# taking quality pictures



## splinterinfinger (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi fellow turners.
My Father-in-law owns a camera that I use a lot to take pictures of my turning products up up until now I have not had too much of a problem but when taking pictures of the pens is somewhat proving to be difficult as I am looking for quality the camera that I use is a Sony 10 million true pixel SLR camera the modal no is DSCR1 cyber shot' can anyone tell me what is the best settings to take close up shots with that crisp look 
I have seem some pen images around the forum and wondered if I can archive the same the pen shot below was taken in a normal shoot mode (point and shoot).
Any help would be great.
Regards Mervyn
www.turnedwood.co.uk


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## gerryr (Feb 11, 2008)

What is the actual color of the background?  If it's actually white, the color balance is off.  The pen is out of focus at the tip.  Turn the pen parallel to the back of the camera and probably set the aperture(f-stop) to f/11 or maybe f/16, where most lenses are at their best, then adjust the shutter speed accordingly.  Since this is an SLR, it doesn't have a dedicated macro mode and would require a macro lens for really close focusing, but it looks like this lens will focus close enough.  You will probably have the best success in manual mode, setting both aperture and shutter speed yourself rather than letting the camera decide for you.  Aperture priority(A) mode will also work as long as you can set an exposure compensation because the camera will most likely not choose the best exposure combination.


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 12, 2008)

Hi Gerry thanks for the reply the background was white and it was taken on a A4 paper sheet and edited in photo-shop, I have a feeling that there is a macro mode on camera ( it's a flower symbol) if that means anything many thanks for the tips Gerry I will retake some shots.
Regards Mervyn


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## gerryr (Feb 12, 2008)

I finally found a complete set of specs for your camera, but only on Sony's UK site.  The camera is not a true DSLR, at least according to the specs, because you can't change the lens.  It does have a macro mode and should focus to 35cm at the widest angle of view and 40cm at the telephoto end.  What I can't tell from the specs is whether you can manually set the white balance, although maybe that's what "one push" means.  Check your manual and see if you can set the white balance.  If you can, follow the directions and set it that way for your lighting setup.  Set the color reproduction mode to Adobe RGB, and make sure that sharpness, saturation and contrast are set to normal, these are better done in post processing if needed.  Set the camera to Aperture priority and the metering mode to spot and set the aperture to F/8 or F/11.  Then with only the white paper in place, press the shutter release half-way and see what the camera shows in the viewfinder for shutter speed, let's say it shows 1/60.  Now switch the camera to Manual mode and change the shutter speed to 1/15 and leave the aperture where it was set.  Now put your pen in place, focus and take the picture.  BE SURE to use a tripod and don't use the flash.  Don't do anything to the photo except resize it and post it here.


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## aurrida (Feb 12, 2008)

for me there are two things that may help. the first is use a tripod for macro work. secondly, as depth of field is reduced drastically at close distances avoid taking photos that attempt to focus the pen from the very front to the back. even with small apertures, assuming you can set them with your camera, depth of field is minimum. and using a small aperture your going to need a long exposure hence the need for the tripod. you can help things by focusing a third into what you want to be in focus.

Having said that i dont have a tripod but disparately need one. i only have a compact but you can achieve good results.


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## aurrida (Feb 12, 2008)

i forgot to add i use auto mode, and natural light. i think lighting basically makes or breaks a picture.

good luck


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 12, 2008)

Hi Gerry I took this pictures before I read your posting but I will try them instructions you posted but anyway these are the settings I used to take these shots macro was on, ISO was 400, M-mode ( manual), shutter speed was 80 and F11 with auto flash seems to me that the shot is in focus but cannot get rid of the blue background this was all before I read your tutorial Gerry.

Thanks very much Gerry I know there are errors on these pics but it's and improvement than the last picture.
Kindest regards Mervyn


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 12, 2008)

Hi all thanks for the posting these shots where took in normal house hold lighting in the workshop and it was dark outside yes I did use a try-pod.
Many many thanks guys
Mervyn


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 12, 2008)

Hi Gerry there is a WB setting on the camera I will play around with the settings you have advised on tomorrow and will post new improved pictures (hopefully.
Thanks again guys for all your help.
Mervyn

www.turnedwood.co.uk


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 13, 2008)

Hi again Gerry still got a few problems I played around with settings and took about 20 images of different pens all came out slightly different from each other so was hard to find out what I was doing wrong but here goes anyway I will try it again the weekend when I have more time









Regards Mervyn


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## gerryr (Feb 13, 2008)

These are both pretty good, but, if you can get about halfway between those two I think you'll have a better photo.  Did you set the white balance?  I'm really having trouble figuring out where that reddish color in the shadows is coming from, unless you have the white balance set for "auto."


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 13, 2008)

Thanks Gerry I had to drop the exposure down a bit because they where  too bright in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture just need to understand the settings a bit more as I am no photographer' I have got a few ideas that I'm going to try will keep y informed. Thanks Gerry


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## aurrida (Feb 14, 2008)

are you using only one type of light source, tungsten, florescent,whatever? if your using lamps turn off all other light sources. 

is there something red near reflecting its colour back?

it looks a little washed out. not sure if the pens are merging into the colour of you wooden backgound. play with different colour backgrounds.

is the wooden structure really necessary does it add to the aesthetics? i thick the wood used for the pen should be the star.


