sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
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Post by sheltie on Jul 30, 2013 14:43:06 GMT -5
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 30, 2013 15:11:51 GMT -5
First I think you need to get rid of that pink hue in your images. That involves using the proper white balance setting on your camera. Incandescent light has lots of red wavelengths that show up in images unless your camera compensates for it. Nearly all digital cameras these days have programmable white balance. Dig out your camera manual and spend a little time learning about it. It's really quite simple and you'll be much happier with your pictures when you use it. Many of the images I see on this forum have the same problem. Does this image look more like what you see with your eyes? I adjusted its white balance in PhotoShop.
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Post by deb193redux on Jul 30, 2013 16:35:36 GMT -5
the overhead light will need more diffusion material on it. do not worry about reducing light. the camera can do longer exposure to compensate. there is plenty of light. work on better diffusion.
the advice about white-point is good.if you camera has a procedure to set th white point you should do it. The camera does not know you do tabletop photography, and is likely using general settings for outdoor group shots, which most people take.
but I would recommend fluorescent daylight bulbs with a color temp of 6500K. the incandescent bulbs, even reveal, are too warm. - they get hot too; the compact florescent are cool to touch.
I would also recommend a light to medium gray background. this will make the metering that goes on inside the camera work best and give the truest colors.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
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Post by sheltie on Jul 30, 2013 18:25:28 GMT -5
Thanks - yet again - for the advice.
I reset my camera to AUTO for the white balancing and tried several different settings within that such as tungsten, fluorescent (inside and out), etc. It still got some pink. I also put a little more covering on the top to try to diffuse the light (I anticipated you!) and it made a little difference. Right now, I'm using a single layer of white muslin. Do you recommend something different? I'm now using fluorescent bulbs but with 2700K rating. The light fixtures I have are only rated for 40w and I don't want the house to catch fire! I'll look for something gray but in the meantime, it looks like the black fabric is the best I have. Still trying to figure our how to show off the high gloss shine.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 30, 2013 19:04:30 GMT -5
Thanks - yet again - for the advice. I reset my camera to AUTO for the white balancing and tried several different settings within that such as tungsten, fluorescent (inside and out), etc. It still got some pink. Auto white balance is often not very satisfactory. You shouldn't have gotten pink with a tungsten setting (assuming you were still using your Reveal bulbs.) Check your manual to see if the camera allows Custom White Balance. If you have an 18% gray card use it or a white sheet of paper to set your white balance. You should set custom white balance for each shooting session or any time your lighting changes. If you're still getting pink after setting Custom White Balance you may have another problem. Can you post the make and model of your camera? I can do some checking to see if there might be another explanation. As for getting the flash off your polish, that's entirely a lighting and subject-positioning matter. I find I can show polish better using natural daylight (with correct white balance!) and no diffusion. Diffusion scatters the light making for softer focus. Try some shots with no diffusion and varying the positions of your slabs.
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Post by deb193redux on Jul 30, 2013 19:18:42 GMT -5
the 2700K vs 6500K has nothing to do with wattage or heat of the bulb. it is a measure of light color quality only. You can get 40w bulbs with 6500K color. if you had a 1/8" thick white plastic panel, or even a clear panel with many little triangles form an old overhead office fixture, that might give the diffusion. you can also put a white card above, and shine extra lights up from the sides so it bounces off of the card. have a read of the tips here: www.theimage.com/apubimages/20photopaper.pdf
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 9:29:40 GMT -5
Thanks - yet again - for the advice. I reset my camera to AUTO for the white balancing and tried several different settings within that such as tungsten, fluorescent (inside and out), etc. It still got some pink. Auto white balance is often not very satisfactory. You shouldn't have gotten pink with a tungsten setting (assuming you were still using your Reveal bulbs.) Check your manual to see if the camera allows Custom White Balance. If you have an 18% gray card use it or a white sheet of paper to set your white balance. You should set custom white balance for each shooting session or any time your lighting changes. If you're still getting pink after setting Custom White Balance you may have another problem. Can you post the make and model of your camera? I can do some checking to see if there might be another explanation. As for getting the flash off your polish, that's entirely a lighting and subject-positioning matter. I find I can show polish better using natural daylight (with correct white balance!) and no diffusion. Diffusion scatters the light making for softer focus. Try some shots with no diffusion and varying the positions of your slabs. I currently have three fluorescent bulbs in use, one on each side and one on top. I do all my shots inside in the light box. I also put down wax paper to diffuse the light a little. I went through every setting on white balance my camera has and none worked well with the white background. The settings are Auto, day light, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, fluorescent H, and Custom (which uses previously set WB). For some reason the tungsten comes closest to giving me a white background, although it is a little grayish. Also the coloring of the slab is not particularly good. When I use a black background, the results are much better on any setting. I use a Canon Powershot 2200. certainly not the best around and I generally use it when I go hounding to take pix on the spot.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 9:31:43 GMT -5
the 2700K vs 6500K has nothing to do with wattage or heat of the bulb. it is a measure of light color quality only. You can get 40w bulbs with 6500K color. if you had a 1/8" thick white plastic panel, or even a clear panel with many little triangles form an old overhead office fixture, that might give the diffusion. you can also put a white card above, and shine extra lights up from the sides so it bounces off of the card. have a read of the tips here: www.theimage.com/apubimages/20photopaper.pdfSomeone recommended that I use wax paper (in addition to the white muslin material), so I now have it on two sides plus the top. Are you recommending that I aim my two side lights to the top of the box?
