I can't believe this: I just was outside trying to get a good digital picture of a stucco texture to use in Vue, but the flash on my digital camera kept reflecting off of the stucco too sharply. For a moment I actually thought I should turn the reflections and highlights off on the stucco on the wall... Oh brother!

You mean you can't? I had a dial installed just for those occasions ;) Seriously though I've been in similar situations. Thinking to myself "Oh that looks nice, but the bump map needs adjusted." Or things along those lines :) Tom

I feel a whole lot better now. I thought I was the only one! lol Rich

Ya' gotta' do it right! Put your camera on a tripod and crank that lens open! - NO FLASH!...natural light only! -SMT

heh-heh.... good to see I'm not alone. ;) Actually, NOT using the flash isn't an option, since it's a cheapo and though I can turn the flash off, the section I wanted a picture of is in shade too dark for this late in the day to get a good shot of, what with this massive pine tree casting shadows on it. I'll try again tomorrow early afternoon and all should go well. :)

LOL, and I look up at the trees and think I should mix the material with a color to tone it just a little more to the yellow... Or I watch the clouds and think maybe I should add another layer... :)

It would be REAL nice to be able to add or subtract cloud layers in the real world, eh? ;)

I know that working more with textures and such has added to these kinds of thoughts. Especially Vue and Terragen (nothing against Bryce etc). And with the rain that's been coming around here lately it should would be nice to remove a cloud layer or two.

And I'll tell ya there are alot of Summer days here in Florida that I'd love to be able to slap a dozen or so nice, shade-providing cloud layers on! ;)

heyas; you goof. just put your finger/hand over the flash bulb. ;)

NO! The problem is that without the flash, i don't have enough light; WITH the flash, it's too bright. Like I said, "el cheapo cam"... :P PS Speaking of which, I have tried in the past to get a good stucco material, but haven't been able to, though I've gotten close. This is why I decided to try an actual photo. Has anyone here ever tried stucco before? And plaster too? How about that "popcorn" sort of spray they put on ceilings in houses?

The pop corn stuff is call "rock stone"..at least thats what we tell the contractor that we want our wall spray with it. I use "stucco" a few times in 2d projects using the texture that comes with Corel Paint. Your cheapo cam...what about putting a masking tape over the flash and use a power torch light to brighten it up just nice? True photography has never been easy...LOL! Two are things you can do is chop down the trees in and around the surrounding or chip up a chunk and go somewhere brighter, enough not tio initiate auto flash...talking about hardwork...LOL!

Thanks Bill, I'll try an alternate light source. Don't know if I could get away with cutting the trees down though, you know. LOL!

heyas; dont cut down the trees. detatch the house from the foundation and put it on a rotation thingy, and then turn the whole house so the sun falls on it properly.... or, try shooting it at a different time of day, when there's enough light!

Attached Link: http://www.saturn-online.de/~cosmo/mats.htm

Wow! Thanks for the link. Just looking at a few and already wondering how I made it this long without... well maybe a little exagerated. Still a great site, thanks for the link :) Tom

Yeah Steve, thanks, that's exactly the type of thing I was looking for! Other great stuff too. :) -Mike