# An Inprovement



## Joe S.

Starting to feel better about my photo skills. Not totally confident, but better.






C&C is strongly encouraged!


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## Joe S.

Forgot this one :redface:


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## toddlajoie

Photo looks great. maybe a bit dark, but the background plays into that. Some small folded pieces of tinfoil can help you bounce some light strategicaly into those dark areas to separate them from the black background. A larger, softer light (i.e. diffusion material between the light and the pen) will soften the transition between the lighted area and the shadows, and in many cases also help fill in the shadows some...

I haven't been watching many of the photo threads lately, but have you tried some different background materials?


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## Joe S.

Not yet. I don't have courage to venture into the fabric store! I'll start working on backgrounds next, right now I'm still playing with camera settings.


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## gimpy

Looks good, maybe a lighter background, 
nice pens though


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## toddlajoie

Joe S. said:


> Not yet. I don't have courage to venture into the fabric store! I'll start working on backgrounds next, right now I'm still playing with camera settings.




Staples will work too, colored or textured paper is a great background. Shirts, pillowcases, table cloths, there are backgrounds all around you...


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## Dalecamino

Joe I don't see a thing wrong with the settings. I know you don't need another comment about the background. :wink:


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## Hendu3270

Photos look pretty good. Two things...

Wipe your pens down prior to taking photos and wear latex gloves, (I'm seeing some finger prints). You have COMPLETE control over finger prints not being there.

Second, grab some scotch tape and use it to pick up all the fuzzies and stray hairs covering the black cloth.


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## Joe S.

Thanks, I'm pretty bad about the prints. :redface:
I will also work on the backgrounds, the dust is pretty bad.


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## mark james

I'm at about the same stage as you, so I appreciate the comments as I wrote them all down!  

Nothing more to add.

Please repost when you play with a different background - I want a good look at that pen!


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## edstreet

what settings are you using here. iso, fstop and ap.


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## Holz Mechaniker

Joe S. said:


> Not yet. I don't have courage to venture into the fabric store! I'll start working on backgrounds next, right now I'm still playing with camera settings.



Ohhh fiddle sticks, most fabric stores has stuff we use. perhaps not so much for pens but plenty of items for other turned items. plus if you want to do poly clay pens.  they should have plenty of that too.  So don't sweat the issue that it's a "Fabric Store"...  My cousin ran into his future wife in one..


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## Joe S.

edstreet said:


> what settings are you using here. iso, fstop and ap.


 
I'll check when I get home from class. I'm still at the "Ohh, what does this one do?" stage.


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## Joe S.

iso: 100
fstop: 18
ap: I'm not sure how to check :redface:

My Nikon D3100 is on aperture mode and I've just been messing with it from there. While the shutter is open I use a little LED light all over the pen from different angles, I like the results so far.

Here is my latest photo. I was still lazy about the dust and fingerprints, sorry. :redface:

I think this post might be very telling on how much of a novice I am...:redface::biggrin:


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## edstreet

Sorry to nitpick, but one last bit of detail, what size lens?

The aperture value is what you dial in if it's in Av mode.


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## Quality Pen

Joe S. said:


> iso: 100
> fstop: 18
> ap: I'm not sure how to check :redface:
> 
> My Nikon D3100 is on aperture mode and I've just been messing with it from there. While the shutter is open I use a little LED light all over the pen from different angles, I like the results so far.
> 
> Here is my latest photo. I was still lazy about the dust and fingerprints, sorry. :redface:
> View attachment 110679
> I think this post might be very telling on how much of a novice I am...:redface::biggrin:


That's a good photo!

I would make a simple change that would be to straighten the photo a bit in the horizontal. 

A more complex thing would be to eliminate the reflection in the black bottle... sometimes those things go unnoticed simply by chance!


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## Joe S.

The lens is whatever the one that came with my camera. :redface: I'll try to check later and post it, but I keep forgetting about this thread when I have the opportunity to post things. (we have a funny internet setup right now, so I can't always get to the IAP :frown
Here are some more pics:

This one seems a little "soft", I'm not sure if it was out of focus or if it vibrated a little during exposure.


Sorry for the cheap background, it was the only grey paper around the house.


Bog Oak!


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## Quality Pen

Probably the easiest way I can explain to sharpen any piciture is simply use a tripod and set the aperture as small as you can -- F8 or smaller (bigger number the better).


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## Joe S.

I am using a tripod, but I have that sucker exposing for 30 seconds!


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## Quality Pen

Joe S. said:


> I am using a tripod, but I have that sucker exposing for 30 seconds!



Unless it's a very sturdy tripod and there's absolutely nothing disturbing it... then I'd say that's probably not ideal!

I generally say under 200 then use a tripod, especially for macro. But at an aperture of f8-f11 you shouldn't need very long to get a crisp, sharp exposure. 

Of course, the lens really matters too, but that comes after setting things up right IMO.


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## carlmorrell

Only other comment I would make, is I shoot with mirror lockup, and remote trigger.  The intent there is to minimize any mechanical movement.


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## Quality Pen

carlmorrell said:


> Only other comment I would make, is I shoot with mirror lockup, and remote trigger.  The intent there is to minimize any mechanical movement.


totally forgot that too... its a good point. if you don't have or don't want to get out a remote, you can set the camera to 2,5 or 10s delay whichever you have. I use this personally when using a tripod. 

if I'm taking a shot under 200 1/s without a tripod then I depress and hold the shutter release until the exposure is complete. it helps to reduce the small interference that our button pushing causes.


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## Sylvanite

Is this better?


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## Joe S.

Ooooooh! What did you do?

I've been using the 2.5 second delay, but I haven't looked into the mirror lock yet.


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## Quality Pen

That's a really crisp photo throughout!

Now I would just get that annoying white fleck off the pen lol


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## Sylvanite

Quality Pen said:


> Now I would just get that annoying white fleck off the pen


Like this?


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## Quality Pen

Where did it go?!


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## Holz Mechaniker

Talk about knockin' it outa the park.  I think someone's Lexus has a baseball size hole in their windscreen


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## Sylvanite

Joe S. said:


> Ooooooh! What did you do?


Ain't Photoshop grand?  I made a few small color and lighting adjustments, but the major change was sharpening.  I also cloned out the dust speck.
Check out Photoshop Tip #6: Fixing Small Defects and Photoshop Tip #8: Sharpening.

I hope that helps,
Eric


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## Joe S.

Thanks, I've done a little with PhotoShop. But like photography, I don't really know what I'm doing.


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