wm460
Grand Master
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
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Put it on a plain background and take a snap with your phone...
Will a box brownie do?
-
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Will a box brownie do?
KevinMc
Graduate Member
Yeh definitely 
Does it matter?
Unless you are advertising them on a website or social media for sale?
Many of us just want to have fun making stuff and are not into photography but are put off by being criticised for photography skills...
Put it on a plain background and take a snap with your phone...
Kevin
I think the main thing is to not let the pen or other item get lost onto a cluttered background. A single coloured background is ideal as long as it does not clash with the item being photographed. A large piece of MDF painted with a matt white will do the trick no special set ups. This way it does not get into the complications of having lights and other stuff.
As I stated in my first post a white background ad taken in good light not direct sunlight can produce a nice simple picture.
No, it doesn't matter. However, from time to time people ask how to improve their photos, so I started this thread to let people pass on their tips and tricks, for the benefit anyone interested. In fairness, I don't see photos being criticised that often at all Kevin, and if they are, it's usually because the subject can't be seen properly, either because the photo is too dark or because the background is too cluttered. In your case, it's your hobby, in other people's cases, it's their hobby. Each puts into it and takes out of it what they want to. There are no photo police here, just an widespread spirit of helpfulness.Does it matter?
Unless you are advertising them on a website or social media for sale?
Many of us just want to have fun making stuff and are not into photography but are put off by being criticised for photography skills...
Put it on a plain background and take a snap with your phone...
Kevin
Chriscb
Full Member
Bit late to the party but hey, it's been busy! So, to set my stall out. I run a web based shop so the photography of the work is as important as the final sanding. If the photo is blurred or dark et al, then that's a disaster.
I have three light tents, a very big one for large bowls and such like. A smaller one for the rest - but the disadvantage of these two is that I have to set up lights to use with the tents. That takes a lot of time.
My most recent acquisition is a Samtian Portable Light Tent. This is a solid but foldable box with LED lights. The setup time is seconds and the quality of the lights are excellent. Very short warm up time, consistent light temperature (5500K), infinitely variable light positions.
Used with an iPhone the quality is good, used with a DSLR the quality is excellent. The only downside is that the smaller tent isn't cheap, whilst the larger tent is really very expensive. But for ease of use it can not be bettered.
I've noticed a few posts with questions concerning graphic software. I'm not in the Adobe expert class, but I do use Photoshop extensively, so here's my take.
Most manipulations of an image in any graphics software leads to loss of original data in the image. So keep your processing to a minimum, and try to get everything right in the camera before you click. Correcting for white balance is the most obvious lossy manipulation you can do, and really you should try to make it the only one you do. Cropping or rotating an image doesn't loose data (generally).
Make a copy of the original image and work on the copy rather than the original - it is all goes horribly wrong you can start again.
Choose the very biggest image dimensions you can in the camera you use - the bigger the image (more pixels) the more data you capture. And therein lies the problem of using an iPhone (other phones are available!) - apart from a very few high end examples, phones do not lend themselves to acquiring highly detailed images. But they are very good for quick images not intended for publication.
I'm more than happy to field questions concerning the use of graphics software, especially but not exclusively Photoshop.
Regards,
Chriscb
I have three light tents, a very big one for large bowls and such like. A smaller one for the rest - but the disadvantage of these two is that I have to set up lights to use with the tents. That takes a lot of time.
My most recent acquisition is a Samtian Portable Light Tent. This is a solid but foldable box with LED lights. The setup time is seconds and the quality of the lights are excellent. Very short warm up time, consistent light temperature (5500K), infinitely variable light positions.
Used with an iPhone the quality is good, used with a DSLR the quality is excellent. The only downside is that the smaller tent isn't cheap, whilst the larger tent is really very expensive. But for ease of use it can not be bettered.
I've noticed a few posts with questions concerning graphic software. I'm not in the Adobe expert class, but I do use Photoshop extensively, so here's my take.
Most manipulations of an image in any graphics software leads to loss of original data in the image. So keep your processing to a minimum, and try to get everything right in the camera before you click. Correcting for white balance is the most obvious lossy manipulation you can do, and really you should try to make it the only one you do. Cropping or rotating an image doesn't loose data (generally).
Make a copy of the original image and work on the copy rather than the original - it is all goes horribly wrong you can start again.
Choose the very biggest image dimensions you can in the camera you use - the bigger the image (more pixels) the more data you capture. And therein lies the problem of using an iPhone (other phones are available!) - apart from a very few high end examples, phones do not lend themselves to acquiring highly detailed images. But they are very good for quick images not intended for publication.
I'm more than happy to field questions concerning the use of graphics software, especially but not exclusively Photoshop.
Regards,
Chriscb
alan morrison
Fellow
Chris thanks for picking up this thread again as I for one benefited from advice already given here.
I may take you up on the offer to answer a few questions from a novice photographer.
Thanks
Alan
Chriscb
Full Member