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 31, 2013 10:00:01 GMT -5
Look at your camera manual or find one online and find how to set your white balance. Do yourself a favor and buy a "digital gray card" on ebay for a few bucks. It will help you set your white balance. The thing with a light box is, you want to FILL it with light. Light going in will bounce around, so you don't really have to aim it at your subject- esp if you are getting hot spots or reflections. Odds are good that you will never get a perfect shot. You will want to use the levels function in your editing program and/or a little contrast to finish the picture. I have a professional light box now, but I have used what you have and a bowl turned upside down. All of them provided workable pictures. You just have to play around a little to figure it out with your camera. For every good picture, you may take 10- that's photography. With my box set up, I used several layers of white tissue paper. I don't think I would use wax paper. I use daylight, compact fluorescent bulbs, like these store.tabletopstudio-store.com/lightbulbs.html That's the store where I got my tent. You can get the bulbs cheaper elsewhere.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 12:26:44 GMT -5
I just looked on eBay and still don't understand the purpose of a digital gray card. Can you explain it in layman's terms? I have the same type of bulbs that you linked. I suspect that since my camera only cost about $100 new that the functions it does have are less than those I need for the quality of picture I want.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 31, 2013 12:30:36 GMT -5
I just looked on eBay and still don't understand the purpose of a digital gray card. Can you explain it in layman's terms? I have the same type of bulbs that you linked. I suspect that since my camera only cost about $100 new that the functions it does have are less than those I need for the quality of picture I want. You use the gray card with your manual white balance. You take a picture of the card under the lighting that you will be using. This tells the camera the correct white balance to use. You can use white paper, but I do get better results with the gray card.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2013 13:18:06 GMT -5
sheltieYour images have the soft look of handheld images. If you haven't already, get a tripod. Everything works better with a tripod. Once you have done that, get an off camera shutter release. For these ebay is your friend. Cheap chinese goods are the perfect answer in this case.
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gemfeller
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Post by gemfeller on Jul 31, 2013 13:26:46 GMT -5
Sheltie, the gray card is also known as an 18% gray card that I recommended above and using that name might help your searches. If you use the "custom" white balance setting properly your camera will create an accurate background for whatever kind of light you're using so, apart from unpleasant heat from incandescent bulbs, it doesn't matter what kind of lights you're using. I checked and your camera has a custom white balance setting. You'll have to figure out how to set it following instructions in your camera manual.
Bowing out now. Happy shooting!
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 13:58:11 GMT -5
I just looked on eBay and still don't understand the purpose of a digital gray card. Can you explain it in layman's terms? I have the same type of bulbs that you linked. I suspect that since my camera only cost about $100 new that the functions it does have are less than those I need for the quality of picture I want. You use the gray card with your manual white balance. You take a picture of the card under the lighting that you will be using. This tells the camera the correct white balance to use. You can use white paper, but I do get better results with the gray card. Super, thanks! I'll order it in a minute or two.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 13:59:15 GMT -5
sheltieYour images have the soft look of handheld images. If you haven't already, get a tripod. Everything works better with a tripod. Once you have done that, get an off camera shutter release. For these ebay is your friend. Cheap chinese goods are the perfect answer in this case. You're right. I'll check with my friend, eBay, and see what they have.
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Post by deb193redux on Jul 31, 2013 15:35:19 GMT -5
the 2700K vs 6500K has nothing to do with wattage or heat of the bulb. it is a measure of light color quality only. You can get 40w bulbs with 6500K color. if you had a 1/8" thick white plastic panel, or even a clear panel with many little triangles form an old overhead office fixture, that might give the diffusion. you can also put a white card above, and shine extra lights up from the sides so it bounces off of the card. have a read of the tips here: www.theimage.com/apubimages/20photopaper.pdfSomeone recommended that I use wax paper (in addition to the white muslin material), so I now have it on two sides plus the top. Are you recommending that I aim my two side lights to the top of the box? No. this would be additional side lights pointed up at a card. eliminate the top light. this way only reflected light comes straight down at the polished surface.
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Post by deb193redux on Jul 31, 2013 15:40:17 GMT -5
yes. ditto on tripod. I got an inexpensive $18 one at target, but it was thin legs, and could wobble. I also had to use the 3-sec delay on my PowerShot to avoid having my finger causing wobble. (Now I had Canon EOS Rebel). I eventually got a sturdier tripod but even the cheap ones help.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 15:52:11 GMT -5
Gottcha. Right now I'm charging my battery on the camera. I've taken so many pix over the past several days, in additional to those in the past month, that the poor thing is wearing down. I may even look for my wife's good camera and see what the difference is between the two (other than several hundred dollars!).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2013 17:02:56 GMT -5
sheltie; Once you get the new equipment, even if you haven't solved color balance yet, re-take this shots and please post them here. Would love to see the comparison. I am going to bet color ggets better too. Do NOT ask me why. I have no clue, but it does seem to help.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Jul 31, 2013 18:18:59 GMT -5
IF I can remember! CRS and all that.
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