Comments on: How to Take Photos of a TV Without the Squigglies

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:15:49 +0000

it should be “lightning fast”, not “lightening”

By: James

James — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:43:14 +0000

Capturing the images is now mch easier since most people owns a LCD or plama YV where images are not projected as pixels.

By: Joe D'Silva

Joe D'Silva — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:35:13 +0000

I pointed my 5d mk II to our LCD HDTV tonight, while there’s definitely no issue with “scan lines” … it ain’t pro quality stuff either … I do get the that “crazy moire” that ken mentions …

By: Sydney Accounting Services

Sydney Accounting Services — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:58:42 +0000

Brilliant article. I always thought that it wasn’t possible to take a photo of a TV without the squiggles due to the interlacing. It is interesting to see that it can be done.

By: Richard Guy Briggs

Richard Guy Briggs — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:34:30 +0000

@Jodi, I can’t comment on newer HDTVs, since I don’t know the tech details and haven’t tried it since we don’t have one. Coincidentally, I’m also shooting a 5DmkII…

To clarify my “get the flash off the camera” comment above, part of the reason for that is to get your kids to eclipse the flash from the TV so that the flash doesn’t wash it out.

Another comment from above about white balance. TV tends to be a very high colour temperature, anywhere from 6500 to 9300K where much other indoor lighting (incandescent and fluorescent) is around 2700-3300K, causing the white balancing issues. Passive lighting from the TV, flash lighting, daylight or other daylight-corrected sources are going to be closer to the colour temp of the TV, but still not quite there. Dusk might actually work…

By: cliff

cliff — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:43:38 +0000

Now that plasma and LCD screens are in play this issue shouldn’t be a problem as CRT monitors are dissolved out. Am I wrong? Isn’t this just a CRT issue?

By: PhotoKenetic

PhotoKenetic — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:08:55 +0000

This is slightly off subject but I think it applies well enough to mention. After I upload a photo to my PC and tune it up (PS Elements) I use my the camera on my cellphone to photograph the pic on my computer’s LCD display. That ends up making some good images for wallpaper on my cellphone.

By: Jodi Friedman

Jodi Friedman — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:11:11 +0000

I may have – as this was the Canon G11. I usually use a Canon 5D MKII, but did not feel like lugging it all day for a few snapshots of my kids… This is good info to have and know in the back of my head.

So another question, since I normally am not photographing TVs… For new TVs – the HDTV type, would this apply or would I just shoot as usual and it would be fine?

Jodi
MCP Photoshop Actions
http://www.mcpactions.com

By: Richard Guy Briggs

Richard Guy Briggs — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:05:52 +0000

@Jodi: I don’t know if you would have enough control over your P&S to be able to do it, but if you can set it up, get the TV far enough away, use a shutter speed for TV synchronization, then use a flash to light your kids much closer than the TV and you may be able to balance both needs. This is certainly doable with an SLR and even more help if you can get the flash off the camera.

By: Jodi Friedman

Jodi Friedman — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:46:27 +0000

Interesting… I was at a museum a few weeks ago – and they had a green screen and my kids were dancing. I wanted to capture the TV. I just had my P&S and there were lines on my images of the TV.

As I see it since they were in movement, I needed to let light in and needed speed to freeze them. So unfortunately, this may not have helped me. But it is good to know for the future…

Thanks,

Jodi
MCP Photoshop Actions
http://www.mcpactions.com