LEGOGRAPHIA I

We build LEGO to please ourselves, but a large part of the online community is about sharing creations. Ideas, themes, techniques have all spread thanks to the many sites setup to provide a forum for LEGO builders around the world. At the heart of these are images. A collection of pixels which to us, translate into another collection of blocks. Because of this, the quality of photographs has become so important.

These articles won't tell you how to start from scratch with a camera set on AUTO, one desk lamp, and a piece of letter sized white printer paper. No. I'm going to assume that most of you can figure out the basics, control your camera, make a half decent backdrop and provide enough light. I'm going to take you into the woods, into the thick underbrush - I'm going to give guidance into how to turn the mediocre into the great.

The easiest way to get okay, neutral, no complaints photographs of your LEGO creations is to build a lightbox. A cardboard box with the sides and tops cut out and paned with tissue or wax paper. A lightbox provides diffuse even lighting, and is the first step past those direct-flash, dark basement photos that we all started with. Many LEGO photography guides would end with the suggestion that you build a lightbox, but I'm starting with it. Build it, take some shots, and get over it. Break it up, and recycle it. It's a start, but it's boring.

However, the lightbox teaches us some lessons. What do those big tissue paned windows do? To know this, you have to understand shadows.

LESSON ONE: Light.

Standing outside during the day when the sun is up fairly high and there are no/little clouds, your shadow will have a very sharp edge. Standing outside in overcast weather, if you can even find your shadow it will have a very gradual edge. These examples represent Spectral and Diffuse light sources. A spectral light source is very small; the sun is all its glory is about the size of your thumbnail from earth, as such it casts a very sharp shadow. A diffuse light source is very big; on an overcast day the sun hits the clouds, which then become the light source - and they fill the entire sky (Sky > Thumbnail), this casts a very gradual shadow that fades out.

Which one is best for LEGO? Depends on what look you want. Diffuse light is going to even out all the edges and be less noticeable, Spectral light is going to give small highlights and accentuate any edge it comes across. So chosing between the two is up to you, what I will talk about is how to create both in an artificial fashion.

You're going to need some nice lights. Either a high powered desk-type-lamp, or a flash. Naturally, this lightsource is fairly small and will get smaller the further away you put it. So creating spectral light is fairly easy. To create diffuse light, you're going to need some sort of screen. Something like those panes of tissue from the light box. So however you want, make some sort of frame - the bigger the better, but don't make it akward to use, cardboard, wood, LEGO, whatever you make it out of is up to you. Then, fill the inside with a layer of tissue paper or something of the like. Now when you put this between your light source and your LEGO model, it becomes the lightsource and is much larger than the lamp/flash it self. The closer this screen is to the model, the bigger a lightsource it becomes. Make sure your lamp is lighting up the entire screen too, if not, move the lamp further away. This may seem counter-intuitive, as I've just told you that the further away it is the smaller it is, but the size of the lightsource has nothing to do with how large of a cast it gives.


Now that you know about light size and what it does, we move onto light direction. This is very dependant on the angles of your creation. If you have a spaceship, with a very big side that is full of greebles and you want to draw attention to those greebles, what do you do? The eye is attracted to contrast, so you want to see both highlight and shadow on them. Therefore, lighting them from the front probably isn't going to work, when you can't see a shadow on them it will just make them look flat. If you want to show texture, you have to rake the light across it. Beware. This will accentuate all texture. So while we may think that a wall of bricks is smooth, really there are small cracks between each brick and raking the light across will bring these right out.
So we can make the conclusion then that lighting more directly at a wall of bricks will better hide these cracks and make it appear smoother.

You can also use light direction to accent the edge of a creation. Say you make a spaceship with a striking shape, and you want to make an image that shows it very well. You need some way of drawing the eye to the edge. Again, contrast is the answer. The simplest way is to wisely chose your backdrop (light model, dark backdrop; dark model, light backdrop) to contrast your creation. But this lesson is about light. But how do you light an edge? Backlight it. Have your light source strike the back of the model and it will create a 'halo' or rimlight around the model. Note that the "back" of the model is all relative to how it is posed in the photo, and doesn't always mean that the light will be directly across from the camera. It can come from the side and still strike the back of the ship, so long as the back is turned to the side. Here is an example. You can see that the side facing away from us is outlined ever so slightly (note that this type of backlight also lights up the transparent bricks, making them resemble windows more). Now, obviously you have to have more than one lightsource when backlighting, because it's only lighting the side you don't see. But having more than one light source doesn't mean you need more than one lamp/flash. And this brings us into the next topic for today.

