# Playing Around and Trying to Improve



## Dehn0045 (Mar 10, 2018)

I haven't been to happy with my photos but have been to lazy to do anything about it.  With some help from my mother-in-law we put together a simple light box using a cardboard box, white tissue paper, and white poster board.  Needed some help positioning lights, but I'm happy with the results so far.  Will put together an adjustable system for the lamps at some point, just taking baby steps...


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## mark james (Mar 10, 2018)

The last picture looks very nice.  I have struggled with this element also, but enjoy playing with what I have ava.  Not interested in putting money into this aspect of this hobby.


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## magpens (Mar 10, 2018)

Your 3 pen pictures are very lovely ... congratulations on your successes !!!

Please tell me what wood you have used on that pen .... it is truly gorgeous !!


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## Dehn0045 (Mar 10, 2018)

mark james said:


> The last picture looks very nice.  I have struggled with this element also, but enjoy playing with what I have ava.  Not interested in putting money into this aspect of this hobby.



Thanks Mark, I agree that the white background looks the best.  My angle was a little off with the fabric, also I think I need a little stronger lights or better camera settings (just using my cell phone). Hopefully will improve with practice.  Like you, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on photography.  All in I am at $3 so far, lamps will be the most expensive thing, but will be under $30 total.  I'm just glad I did spend $50 on a light box, this seems to work just fine.




magpens said:


> Your 3 pen pictures are very lovely ... congratulations on your successes !!!
> 
> Please tell me what wood you have used on that pen .... it is truly gorgeous !!



 Thanks Mal.  It is black Ash burl that I stabilized with cactus juice.  I already posted it in SOYP http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13/some-pretty-wood-pens-153722/ but I definitely think these new photos show it's true beauty much better.


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## mmayo (Mar 15, 2018)

I too like the last one. To improve that with editing software for contrast might be a gentle suggestion.  Good work!


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## Dehn0045 (Mar 15, 2018)

mmayo said:


> I too like the last one. To improve that with editing software for contrast might be a gentle suggestion.  Good work!



Thanks Mark, I just have the free version of Photoshop on my cell phone.  It works pretty good for cropping, and sometimes I can get some improvement in the look of my photos by fiddling with it for a while.  There is an "automatic" button, that sometimes does the trick, but I really don't have much of a clue what I'm doing.  I gave these photos the "auto" treatment, which improved the contrast, but was a little limited because the pics were kind of dark to begin with.  I got some lamps this week, hopefully better lighting with improve my contrast.  Thanks for the encouragement!


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## MrPukaShell (Mar 15, 2018)

I like the white background best. I feel that the ones with texture take away from the pen as my eyes tend to drift to the texture


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## Gary Beasley (Mar 15, 2018)

Doing good. Remember you dont need to spend a lot of money to get good results if you use good technique and are aware of your light qualities. Next step is to look at the refections and decide how you want them to look. White and black reflectors in strategic locations can give your shot more snap by enhancing the 3d appearance of your subject.


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## Woodchipper (Mar 16, 2018)

Beautiful wood!


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## mmayo (Apr 3, 2018)

Dehn0045 said:


> mmayo said:
> 
> 
> > I too like the last one. To improve that with editing software for contrast might be a gentle suggestion.  Good work!
> ...



My suggestion is to never use auto correct.  If you do be ready to hit undo.  I normally select the color, contrast and brightness individually and see what happens.  I wish my phone had a save as so I could keep the original and also have a copy.  

Keep up the good work.


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## Dehn0045 (Apr 3, 2018)

Thankfully mine only saves the edited photo as a new file in a PhotoshopExpress folder, so I always have the original.  I looked and can't find a way to change it to save over the original...  Thanks again for your advice.


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