david_wilkins Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I'm a total dunce when it comes to photography, I've tried reading around this site on more than one or two occasions on how to take decent photographs, I'm just not getting the shots I want. I am a woodturner, I make bowls, vases, wine stoppers, peppermills and other stuff. I've been doing that now for almost seven years, some of my work is in woodturning design, a magazine for woodturners. I've always shied away from posting my stuff online because of my lack of photography skills. Now that I've got a house full of woodturnings I would like to start offering them up for sale on etsy, but the shots I'm getting are not a good representation of whats here. What I have to work with is a point and shoot, Nikon L11 on a tripod, I also have some halogen lights. I tried to make a photo box out of a translucent plastic container and some fabric, but the edges of the bowls are glossy or fuzzy or something. The larger vases are just too big, so I pulled them out and tried them on the fabric alone, seems like a dark setup then. I've toyed with the L11 settings, and have it set to portrait mode, and killed the flash, and set the zoom to about the middle. I would really appreciate it if I could get some help to improve my skills in this area of photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G. Dainis Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 What you want are good commercial photos.It takes a lot of learning and equipment to do commercial photography well, indoors. You can get good photos easily using outside lighting. Take the photos outside in open shade not direct sunlight, you don't want hard shadows. Use a white sheet as a backdrop. Hang it from a wall so it falls with a gentle curve onto a table top. Place your item on that and take the photo without the flash. James G. Dainis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseph_martines Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Photography can be very frustrating. Do you recall the first bowl you ever turned?? Was it perfect then? Was it acceptable by your standards of today? You cannot read several books on photography and expect to become an expert. It takes a lots of practice and then some! You have to learn about diffusers. Would it not be cheaper to pay a professional to take your pictures and spend your free time crafting more saleable objects? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_evans Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Product photography like you're attempting takes some practice primarily with learning to control light. You're hampered by the camera as well, however with the right set-up you should be getting perfectly acceptable photos. Highly reflective items require a diffuse light source - through a thin white fabric or reflected from a white piece of cardboard. Don't put your subject too near the backdrop or you'll get unacceptable shadows. Set your camera to 'no-flash' and try to keep level or just a little above the subject. Also try to use a neutral background as the camera will either over- or under- expose your item if there's too much light or dark background. I just takes some practice and knowing how your camera will react to the light you use. --Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marius_sipa1 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Perhaps you should post some of your own photos here and we can tell you what you're already doing wrong and hopefully help you get better results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTG1 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 David – <BR> <BR> As James stated it takes time, just like turning wood. If you had a camera you could control better you would see better results. I looked the specs up on your camera, they look good but its all manual, the only suggestion I could offer with your camera, is try the *modes* setting. <BR> <BR> If you could post an example, that would be great. Something you may try to help get rid of the gloss is do not aim direct light on the product or even try a white sheet to help diffuse the direct light. Also make sure you are using high resolution when shooting, you can always crop and resize the pictures later for web posting. <BR> <BR> <BR> Best Regards, <BR> Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timzeipekis Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 James offers good advice........I concur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_wilkins Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Here are the sample pics, I loaded them into irfanview, resized to 800x600, auto adjusted colors, and sharpened the image. The bowl pic was taken with an extra layer of fabric to diffuse the light, and then the box was rotated to give a greater distance and no luck on the shine/fuzz. http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~dwilkins/bowl.jpg http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~dwilkins/bottomless.jpg http://users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~dwilkins/setup.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G. Dainis Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 The small ball with the hole in it looks pretty good. If it is supposed to by shiny, you need to have some reflections on it. Perhaps a few small mini spots aimed at it from the front would put some highlights on it. Too much of the plastic box background shows through. You need a seamless background. The focus on the bowl is more toward the back than toward the front. The back of the bowl and the plastic box embossed manufacturer's mark behind it is in focus, the front of the bowl is not. The sides of the box are too close to the bowl so the sides are reflecting on the edge of the bowl. James G. Dainis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve57 Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Im personaly think James is right in the beginning shoot out door with morning lite .. use a white backdrop but I think not a bright white just a contrast white Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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