Contrast. The difference between two things. In this case I want to talk about the contrast between your lighted side and your shadow side. Lets pretend we're talking about a cube with one of the coners pointed right at us, so we see just two faces of it. You put your light on one side, and it only lights that one side; so while you've got very nice detail on the light side, you can't make out the other side at all. What you need is a fill light. You still want a shadow side, but you want to be able to see it too. The main thing about fill is that you shouldn't notice it. This is why you generally don't want to use another light that might cast a second shadow. What you need is a reflector. I use a giant piece of white foam core, or sometimes white matte board. All a reflector does is reflect light from your main light back onto the model. This will lower the contrast between your light and shadow sides, but will maintain them as light/shadow. The closer the reflector is, the more light it will bounce back and the lower the contrast. If you're in a room with a lot of ambient light that is 'filling in' your shadows and you want more contrast, get a big black board and use it instead of a reflector - this will block the ambient light without bouncing back much of your main light.

Now you know how to use a two light set up. Main light and fill. Which brings us back briefly to direction. You don't always have to light the side that is most facing you. You can make it the shadow side and light the side you see less of. Example. This can be a little more dramatic than simply lighting the most visible side.

The final topic for light is to add a third light. This one can also be called a backlight, but isn't the same as the one mentioned previously. The third light is lighting the backdrop. Usually, unless you've got some sort of diorama, you want to seperate your model from the backdrop. The best way is to get the model quite a distance infront of it, so that the backdrop falls out of focus. Another way is to light it. Say you're photographing against a white backdrop, but because of how you're lighting it's coming out darker, looking a little muddy and boring. You want it to dissappear. So, put a light on it, make sure to cover it all, and make it a bright light. You want to overexpose it from the main model, so that it becomes the brightest white. Here is an example, and while it isn't LEGO, or even a very good shot, the backdrop is pure white - so you don't even think about it. You can also use a backlight for more dramatic purposes. If you're photographing on a darker background, you can create a spot of light behind your model that will draw the eye. I'll point to this shot as an example. Now, this might be hard to do with a desk lamp, as you need to turn your light into a spot light. But all you need to do is use some black paper (the thicker the better) to make a cone and stick it on your light. You're making the light cast smaller, a spot light as opposed to a flood light. Alternatively, a small flashlight could work here, but might bring up some issues I'll address in the conclusion.

Now you know the three light setup. You can go where ever from here. Try using small reflectors to bring more light to certain areas, try making them out of foil, try out different contrast ratios (even try a silhouette), vary between spectral and diffuse light and work out what works better where. I'll end on a more complicated note. You should all know about White Balance as a camera setting. All lightsources have a colour cast, and white balance sorts out the colour of light your using and makes it white. Naturally, you can only balance for one colour of light at a time. So if you use a tungsten desk lamp (yellow/orange) and balance for it, but then put an LED flashlight for a backlight, it's going to look blue. And if you then balance for the blue light, you main light will look yellow. Unless you want this look, all your lights have to be the same colour. This can be faked of course. If you need to make a blue light yellow, just stick something yellow and transparent infront of it. Obviously this won't be completely accurate, but it gets closer. All that said, the colour of light makes no difference to a black and white image. Something rarely explored with LEGO photography.

Reboot

While this blog is officially defunct on the whole, I'm rebooting the series below. I'll try to condense it and provide a more unique collection of information than other photography how-to's. Thanks to all those who read Masoko Tanga in it's heyday, she was a fun project and a nod to some of the very first LEGO themed blogs; but alas, it seemed she went the same way as the blogs she emulated.

So stay tuned for hopefully her last voyage.

LEGO Photography 101 - Week 2

Week Two: LIGHT.

It cannot be stressed enough to the importance light has to photography. Photo = Light, in the Greek. Forget about your subject, it is just a coincidence in the scene of Light you are capturing. If you photograph LEGO in a dark and dank basement, then this week's lecture is for you. Today I'm going to touch on the importance of light to photographing LEGO models, and how you can harness it sufficiently to aid in giving you great LEGO photographs.

