# 1st real attempt at a good photo



## Justturnin

This is my 1st real effort to get a good photo on a pen. I usually throw them on a towel and 'click click...whatcha think?' Please let me know what I can do better. My set up is/was a bit lame 2 large foam core poster boards, 2 Lamps w/ bulbs covered in 1 ply of a 2 ply tissue, a white poly rag and one of my wifes silver rings. I edited in Picasa.

What I notice, Lint/Dust on pen, Lettering can be a little larger, Ring had scratches on it


----------



## Linarestribe

Great start. Does it say blank tita... and should be black?

Jorge


----------



## ve3bax

looks pretty good! 

my one suggestion would be to play with the lighting a little bit... move the lights up, or add a third light over top... the top section of the pen seem a tad dark... maybe even a reflector over the top for some soft light to reflect down.. 

--Dave


----------



## azamiryou

What's it leaning on? My eyes don't want to look at the pen while my brain is wondering what the heck that is.

Thanks, Jorge, I was also trying to figure out what the word "Blank" was doing there.

The photography looks good to me. Maybe, as Dave says, it could be a tad brighter. With your current light setup, adjusting the exposure would probably really blow out the foreground, so you'll need to get more light to where the pen is.

If your camera can do it, a little larger depth of field (smaller aperture) would be better. The ends look to be slightly out of focus. It's pretty minor (the focus is way better than "average" for pen photos), but I'm taking to heart your request for ideas for improvement.


----------



## MarkD

Looks pretty good Chris.
 I'm not the best photographer but I feel that you have a lot of empty space in the pictures. Just a suggestion, but I would turn the pen so that it went from one corner of the picture to the other in order to fill the frame OR crop the pictures to remove the empty space.


----------



## Justturnin

Linarestribe said:


> Great start. Does it say blank tita... and should be black?
> 
> Jorge


 

What's 'Black' Titanium? ..........hangs head in shame:redface:......  Good catch.  As many times as I looked at these I never caught it and I just copy and pasted it in so they are all the same.


----------



## Justturnin

ve3bax said:


> looks pretty good!
> 
> my one suggestion would be to play with the lighting a little bit... move the lights up, or add a third light over top... the top section of the pen seem a tad dark... maybe even a reflector over the top for some soft light to reflect down..
> 
> --Dave


 
Good info.
I have a clamp light in my shop w/ the same bulbs.  I am going to bring it in and try it.


----------



## Justturnin

azamiryou said:


> What's it leaning on? My eyes don't want to look at the pen while my brain is wondering what the heck that is.
> 
> If your camera can do it, a little larger depth of field (smaller aperture) would be better. The ends look to be slightly out of focus. It's pretty minor (the focus is way better than "average" for pen photos), but I'm taking to heart your request for ideas for improvement.


 

It is leaning on one of my Wife's silver rings.  Is it to busy?

I have no idea what Aperture is but I think I have been insulted:biggrin:.  Out with the Manual.  I took these Photos with my Wifes Canon SD1200 IS, if anyone knows how to adjust this Aperture.


----------



## Justturnin

MarkD said:


> Looks pretty good Chris.
> I'm not the best photographer but I feel that you have a lot of empty space in the pictures. Just a suggestion, but I would turn the pen so that it went from one corner of the picture to the other in order to fill the frame OR crop the pictures to remove the empty space.


 
I totaly agree.  I croped them but to keep them in true format that was as close as I could get it.  I guess I could see if I can rotate the image a little.  Not sure if Picasa will do that.


----------



## cwolfs69

Justturnin said:


> MarkD said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looks pretty good Chris.
> I'm not the best photographer but I feel that you have a lot of empty space in the pictures. Just a suggestion, but I would turn the pen so that it went from one corner of the picture to the other in order to fill the frame OR crop the pictures to remove the empty space.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I totaly agree.  I croped them but to keep them in true format that was as close as I could get it.  I guess I could see if I can rotate the image a little.  Not sure if Picasa will do that.
Click to expand...


picasa will not, but picnic, directly from picasa, will do it.


----------



## G1Pens

ve3bax said:


> looks pretty good!
> 
> my one suggestion would be to play with the lighting a little bit... move the lights up, or add a third light over top... the top section of the pen seem a tad dark... maybe even a reflector over the top for some soft light to reflect down..
> 
> --Dave


 
+1 on the lighting.

Ideal would be 1 light on each side at about 45 degrees to the pen from about 45 degrees above the pen. A difused light is best.


----------



## MarkD

Justturnin said:


> MarkD said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looks pretty good Chris.
> I'm not the best photographer but I feel that you have a lot of empty space in the pictures. Just a suggestion, but I would turn the pen so that it went from one corner of the picture to the other in order to fill the frame OR crop the pictures to remove the empty space.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I totaly agree.  I croped them but to keep them in true format that was as close as I could get it.  I guess I could see if I can rotate the image a little.  Not sure if Picasa will do that.
Click to expand...


Actually, I recently downloaded Picasa 3 and it has a Straighten feature that might work for you.


----------



## Justturnin

I have Picasa3 so I will try it out in a bit.


----------



## Justturnin

G1Pens said:


> Ideal would be 1 light on each side at about 45 degrees to the pen from about 45 degrees above the pen. A difused light is best.


 
good info.  That is what I ended up with in the end, more or less, minus the light on top.  I actually seperated a 2 ply tissue and layed 1 ply across the lights (CFL no fire danger from heat) to difuse them and it worked suprisingly well.  I am going to upgrade my CFLs to the 100watt equivilent for the next pen and try again.


