# Improve your Pen Photos



## butchf18a

:usflag:I've been posting various links to help guide people in taking better pen photos. While they may not address pens specifically they all offer some excellent, useful information on how to take better pictures. So instead of multiple threads, I will post anything I find in this one, unless someone has a better place or idea.
butch

http://www.theswitchboards.com/foru...sional-looking-photos-without-a-professional/


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## Haynie

Seems to me with correct exposure and white balance most of what is in that tutorial is not necessary.


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## 76winger

I think it's a great article. Yes it's more than is needed for most just taking pics of pens. But for those who want to know a little more about the whole process, you've done a good job. 

Now, if I can just find a good source of info to get me kick-started with Gimp... :wink:


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## Carrick

I, too,  am struggling with GIMP. It would be awesome to know what others have learned about that program.


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## Whaler

I have tried Gimp but can't get it to work right for me. I am now using Photoshop Elements 10 and love it.


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## Justturnin

Great article.  Intrduced me to unknown terms and settings.  Sent me to my Cannon 1200 Manual.  Thanks for sharing.


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## butchf18a

*Article-Creating High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) images*

:usflag:High-Dynamic-Range images is an advanced technique which produces some very interesting (I'm trying not to use the word dynamic) results. This link will take you to Popular Photography article. Again may not be for everyone, still for those interested in advanced techniques this is worth some effort.

http://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2008/12/how-to-create-high-dynamic-range-images


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## butchf18a

*Product (pen) photography tips*

:usflagroduct (ok pens) photography tips

http://www.tabletopstudio.com/TTS_Product_Photography_Tips.html


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## sbarton22

My #1 photoshop tip is to adjust the levels. I rarely, if ever touch the brightness or contrast. 

#2 tip is composition. A lot of composition must be done before the shutter clicks. But that is only half the battle. An image needs to tell a story. There are many things in post that one can do to enhance that story.

I also shoot everything in RAW and mess with the temperature tweaks. 

Once in Photoshop, it is simply pixel manipulation. There are a lot of overly complex tips out there. If you aren't a photoshop master, just keep it simple. There are many easy and simple ways to get 99% of what those complex shenanigans can do.


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## butchf18a

GIMP, tried it, dumped it. Corel Paintshop Pro x4 my choice...for now at least.


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## butchf18a

*digital photography, learn more free*

:usflag:excellent, free site. Digital Photography School. articles, tutorials, techniques, more more more. take a look

www.digital-photography-school.com/


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## ctubbs

thanks everyone for the great info.
Charles


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## Timbo

I see several folks bashing GIMP...don't really understand why.  I use it for my pen photography and I think it's great.  Like the other products mentioned it has tons of features, and also just like the other products you really only need a tiny fraction of those features for pen photography.  And by the way, the features that i use are the same features you would use in the other products.  Here they are:

*Levels* - use the adjust the color balance against a white card I include in each shot.
*Curves* - used to adjust the overall brightness to my liking (works much better than brightness-contrast feature)
*Crop Tool *- use the frame just the portion of the photo I want. It also allows me to eliminate the white card from the image.
*Resize Tool *- allows me to resize the image based on what I'm going to be using it for.
*Unsharp Mask *- when used at 1/2 the default settings, it magically sharpens the image.

I occasionally use the Airbrush Tool to clean up dust spots, but I find I can clean the pen and retake the shot much faster, so I pretty much have stopped using it.  

I do other things with GIMP that require the use of other tools, but these 5-6 are all I need for pen photography.  There's nothing unique about them, they're the same tools, used for the same purpose as in most other photo editing software.  Once I load the photo I want to edit, using the five tools mentioned above, I can have a web ready image completed and saved in less than a minute.  I'm not sure why some folks are having trouble using GIMP for pen photography.  I'm no graphics expert and was able to learn to do what works for me in an afternoon.  I think its a given that you have to start with a somewhat decent photograph.  No software is going to fix an out of focus shot, or one that's severely over or unner exposed, or a bad composition.


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## Kaspar

ctubbs said:


> thanks everyone for the great info.
> Charles




Ditto.


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## marksman

I agree with Timbo...Gimp is great. It did take some time getting a feel for the tools, where they are and which ones I needed, but once I got past that, I use it to help with all my pics, as my photography skills are still in development :biggrin:

In addition to the few tools Tim mentioned, I also find the Fuzzy Select Tool very useful. Anyway, just my $.02.


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## TomWalton

*Photoshop is overkill...*

...for simple pen shots.  It also hates you and wants you to suffer.  Photoshop Elements or iPhoto are more than enough for non-photography-nerds.  The same is true for GIMP; way more there than you need to adjust white balance and do some cropping, and maybe push up the midrange contrast a bit.  If you need more bit-fiddling than that for a simple table-top shot, you need to go back to the camera.  Elements is well under $100, and iPhoto comes with every Mac.

--Tom


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## mikespenturningz

Gimp is great don't be afraid to google subject about gimp there is tons of information on the web take a look at this 

http://gimpshop.com/


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