Photos

[Forging Carver]

Hi,

  So now that I am starting to post a lot of pictures, I need to find a way that makes them look halfway decent. I know that this isnt really blacksmithing, but I suppose in a way can fit in. The ones I have been taking are pretty dark even though I have a bright lamp shining over it. I usually use my phone to take them, and I know some pictures some of you took on your phone that doesnt look too bad. Any tips on making the pictures look better? Maybe taking them in sunlight? Thanks

[John McPherson]

Bright, indirect light. Bouncing it off of a white surface, or placing the item in a table made tent out of an old sheet with the light shining on that.

Frequently discussed in knifemaker forums, someone may have a link or tutorial somewhere.

 

[Eric Morgan]

Ugh, my reply disappeared three times!

 

To the OP, if you are working with smaller items like knives and such, a decent lightbox can be made from a cardboard box, some white posterboard, and some tissue paper. Just do a YouTube search for lightbox and you should be able to find some good instructional videos. 

I attached a few pictures of some fishing lures I've painted to give you an idea of what multiple sources of diffused light can do. 

[Forging Carver]

alright cool. Nice lures by the way.

[Eric Morgan]

Thanks!

[MrDarkNebulah]

Hi everyone. I searched around a bit and I couldn't find any post dedicated to this idea. I am applying to colleges this year  and a lot  of them are asking if there are any creative elements in the student, and if so to submit a portfolio of their work. However, I have no idea how to take a good photo. So this question is going out to all the people out here who do this for money: How do you take good pictures of your work? Are there any tips you can share? 

P.S. Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, I thought that this would be a good discussion but wasn't quite sure where  it should belong.

thats ok I found it for you and merged them

[C-1ToolSteel]

I'm no pro photographer, but it seams like if there really are creative elements in you, than you should be able to figure it out. I don't mean this in a sarcastic way. One thing that helps me is to take pics at a bunch of different angles until I get one that looks creative but not goofy. Just my $0.02.

                       C1

[Lou L]

I once was an avid photographer and shot lots of sports, wildlife and macro photography. (I thought having kids would simply redirect my photographic interests toward portraits but it eliminated the time to shoot entirely.)  That aside, all you need to do is to build or buy yourself a light box.  Search "light box photography" in the good old Google and you will find what you need.  A light box allows you to diffuse light and control shadow.  Normal pop-up flashes wash out your image and cause ugly shadows.  Basically all advertising and demonstration photography is done using light boxes.

Place a light behind the box and one about 45degrees from the front. 

Use a light gray or white piece of paper under the light of the box to manually set the color temperature (weird, I've mentioned that phrase twice tonight) in your camera.  Turn off the camera's built in flash.  If you are using a manual camera go for an aperture around 8ish and then shoot with whatever shutter speed the camera says is right (aperture priority).  Use a tripod if you have one.  If you are using a phone for a camera then turn off the flash and hope it makes quality photos.

[Daswulf]

Glenn has given me alot of good tips, Frosty too. I wont pretend to know what I'm doing yet but I know whatever Frosty and Glenn have to say will be gold.

[olfart]

A "light tent" is easy to construct and use for shadowless photos of small items. Click on the above link to see how it's made.  You'll also find some very creative photography in the knife making section of this forum.

[Glenn]

Photography , simply put, is painting with light. The subject dictates the lighting set up.

The one item that will improve your photos the most is a tripod. It forces you to include what you want in the photo and to exclude what you do not want in the photo. It also takes camera shake out of the equation.

Lighting can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Just be sure all lights are the same type and color temperature. The overall color temperature can be fixed by white balancing the (digital) camera .

The basic lighting set up is 4 lights, two lights, one each, at 45 degrees left and right of the camera lens axis. One light above and behind the subject to shine on the subject and provide separation from the background. The other light is mobile and are used to kill any unwanted shadows, if needed. If all lights are the same brightness, then you can move them to easily  create the lighting ratios you want. To see what the lights are doing, only turn on a single light at a time and watch where the light and shadows fall on the subject.

You can modify the light(s) as you wish, that is to say use them as a point light (sharp shadows), or a large broad type light (with little or no shadows).

Reflectors such as poster board, matt board, or foam-core simply redirect the light and can be as large or as small in size as you need. Be mindful of the color of the reflector as it not only redirects light but and also adds the color of the reflector to the subject. Some boards have a blueing agent to make the white appear whiter. The camera can sometimes see the difference.

Backgrounds are important. Brown cardboard or brown wrapping paper is easy to find and use. There are many shades of cloth that work, so go to the fabric store and look for neutral colors. Avoid plaid, camo, and other busy prints. You want to see the subject not the background.

Learn the basics. Photography is very different today then when film was used. Buy the digital camera, or camera phone, and there is no additional cost per click, no processing cost or cost per print. Take lots of photos, experiment, and throw away (as in delete) the ones that do not work.

Above all it is suppose to be fun. Do not let it drag you down, change something and make it fun again.

Make each photo the very best you can, each time you push the button. Do not just push the button and hope it works, MAKE it work. Always take two photos, one to capture what you thought you wanted, and then the second photo to improve it in some way.

You are only as good as the next photo you take. Make it the very best that you have ever taken.

[gote]

The most important items have already been covered above. Personally I am a fan of the light tent. Just one thing: If you have a tripod, (and I agree 100% with Glenn) stop down to about 11 rather than 8 At least for my (Canon OS) this gives maximum resolution. If you need depth of field stop down even more. Not many amateur photographers know that very small apertures (22 and upwards) give slightly lower sharpness due to diffraction - but they do give good depth of field and in most cases the depth of field is more important.  