Firstly we must consider the application for which the photographs are destined. Taking shots of your LEGO creations must display as much detail as possible, true colours, and depth. This week I'll only touch on the first and second. Detail is very key, the photos need to look nice but foremost must provide a full capture of the model. With this knowledge in hand we can determine the type of light which will best suit us. Direct light is out. Much too harsh, and creates distinct and deep shadows. You need diffuse light, or in layman's terms, a large light source. What qualifies as a large light source? A cloudy day, a light tent or light box, window light (and this is specific, so wait), or reflected light.

An overcast day is the easiest as it requires very little work from you, however, you're really dependent on the weather. If you want to take this route - remember that the heavier the overcast the less shadow you will have. You'll also probably end up with dull colours that must be punched up in post-editing.

A light tent or a light box is about as fancy as you can get. You'll need a cardboard box, a box cutter, some box tape, and some form of half-opaque/half-transparent paper (e.g.: tissue, wax, parchment, etc.). Then go here and follow the instructions. This should cost you next to nothing. From here, you can take a direct light source, like an off camera flash, a lamp, or direct sun and make it into a diffuse source by shining it through the semi-transparent paper. The all white interior will also help bounce around stray light and reduce directional shadows. For the purposes of LEGO photography, the more lights the better - however, watch that you avoid mixing different types of lights and I'll get into this latter in the post (WHITE BALANCE).

Lastly we come to window light. When referred to as a photographic light source, it means specifically diffuse light from a window - not direct sun. So you'll need an overcast day, or a window facing North (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere) or South (for those in the Southern Hemisphere) - this position will avoid direct sun all year round. Additionally with this light source you must make use of a reflector to bounce back light and reduce shadows. Ideally you place your model at the far side of a window (from yourself), so imagine: (you)--window--(model). Then get the reflector right beside you pointing at the model, and get it as close as possible to the model - if it isn't in your way it isn't close enough. More on reflectors to come.

With options 1 and 3, you will need a backdrop. White bristol board will do excellently, depending on the size of your model, larger SHIP size creations might require a bedspread. Curve your backdrop, from a vertical surface to a horizontal one, to eliminate the background. Use the matte side of the board, you'll want to avoid the possible problems glare might pose with the glossy side. White is best. Once you are comfortable shooting on white, begin experimenting with different colours, darker drops help with darker models, and coloured drops can spark visual contrast (Tim Z, Spook, is good with this). However, avoid coloured backdrops until you understand White Balance. If you are using something larger than bristol board, look for something with a fine texture: bed sheets are good, bath towels bad - get the idea?

Reflectors can be had just as easily. They MUST be white, for the intents and purposes of photographing LEGO. Foam core, canvas boards, bristol board, illustration board, white cardboard, you see where I'm going. As mentioned above, if you are using a reflector, it must be VERY, VERY close. Light falls off very quickly from them, and an extra 10cm can make or break your shadows.

White Balance. O muse, help me through this one. Some of you are aware that different light has different colour casts to it, even though its 'white'. Our eyes to a pretty good job of auto adjusting and we don't notice it all that much. However, take a photo with a daylight white balance with incandescent bulbs and you'll understand how important this is. White Balance is all about getting neutral whites, without any colour cast. Cameras are able to adjust to specific temperatures of colour to neutralize whites, but only one at a time. What this means is that if you start mixing daylight with lightbulbs, incandescent with flourescent, you aren't going to be able to fix your colour cast without some intense and impressive photoshop maneuvering. So don't. Flash = Daylight. For more info on Colour Temperature see wikipedia: [link]. Do yourself a favour, stick to one light colour, set your camera accordingly, and be merry.

Okay, I've done all you said, but my photos are all grey!

18% grey. What? Okay, here's the deal. Computers level tone from 0 (black) to 255 (white) with 8-bit colour. Value #128 is also known as 18% grey. Camera light meters read scenes and expose to achieve an average of 18% grey, because generally this works. Experiment: shoot a white piece of paper (as the only thing in frame) on your camera's auto setting with ample light, and it will still come out grey. So when you photograph with a white backdrop your camera wants to make that 18% grey. Solutions? Either in manual exposure, or with exposure compensation you can 'overexpose' (by your cameras meter) until you actually get a proper exposure. Alternatively, if you can lock your exposure (as in, set it on something and then keep it set the same even while photographing something entirely different), make a large wall of dark grey bricks and give it ample light, then fill your frame with it and take an exposure reading. Dark grey is probably fairly close to 18% grey. Try it, and shift either way until your exposure is proper.

