always take your photos in LANDSCAPE (wider than it is tall).
• NEVER leave anything out of frame... I get lots of pictures with corners of boxes cut off, it's not good.
• VERY IMPORTANT: leave plenty of empty space around what you're taking a picture of. Most images need to be rotated or cropped slightly and without empty space to work with it becomes impossible to do without cutting off parts of the image. If you're taking your pictures at a reasonably high resolution the white space can be cropped out easily without losing quality.

Shots you should take

• Take more than one shot at each angle, it's easier to push the shutter two or three times and delete duplicates later than to have to go back and setup a shot again once you realize that one of them came out blurry.
• Photos should be large enough to read the print.
• Take a picture of the front of the case straight on.
• Take a picture of the back of the case straight on (make sure you can read the case, and the bar-code number). THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PHOTO
• If the case is thicker or larger than a normal DVD case then take an angle shot of the front to show depth.
• If the case is large enough to feature artwork on sides other than the front and back then take straight on photos of all sides that feature artwork.
• If the case has a slip cover take a photo of the case in all appropriate angles with the cover on, then again in all appropriate angles with the cover off.
• Take a picture of the inside of the case with the discs and paperwork as they were when the case was first opened, the only thing you should change is spinning the discs so they're positioned right side up.
• If there is a flap with a 2nd disc take a picture of the flap in both positions so you can see the disc behind the flap
• If there is more paperwork than just the manual then make sure you photograph all of it
• if the case folds out or comes in a box with multiple items then take photos of the unboxing process so people can see how the box opens and how things were arranged in the box.
• if the CE comes with trinkets, figurines or other bonus items take pictures of the items alone in their wrappers, if you don't mind taking them out of the wrappers then photograph them again alone outside of their wrappers
• if the game came with any pre-order content then take appropriate photos of that too.

Some good examples of photographs you should imitate:
http://collectorsedition.org/game-db...-xbox-360-ntsc
http://collectorsedition.org/game-db...-xbox-360-ntsc

Submitting Photos:

• Please do not crop, re-size or color correct any of your photos, I have some programs setup to do that and if you give me the raw files from your camera
• put the photos in a zip file
• email* them to twistedsymphony (at) gmail (dot) com
• make sure you include your forum user-name so I can give you credit

*some email accounts will not let you send files over 8MB, you can either create multiple zip files and sent multiple emails, or send me a PM and I will try to set you up with an FTP account where you can upload your files.

it might seem like a lot but it's pretty simple once you do it, I set these guidelines up for myself just so I could ensure that the information was standardized from game to game.

Photographs, especially well-shot photographs make a fantastic addition to our database and they're always greatly appreciated.