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 14, 2008)

Hi all, going to start again, I'm thinking of buying a light tent they have some on ebay 80x80x80cm with 4 backgrounds are these any good, the price is around Â£15.00 0r $30.00.
Regards Mervyn


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## gerryr (Feb 14, 2008)

You can make one for probably half that cost out of PVC pipe and a bed sheet.  The one I use isn't actually a tent because I made it out of white translucent plexiglass.  Each piece was 3/16" thick and 12" square. I glued it together with CA.


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 18, 2008)

Hi again all fellow pen addicts, today I made myself a light tent the size is around 800mmx550x550 white card on the top and the back and on the floor, with a white cotton sheet over the sides plus two 150w halogen lights one on each side,that's the setup.

The settings on the camera (bearing in mind I'm no photographer).
1.macro setting is on.
2.ISO 400
3.setting was on A (aperture)
4. F8
5.sorry didn't take notice of the shutter speed
6.WB was on spot (although I'm not really sure how to set this to the lighting conditions,I have tried the latest instructions but to no avail.
7.RGB was set
8. tripod: yes
8.and everything else was normal ie contrast and so on, sorry my camera skills ar not good. Here is an update of some shots I took.


On camera these shots looked great until I put them on to the PC now my background is grayish' I wont post all the images but some are slightly lighter than other's.
My best regards Mervyn


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## gerryr (Feb 18, 2008)

I think you are just about there.  However, I don't know of any camera that has a "spot" setting for white balance.  You have to mean the metering or autofocus mode.  White balance has to be things like sunny, cloudy, incandescent, etc.  When you use a white background, the nature of light meters will make the white come out gray, so you need to know how to defeat that.  There are two ways to defeat it.  The easiest is to use exposure compensation, which your camera probably has.  Set the exposure compensation for -1.5 and take a photo of the pen.  Then set  it for -2.0 and take another one.  One of those will be just right.

And make sure the metering is set for multi-segment.


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## aurrida (Feb 19, 2008)

in the camera menu there will be a white balance menu. set it to maunal.

place a white card in the tent reflecting the light being used. 

point the camera at it and set it.

different light sources give off different colours, colour temperature measured in kelvins. the sun changes colour too depending on the time of the day.

when we are in for example, a tungsten lit room our brains to an extent auto white balance, thats why we dont see the colour cast of a light bulb. but the camera tells it as it is.  

generally i think it looking good. i think your composition is better. your lighting is even. still a little washed out? if the light in the tent is bright may by its too harsh try moving it further away, experiment. use the lowest asa as possible. try a darker background.


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks again guys for your posts they are much appreciated. I only made the light tent yesterday so I am still in the experimental stage, now I thought that there was not enough light getting through the cotton sheet I am using 2 security lights 150w per light one on each side, but I will try again tonight. I will not post anymore shots until I get the right shot that i'm happy with' anyway I'm probably clogging up the system. Best regards to all of ya.
Mervyn


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 20, 2008)

Hi again all, Ok hopefully I have cracked it, I raised the 150w lights up a bit to start off with, the camera settings were F-stop 16.0, exposure time 1/2 sec, exposure program-manual, ISO 400 white point 0.3.

The background has a slight off white but I'm happy with this but if you can seen any flaws in the shot and how I can improve in anyway please let me know, the only thing I want to do now is to make myself a a slim pen stand got a few ideas in mind will post an update later.
Best regards for your all help pen-turners.
I will take your comments on board as always.
Regards Mervyn

www.turnedwood.co.uk


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## gerryr (Feb 20, 2008)

That looks pretty good.  Next time, crop them more like this.  What counts is the pen, not the background.


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## Daniel (Feb 20, 2008)

White balance is still off. The first photo was not a focus issue it was a camera movment. tripod and time shutter release fixes that. they are looking much better but color is still tented. The camera needs to know it is shooting under incondescent light, or this is the best it can do. Lighting is looking really good. I also like how you have things arranged in teh photos. two down dozens to go


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## aurrida (Feb 21, 2008)

looking good, agree with tighter composition. i usually bracket exposures by 1/3 2/3 and sometimes a full stop and pick off the best.

i avoid white backgrounds, i was put off by having to photo printed text on white paper. getting the paper white, evenly lit, all in focus, it was a nightmare. good practice though.


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## mattgatten (Feb 24, 2008)

I think you're making a lot of progress on the images.   The latter ones  compared to earlier versions, show much improvement.   I think a little 'post processing' is all that may be in order.  If you want a little help with color balancing an image after it's been taken (we all have to do it at times) let me know.   I don't want to snag folks images and adjust them without their permission.   

Also, I don't think you mentioned what you're using to process the images after they are taken.  I'm from the school of thought that it should be 'right in the camera' first, however, sometimes you goof or blow an exposure due to a difficult scene.  That's when post processing becomes necessary.  That's the beauty of digital.  You shouldn't rely on it but it's there if and when you need it.

Nice work.


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## splinterinfinger (Feb 24, 2008)

Hi all and thanks Matt for the offer, I use photo-shop to edit if I have to but this all takes time and I want to move away from that if I can get the right shots, I took some more shots the other day and I noticed there is a slight redness at the bottom of the shot I made the mistake by having one of my lights down to much on the subject and need to beam it across  the light tent, so another retake but boy I have leared a lot in the last few days.









Regards Mervyn


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