# First pics with my new photo tent !!!



## Greg O'Sherwood (Mar 28, 2009)

First, I want to thank all of you for putting up with all my questions and inquiries. For a couple weeks there, I am sure I was driving you all crazy

But, I'm not done with the questions probably. 

Second, the kit I purchased was the Platinum Studio Photography kit from StillShot2. It was $130 and came with 2 lights, stands, 5400k bulbs, camera tripod, a 36" collapsible tent, a 16" tent, and 3 backrounds for each tent. I supplemented the kit with a couple extra lights (HF clamp lights $7 ea, with 5500k bulbs that I found -4 for $24 on Amazon)

I placed the lights around the tent at the following locales; 1 directly above, 1 center left, 1 center right, 1 center back. I also used the flash (which I now think was a mistake, right?).

All told, I spent about $180. That, and no skill whatsoever, except for the nuggets I received from a few of you here, got me these pics:

C & C welcome and requested! 

I think I like pic #2 better, but I wanted pic #1 to show how the spalting continues from the cap to the lower body of the pen.


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## BruceA (Mar 28, 2009)

*Off to a great start!*

Greg, 
Nice color balance!  Goes to show that using 5500k lights can do the trick simulating sunlight. 

Did you use the 16" tent?

You may have noticed the focus is a bit fuzzy on the end of the pen cap because your depth of field is not "deep" enough.  If you can't get a higher F-stop, you may need to back the camera away, which will increase the depth of field slightly.

OR...Like Gerry R. would say "keep the pen parallel to the camera".  At close quarters and lower F-stops, the depth of field can't get both ends of a 5" pen in focus. 

Good job!  

You should check out Picasa 3.0 from Google for post-processing, where you can do slight touch-ups for dust and reflections.  Then consider your cropping.  

Bruce in TN. (what do I know...???!!)


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## Greg O'Sherwood (Mar 29, 2009)

Yeah, I kind of screwed these pics up. I used the "auction" preset on my camera which takes 3 pics rapidly, each at different F-stops, but forgot to shut down the flash. The first pic of each 3 pic group had full flash, but the ones at the stops that would have given a greater depth of field had poor flash quality since it was a partially-charged flash. I obviously couldn't use the 2nd and third shots of each grouping because the background looked greyer (almost brown?) on those. :frown:

Next time, I'll use the macro setting and shut down the flash to use only the 5500-5400k lights. I'm learning...:redface:

I'll give that a try tomorrow. 

I am considering Picasa3 or maybe MS photo for $20...

between starting this thread and this 2nd post I am typing now, we had lost our power here at the house. Now we're back up, but it's 2 am, so too late to go try again. Gotta get a little sleep.


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## TellicoTurning (Mar 29, 2009)

Greg,
I'm not a good photographer, so take my advice with a grain or maybe a whole spoonful of salt, but I think your pen got lost in the background... your support piece is the same or very nearly same color wood as the pen... I think more contrast between the pen and the burl cap would have enhanced the photo... it's a great pen.


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## Greg O'Sherwood (Mar 29, 2009)

Good point Ozzy,
I hadn't thought about that- among other things... Perhaps I'll use an acrylic stand.


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## Neal Addy (Mar 31, 2009)

Lookin' good!  :biggrin:


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