----------



## butchf18a

:usflag:Justturnin...good start. I been posting some good links on doing tabletop photography that address all the issues that have been mentioned. Take a look at them I'm sure you'll pick up some good hints and ideas. A lot can be done with minimal equipment.

butch


----------



## G1Pens

Justturnin said:


> G1Pens said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ideal would be 1 light on each side at about 45 degrees to the pen from about 45 degrees above the pen. A difused light is best.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> good info. That is what I ended up with in the end, more or less, minus the light on top. I actually seperated a 2 ply tissue and layed 1 ply across the lights (CFL no fire danger from heat) to difuse them and it worked suprisingly well. I am going to upgrade my CFLs to the 100watt equivilent for the next pen and try again.
Click to expand...

 
You probably know this but get your CFL lights balanced to 6500K. You will like it a lot better.


----------



## Justturnin

G1Pens said:


> You probably know this but get your CFL lights balanced to 6500K. You will like it a lot better.


 

I have no idea what that means.......  Are you talking about the Lumens (light output)?  If so do you mean each bulb or total?  Looking at the Big Orange boxes website and the largest they have is a 68w (300w equivalant) that only get to 4200 Lumens.  That think is the size of a football....:smile-big:  When I am done w/ Pics I can tan.:biggrin:


----------



## ve3bax

Justturnin said:


> G1Pens said:
> 
> 
> 
> You probably know this but get your CFL lights balanced to 6500K. You will like it a lot better.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have no idea what that means.......  Are you talking about the Lumens (light output)?  If so do you mean each bulb or total?  Looking at the Big Orange boxes website and the largest they have is a 68w (300w equivalant) that only get to 4200 Lumens.  That think is the size of a football....:smile-big:  When I am done w/ Pics I can tan.:biggrin:
Click to expand...


6500k refers to the "Warmth" of the light produced... knowing the value that the bulb is balanced to will make properly adjusting your white balance in camera or in your photo editor of choice a snap...

EDIT: 

"cool light" (blue) would be around 2500K, REALLY WARM (Orange) around 10000.  6500k if i recall correctly is somewhere around daylight when overcast... so.. not only will this info help with getting a good white balance setting, but choosing the correct bulb can give your photos a much more naturally lit look.


----------



## Justturnin

ve3bax said:


> 6500k refers to the "Warmth" of the light produced... knowing the value that the bulb is balanced to will make properly adjusting your white balance in camera or in your photo editor of choice a snap...


 

Ok I just found it after some I-net digging. The bulbs I have are the soft white which are 2700k. They have some daylight that are 5000K. Would that work or should I really look for some 6500K?  Also, What wattage equivalent should I get?


----------



## cwolfs69

Justturnin said:


> ve3bax said:
> 
> 
> 
> 6500k refers to the "Warmth" of the light produced... knowing the value that the bulb is balanced to will make properly adjusting your white balance in camera or in your photo editor of choice a snap...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok I just found it after some I-net digging. The bulbs I have are the soft white which are 2700k. They have some daylight that are 5000K. Would that work or should I really look for some 6500K?
Click to expand...


look for the 6500k


----------



## G1Pens

Justturnin said:


> ve3bax said:
> 
> 
> 
> 6500k refers to the "Warmth" of the light produced... knowing the value that the bulb is balanced to will make properly adjusting your white balance in camera or in your photo editor of choice a snap...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok I just found it after some I-net digging. The bulbs I have are the soft white which are 2700k. They have some daylight that are 5000K. Would that work or should I really look for some 6500K?
Click to expand...

 
I got 6500K at Walmart !!! Shouldn't be too hard to find.


----------



## Justturnin

What wattage equivalent is best?


----------



## Justturnin

I just picked up 4 6500K CFL's from the Wally-Marty.  I got the 100W Equivilent.  Going to try agin in a few days.  If All goes well I will post some new Pics.  Thanks Everyone for the advise.


----------



## GrantH

ve3bax said:


> Justturnin said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> G1Pens said:
> 
> 
> 
> You probably know this but get your CFL lights balanced to 6500K. You will like it a lot better.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have no idea what that means.......  Are you talking about the Lumens (light output)?  If so do you mean each bulb or total?  Looking at the Big Orange boxes website and the largest they have is a 68w (300w equivalant) that only get to 4200 Lumens.  That think is the size of a football....:smile-big:  When I am done w/ Pics I can tan.:biggrin:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 6500k refers to the "Warmth" of the light produced... knowing the value that the bulb is balanced to will make properly adjusting your white balance in camera or in your photo editor of choice a snap...
> 
> EDIT:
> 
> "cool light" (blue) would be around 2500K, REALLY WARM (Orange) around 10000.  6500k if i recall correctly is somewhere around daylight when overcast... so.. not only will this info help with getting a good white balance setting, but choosing the correct bulb can give your photos a much more naturally lit look.
Click to expand...


This is a bit off, in my experience. 

Your red/orange light will be 2700k or so. The "white" light is 6500k bulbs. I say this because in hydroponic gardening you use HPS bulbs (2700k) for the flowering cycle and they emit a very reddish/orange light. During the veg cycle you use 6500k bulbs which are very white.


----------