Note that if you are using a dark backdrop, like black per se, your camera will try and overexpose to make that black grey. Learn to know what you camera is doing and act accordingly.

I hope that all wasn't too much to take. If you're lost, read through it again, slower around the parts that confuse you and use google to do some more research. Once you get your head around it, it isn't hard and you'll wonder how you managed to conjure up half-decent shots before. Next week I'm going to move on to the taking of the photos, shutter speeds, apertures and tripods galore!

LEGO Photography 101 - Week 1

With this post, I'm going to start a series named "LEGO Photography 101". The objective of this series is to provide in-depth tips on how one should best photograph their LEGO creations. As Lukas helped to explain, photography is VITAL function of presenting your creations online, and the best photography will give the model the best response it can get.

How hard is it to achieve great photographs? Not very. There is a little bit of work involved, but as you're spending the time to build your models in the first place, a little effort for photography isn't much to ask for. How expensive is it? You probably have all you need already.

In order to provide in-depth tips, I am doing this as a series and each week (hopefully) I'll post an article relating to only one part of the process. There are many guides available at most forums that are all-in-one stop shops, so if you're completely lost on LEGO photography you may want to use one of those as your main education and treat this as additional help. 

Week 1 : Is my camera good enough?

With the digital revolution well established, the choice of camera has become an even more complicated process than before. Back in the glory days of film, a camera was only as good as the film put in it. This is probably why film cameras have a longer life span than digital, there was just much less to them. This also presented you with a very large selection of results depending on the type of film you may have used. With digital many users are prone to taking the pictures straight from the camera and doing nothing to them. While they may view this along the same lines as not editing prints they got from film, one must consider that your digital camera only has one sensor and the number of ways that sensor can capture colours differently is severely limited. I can't imagine using the same film all the time, therefore I can't imagine not doing some sort of processing to my digital images!

Anyways, getting back on topic, with the limitation the above mentioned one must be careful when purchasing a digital camera. Your first big decision will be between a Point & Shoot or a DSLR. You're not training to become professionals, so a Point & Shoot will do the average LEGO builder fine, therefore, I'm going to focus first on the Point & Shoots and then touch base a little with DSLRs later on.

With a point and shoot you have one lens, so you better make sure you've got good quality optics! It all really depends on what else you may be using the camera for but consider the following: large zooms will not give you as sharp photos as smaller zooms, there will just be more glass in there; watch for "optical zoom" and "digital zoom", the former means that the lens is actually moving to zoom in and the latter means that the camera is just cropping the image - the former is thus much preferable, digital zoom is a cheap gimmick best avoided.

For photographing LEGO there are some key features you want: Exposure Compensation and White Balance. Aside from those, you won't NEED any other controls. Many Point & Shoots might not have specific White Balance Control, but will have different shooting modes (indoors, outdoors, night, snow, etc.) that are set with different white balances - if your camera has these, experiment and see which one gives you the most neutral whites when photographing your LEGO models. Don't get carried away with Megapixels, and don't choose one camera over another because it has more. The actual image sensor on a Point & Shoot is much smaller than 35mm film and it is the size of the sensor that matter more than how many Megapixels you have. 6 will do fine. Anything more, and your just trying to see how many people you can cram into a phonebooth. Bad idea. You're just going to end up with more noise/grain.

Marco is an excellent feature present on many Point & Shoots and will allow you to get very close to your Model when the feature is activated. KNOW how close your camera can get to its subject while remaining in-focus, and don't exceed those limitations.

With all that said, most Point & Shoots will work fine as long as you know how to use them and are doing so properly. Always read your manual! It will provide good camera specific information that you need to understand.

Now I'll touch a little on DSLRs. If you're interested in photography aside from snapshots of your LEGO models, you may want to look into one. However, if you are unfamiliar with how to take a photograph manually then I would recommend you purchase a used 35mm film SLR and learn the basics from there. 35mm film and equipment can be had very cheap, and older equipment is very reliable! The less electronics, the longer it will probably last - I have cameras from the 1920s in perfect working order. Some people like to think film is more expensive than digital but they ignore the low cost of older and used SLR bodies and the high cost of DSLRs that will probably be in need of replacement much quicker.

Regardless, if you know about exposure and manual controls, and have access to a DSLR you can take very good photos of your LEGO models! More control over image taking will result in you being able to respond to different situations much easier. You will have access to Exposure Compensation as well as Manual Exposure and proper White Balance controls. If you are shooting your models on Manual, make sure your aperture is set to a relatively high f/stop to make sure all of your model is in-focus. It depends on the model's size, your focal length, and how close you are, but you don't want to be shooting any more open then f/5.6.

