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Post by Woodyrock on Feb 5, 2008 1:55:48 GMT -5
Most people really do not know how to take a good photograph of any thing close up, even though digital cameras have made it much easier to do. Gemmy material can be quite difficult to get a good image under the best of conditions for a professional photographer let alone for most rockhounds. Being a trusting person, I believe most of the lousy pictures on E-Bay are just lack of ability with a camera, and not a diliberate attempt to sell poor material. Given that, there are some sellers that do seem to have 'lousy' days with the camera on some of their material, whilst other material is showing good photography.
Woody
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Post by Michael John on Feb 5, 2008 22:25:51 GMT -5
PLENTY of people selling rock on eBay OBVIOUSLY put up lousy pics in order to hide the fact that their rocks suck. It's NOT that hard to take a decent picture.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 6, 2008 19:22:29 GMT -5
Lousy pictures get lousy prices. I know some sellers that take glamor shots that misrepresent the material if you aren't paying attention. Cropping and enlarging the best aspects of a slab. As long as you can figure out the actual dimensions I don't have a problem with it. A slab may be 4x4 but the interesting part is only 1x2. People can overpay because of nice pictures.
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Post by Tonyterner on Feb 7, 2008 9:17:00 GMT -5
Taking good close-ups isn't real easy. I find it much more difficult with a digital than I ever did with my old SLR camera. Of course if I was selling on ebay or anywhere else I would put a lot more effort into getting good pics.
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Post by Michael John on Feb 8, 2008 2:09:54 GMT -5
Taking decent pics of rocks isn't all that difficult. I take the pics outside, in the sunlight, and they come out pretty darn good. Then I generally post several 640x480 pics so that the detail can be seen. Auctiva gives you the ability to post a slew of big pics for free, so when I see a seller who just has the little eBay freebie pic, and it's not too good, that's an immediate RED FLAG for me.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Mar 10, 2008 15:53:26 GMT -5
Background --
As a general rule -- black or white background? Or does it depend on the rocks you are photographing?
For indoor work, which I hate but I don't have anything set up outside atm, I use a black (suede side to absorb flash) buffalo hide as a backdrop to photograph my paintings. It doesn't seem to work as well with rocks and gemstones.
My stuff has to be taken upright, as they are not just rocks, and need a backdrop. Any tips on lighting et al?
Eileen
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Mar 10, 2008 17:31:51 GMT -5
I've done my jewelry pictures on both black and white (the material that came with my light tent). So far my pics have been of quartz (rose, milky, amethyst), amazonite, and a few random pieces. Generally, the white seems to be better, with the black I often end up with spots of white where the rose quartz sat.
I was really happy with a light wood for a background the step stool doesn't fit into the light tent. So if I can find some tan/wood colored cloth (haven't looked yet), I'll probably go back to that.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Mar 11, 2008 9:56:24 GMT -5
Thanks, Geogoddess.
Light tent? What kind of equipment are you using? I've a Rebel XT, 550 Speedlite and remote. I do fish macro photography mostly, and some horse, of course.
I'm having a real problem trying to get pics of prehnite and citrine. The prehnite doesn't focus well with a black background and with a white one the stones loose their "oomoph". Flash (to ceiling) washes it out and sans flash there's no "oomph". The citrine tree relfects waaaay too much with or without a flash. Grrrr.
I'm going to try the white deerskin and see how it does and try moving this stuff outside whether I like it or not.
Eileen
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geogoddess
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2007
Posts: 287
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Post by geogoddess on Mar 11, 2008 10:55:38 GMT -5
My light tent came from smithvictor (www.smithvictor.com) although it was a gift, so I'm not sure if that's where my BF actually bought it, but that's the web addy on the case.
A photographer friend uses one made out of a cardboard box and tissue paper sides. With bright halogen lights (the swirly bulbs). The key I've found, is to diffuse the light hitting the rocks (or jewelry or whatever), and not using the flash on the camera.
Most of the folks making jewelry, edit their photos in Photoshop/picassa/paint.net/gimp (take your pick) to bring out some of the ooomph that the camera didn't catch. Someone posted a tutorial here on this site, how to bring out the best in your photos from taking the picture through editing. You might be able to find it searching for tutorial or photography tutorial.
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Roan
has rocks in the head
Member since January 2008
Posts: 600
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Post by Roan on Mar 12, 2008 22:48:48 GMT -5
Okay, thanks, Geogoddess!
Eileen
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Post by Woodyrock on Mar 20, 2008 1:02:02 GMT -5
You guys are missing the gist of this post. Most of the photography I see on this forum is realy good. The majority of photography I see on E-Bay (not just rock shots) is for the most part terrible. When one sees mostly good photography by a seller, with a couple of really bad shots, then the warning flag is up.
As for light tents, Rio Grande has a very nice unit made of plastic that is great for jewelry shots.
Woody
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