[IronAlchemy]

Glenn has it spot on that product photography is all about using the light to tell the story about your subject. There is a lot to be said for controlling your light with light tents or other diffusers. The cheap alternative is to photograph outdoors on a cloudy day. You don't have as much control but it can get you started quickly and cheaply.

For the "egghead" discussion on product photography, I recommend "Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting". I have done product photography for many years and still refer to this. A more accessible discussion on lighting with a series of exercises you can work through to get you thinking about how lights and cameras interact is at strobist.com; click on the "Lighting 101" link. 

Don't hesitate to sent me personal email if you want additional help or critique.

Enjoy!

[MrDarkNebulah]

Thank you everyone! This had been very helpful. Sorry for posting this in the wrong spot Glenn. what about pictures of larger items like a fire poker? I don't think that would fit in a light tent very well. How do you guys accomplish good pictures of things like that?

[Steve Sells]

I guess you arent able to build a light tent  big enough?

[ThomasPowers]

I have a heavy canvas sibley tent that is 13.5' in diameter and would work; unless your pokers are larger than that?

[Glenn]

They photograph fancy cars on a regular basis. Just takes a larger studio and set up.

 

You can start with understanding the basics of photography. Then go into media resolution (old lines per inch resolution), dept of focus, depth of field, optics, and it starts to get crazy real quick. For instance:

The hyperfocal distance is entirely dependent upon what level of sharpness is considered to be acceptable. The criterion for the desired acceptable sharpness is specified through the circle of confusion diameter limit. The formula is based on the assumption that a photograph would be viewed in 8×10 print size at a viewing distance of about 10 inches by a person with 20/20 vision. The assumption was wrong for my set up as I was printing 24 x 36 inches photographs, and trying to go larger, while retaining a quality better than most people would expect on an 8 x 10 inch print.

I had to research and study fine grain films, fine grain developers, fine grain developing techniques, developing temperature control, developing time control, lens optics, and even sent the lenses out to be tested for accuracy in both optics and f/stops. All this testing brought other problems in to the equation, such as the type enlarger used (condenser enlarger vs diffusion enlarger), and my first experience with newton rings.

A few years later I was able to print 4 foot x 8 foot color enlargements (the size of a sheet of plywood) from 35 mm negatives. Black and white negatives could be printed up to  8 feet by 12 feet (the size of 3 sheets of plywood) from 35 mm negatives. This was straight off the original negative, no inter-negatives were used.

 

All this is to say you can learn the basics of photography in short order. Spend some time outside watching the sky and the type light it produces. No clouds produce sharp shadows, where as a heavily overcast sky produces little or no shadows.  Cost of lighting can be as little or as much as you want to invest. Four auto garage clamp on trouble lights (less than $10 each), or a piece of photo matt board (under $5.00) will do to start, and do a LOT of work for you.

Or your can chase down the very last grain of silver or digital pixel and understand why things work the way they do.

My suggestion is to start small, with minimal equipment, and have fun. As with blacksmithing, tell us what you are trying to do, show us what you are working with and have done, and then ask for assistance. LouL, IronAlchemy, and others have knowledge and experience that you can access by asking.

 

[MrDarkNebulah]

I made a lightbox today  and I have to say the pictures came out nice. They are a bit fuzzy  since I used my phone and didn't spend a lot of time on getting them perfect, I just wanted to try out the light box.

[Glenn]

Shoot with the camera lens axis perpendicular to the subject so everything is in the same plain of focus, Then go to an editing program and turn the subject on the diagonal. Crop the corners to give a square format.

 

 

[Lou L]

I'm impressed, you are a man of action!  That light box will serve for sure.  If you have another camera or at least a tripod that works with your phone you will be all set.  Well, playing with light sources is a good idea as well.  You might start by blasting two lights, one on each side, into your box and experimenting.  You can move them farther away or closer depending on the lights you have.  Figure out how to color balance whatever you are shooting with.  You should have decent results balancing off of the background you already have.  Then, as others have said, take lots of shots until you feel you have some control.  Have fun!

Oh, and it's nice to see yet another CT person here.  You and CTblades have filled the hole left when notownkid moved.

[MrDarkNebulah]

I'm going to trytaking some photos today. Ill keep you posted with how  they come out.

 

[CTBlades]

This makes me think about taking good pics. Since on this forum I've been lazy and just shooting with my phone on the kitchen table. I did build a light box years ago when I opened my store then moved to a potable light tent. They both did a great job illuminating objects without shadows. Maybe I should dig my tent out and give it a go!

[VaughnT]

Don't forget to use post-production like iPhoto to tweak the colors and such.

I take all my photos with a Canon G10 camera that's been around awhile.  I don't use a light box, but my bright lights are 8' above the table top I usually shoot on.  I do need to build a light box, or I might just by a cheapie version.

Post-production like iPhoto is great for tweaking the settings and experimenting with different looks.  I generally will adjust the sharpness first, then move to saturation and exposure.

The big thing, imo, is not to switch things up all the time.  If you're doing product photos, develop one look and stick with it.  If you keep trying to change things up, you can't develop a simple pattern that works for 90% of what you're photographing.  Being able to do the same thing over and over makes it easy to zip through the post-production process.