Many of the things I said about Point & Shoots applies here too. Sensor size is much more important than Megapixels. DSLRs are slowly becoming fitted with Full-Frame sensors, which is fancy terminology for saying they're finally the same size as 35mm film. Most DSLRs still have APS sized sensors, so again 6mp will do just fine. Don't overspend for features you may never need or use. 

When choosing a brand, know that they will all perform splendidly. Don't listen to anybody saying one is better than another, they're speaking out of their rectum. Consider if you have any old lenses, if/how they can work with a modern DSLR, the selection of lenses the company offers (will they suit your needs?), compatible flashes, what type of memory card (all mostly CF), but MOST importantly - how does it feel in your hand? Go to the store or find a buddy with one and feel them out.

That ends Week 1 of LEGO Photography 101. With all luck I'll move on to our next topic next week which will be the shooting environment!

The Hundred Days

Vive le Masoko Tanga! This blog has been defunct for quite sometime now, I was hit with school, work, something of a social life, and a general dim age has descended upon my hobby of LEGO building.  Tom may actually be dead. Well, who knows, perhaps he might strike at the flanks with a well prepared article. Enough talk, I move to the point of this post, and a most glorious point it is - to restore Masoko Tanga to its previous prestige!

Lukas, a Young Spacer who unlike myself still qualifies as a TFOL, has advanced his skills far passed what they were when he started building. I've known him loosely since he came to the Classic Space Forums - I've always been a relative outsider, and my inability to attend festivals will leave me to this fate more or less indefinitely.  I've always held Lukas in high regard, he never becomes egotistical about his skills, never lowers himself to blatant elitism, and generally tends to avoid internet drama - skills which seem to be lacking in the general Space community these days. So I sat down at my computer today and had an interview with him! I know he was recently interviewed by LAML, so I tried to ask questions that weren't of the basic and obvious variety.

 Now, in the last couple of years the demographics of the LEGO community have really changed. Back in 2003, you could refer to the online community as the AFOL community and it would make sense, the majority if not the entirety of the community at places like LUGnet were adults. 

"The starting group in toy chat rooms, LUGnet, and ultimately Classic-Space was started by men pretty much over the age of 30" says Lukas, "I think that the age demographic of the more intense LEGO community declined as time went on. ... along with a burst of internet activity, young people joined in". LEGO has and always will be targeted at the young audience, so its not as if the fans don't exist. By the time of LUGnet many younger fans were even online, as Bzpower is an example of, and smaller forums like Saber Scorpian's. But the group isn't the same as those, today there are many younger fans who show the same level of skill and effort that was previously only possessed by AFOLs. 

"We weren't aware of this more intense way of building until we were old enough to get on the internet and realize we could participate too". I think the last part there is ringing on a greater truth. At the start of my online excursions, settled into the Lego General section of Bzppower forums, I became aware of the AFOL .Space (who were not yet on Classic-Space); it never really occurred to be that I could join them, at least not at that stage in my building skills.

Lukas also came from a smaller community of younger builders, "I think it helped me ease into the serious building". There's a certain change that occurs in the mind of a LEGO fan when they discover a trove of people online who share the same passion, and another more significant change when that group is weeded out of those who will move on from LEGO once they pass the target age; "I realized how much people really cared and how much work other people put into the hobby".

There is also something to be said about coming from such a community and how it plays out upon a builder's skill and attitude, "if I had hopped right into Classic-Space, Classic-Castle, [or] the higher up forums it probably would have been more of a shock, and might have turned me away from the hobby". While harsh criticism is the best way to improve skills, sometimes it does a lot of good to be grounded with others around the same skill level.

"It also gave me a feeling that some people are very stuck up.... The high standards go both ways". There is often a thin line between tough love and though.  Sometimes the though love is needed, sometimes just the though, and other times neither. Its a situation that is dependent upon both sides as to what is needed. When I finally immigrated to Classic-Space forums I knew that I was going there for harsh and real criticism, of the kind you can't get there today. Such, I was not deterred when my first handful of models were largely dejected. Still, I was putting forth my best and hoping to make it better.

