# would like your opinion on photo



## tommyd (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm trying to take some better photos. have set up a light box and would like you opinion of this photo


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## hewunch (Dec 6, 2010)

A little dark and shadowy, but it is clear.


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## randyrls (Dec 6, 2010)

tommyd said:


> I'm trying to take some better photos. have set up a light box and would like you opinion of this photo




Tommy;  The photo looks good.  In focus and composed.  It could be arranged so the finial and nib as closer to the same distance from the camera lens.  

It is slightly dark.  I applied a Screen brightness effect from Paint Shop Pro.  GIMP has the same options with different names.


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## galoot_loves_tools (Dec 7, 2010)

Composition is fine although the photo is dark. What are you using for a camera? There are a lot of edge artifacts and the fine detail is missing.


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## islandturner (Dec 7, 2010)

Hey Tom,

Very nice pen, BTW...

There is some vignetting in the photo.  This is often due to using filters or lens that restrict the full image from reaching the camera's sensor.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vignetting

Or maybe you're shooting through a hole in the light box, and getting some of the sides of the light box in the frame?


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## Larry in Harrow (Dec 7, 2010)

Increase the f-stop if you can.  The depth of field is too narrow.


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## tommyd (Dec 7, 2010)

islandturner said:


> Hey Tom,
> 
> Very nice pen, BTW...
> 
> ...


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## tommyd (Dec 7, 2010)

galoot_loves_tools said:


> Composition is fine although the photo is dark. What are you using for a camera? There are a lot of edge artifacts and the fine detail is missing.



I'm using a vizo  digital set on auto /micro/ and zoomed in on pen.


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## tommyd (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks for all the help.


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## glycerine (Dec 7, 2010)

If you have manual settings on your camera, I would slow down the shutter to let in more light.  That or brighten up the lights if you can.  If you are using flourescents, give them 5 minutes or so to "warm up"...
And as Larry said, maybe close the aperture more to get a deeper depth of field.


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## jbmauser (Dec 13, 2010)

Everyone has made proper comments on exposure.  I would suggest you find a hard material to place your pen on so as to remove the soft fuzzy blur of the fabric which does not enhance the lines of the pen.  It's all about the pen try not to break it's lines.  

Try to create a separation from the support or background.  Even a subtle separation is a plus.  a thin spacer to lift it off the surface would work.  Good work.  JB


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## Dave Turner (Dec 13, 2010)

I believe your Vizio is fully automatic so there's not much you can do with settings other than bump it up brighter if it has that feature. I would probably not zoom so much and get the camera up closer to the pen. This will crisp up you picture, since most point & shoot cameras take better pictures at the wide angle setting as opposed to the zoom setting. The lens will also let in more light at the wider angle settings (lower f stop), possibly making your picture brighter.

It seems that most of the light in the lightbox is coming from overhead. A little more side lighting, particularly from the upper left side might be nice to experiment with. As was mentioned before, a white posterboard background might also be nice. There's lots of room for experimentation.
I use a little pea-sized piece of Blu-Tack to hold the pen while I'm shooting. Elmer's Tack is similar stuff but is orange instead of blue.

Finally, I highly recommend you do post-processing to improve the pictures. I use GIMP, a free program with several Photoshop features. Go to Colors, then Levels. Click on the little eyedropper under the right side of the graph and then click on something in your photo that should be white. This will automatically adjust the white point for you.  You can also go to Colors, then Curves. Click on the middle of the oblique line and drag it up about one square. This will lighten the midtones of your picture. Play around with it for best effect.

I also use the free program, IrfanView to perform quick and easy image resizing and sharpening after resizing. This is also my default image viewer.

Have fun playing around. You're off to an excellent start. I also really like your pen.

Dave


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## azamiryou (Dec 14, 2010)

About the vignette:



tommyd said:


> I did this in photo shop. not good idea?



In this photo, the vignette encroaches on the ends of the pen, which I really don't like. Vignetting in general is okay, but you need enough room around the subject so the vignette doesn't get in the way.


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