"People should put their best foot forth. ... the models that they have worked on the most and are most proud of" says Lukas, touching on the hierarchy of builders within the community, "some people reject all people who, while [they] might have incredible ideas or techniques, may not be able to make a spaceship with a consistent colour scheme". Luckily in my stay at Classic-Space there was no rejection of community members and I received the 'tough love' I needed.

"I still poke my head into both the higher-up and the lower forums, just so I can get the best view, I suppose".

Another recent change to the community was another migration. Just as many members left LUGnet and splintered into separate forums, many members are using flickr these days to host images of their creations and to interact with the LEGO community. 

"I still dislike thinking in terms of better and worse builders, but it does exists, and a forum where any builder, no matter how inexperienced [and] no matter how many years of grammar can join, things will go downhill eventually. This is one of the reasons why I enjoy flickr so much" that is, the ability to control who you are dealing with - while at the same time being part of a community with such a large pool of members, new and old.

"It makes it easier for new people to join, .... and with such a web of users, new people can quickly find experienced builders and learn from them". Whether or not flickr has the longevity that no other community site has achieved, remains to be seen, but it seems to incorporate a lot of features that people longed for in the sites of old.

We then moved to questions involving building. This blog has always had a soft spot for Microscale Space, so I kept the questions focused. Microscale has risen anew in the last couple years to heights of prestige never previously enjoyed. It seems like such a specific genre, but in fact it is the most open of any building style.

"Once you toss the minifig out the window really anything can be made.... it lets extraneous parts get unique uses and doesn't destroy my collection. It also allows for a myriad of unique shapes unrestricted by gravity or that pesky thing known as 'common sense'".

Why then did it take so long for Microscale to become an established and popular style? Before builders like Mike Yoder or Jerac came along, microscale was relatively obscure and the only models that enjoyed celebrity were those of Paul Baulch. 

"It just goes with the ebb and flow of building styles and fads. I feeling it fading a bit nowadays but that's fine. MICROSCALE WILL STRIKE AGAIN". Hah. Perhaps it has something to do with the fascination many AFOLs had during the LUGnet period with producing SHIPs. When you have enough parts to create big ships that fit with minifigs, microscale doesn't even begin to enter the equation. However, as mentioned earlier there was a great rise in the number of serious younger builders - who undoubtedly had much smaller collections than AFOLs and therefore couldn't produce SHIPs. 

I dared to dive into the builder's mind and clarify a few details about the thinking process that goes into creating a model.

"Generally when I get an idea it comes in shape form, then I decide whether that should be in microscale or minifig scale" he admits that occasionally this process is reversed. I know that I usually separate my scales and sit down with the intent of building in one particular scale. However sometimes there will be a shape or a configuration of parts that will get me thinking abstractly, and scale is left in lieu until I reach a part that grounds it.

"Depending on my collection and how some parts work out, details may change but for the most part I get my idea out there the way I wanted it to be.... if it doesn't end up the way I planned you don't see it" for the most part, he says. Working abstractly can be good, but it also can end with wasted time and effort.

I moved onto the final topic I wanted to question Lukas on, and that was the photography of LEGO models. Is it really so important to properly document your model?

"Immensely. Sure a poorly photographed but amazing model will get known eventually, [brickshelf user] kero40 for example, but good photography makes the model the star of the show, rather than your dirty laundry or the gritty background you chose, and that makes the model more appealing". There have been a few attempts to educate the masses how to do this simply, I know because I've written a few of them and hope to publish another here on MT soon, but perhaps education through suggestion isn't enough?

"A few contests of late have required decent photography, which I think is a good rule" and here I tend to agree. For the sake of the builder, nothing can compare to seeing a model in person, so good photography is very important in giving your viewer the best impression.

"Good photography should bring out the depth of the model, but when you can physically move yourself around it you get a better sense of where parts of the model are in relation to each other" this means that bad photography is going to seriously detract from a model and undermine it's success with the community as a whole.

So how does Lukas photograph?

"I toss a sheet of poster board up against something in natural sunlight. I own a nikon D40 DSLR camera which I take the pictures with and then I touch them up with Photoshop CS3". Now, not everyone has access to CS3, but I know many a good photographer who makes due with the plethora of free options floating around the internet.

With that we brought the interview to a close and Lukas left to attend to other business, but I hope this article has touched upon atleast one subject that has been the musing of your mind and that you'll continue to read as Masoko Tanga turns a new leaf and hopefully puts out many more such articles before she keels.