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Photographing Pens.

Pastor of Muppets

Full Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2017
Posts
279
Location
Oxford (ish)
First Name
Andy
I see all your beautiful photographs of your beautiful pens on here and have realise using my camera phone to take photos on my work desk just isn't enough!
What do you guys use to photograph your pens? What is the best way to lay out the pen? Do you use flash or lighting?
Thanks All
AC
p.s. pics of photo rigs are always appreciated!
 

Penpal

Grand Master
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May 26, 2013
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Location
Canberra AUSTRALIA
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Peter
My simple set up,an open box frame of conduit three lights two at this time,the camera screws onto the cross bar. Lamps are LED.

Peter.
 

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Walter

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Apr 22, 2013
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Amble on the sunny Northumberland coast.
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Walter
I use a plain white backdrop, two photographic lamps and a DSLR camera on a tripod.

I bought my first DSLR when I needed to improve my photography for magazine work, but you don't need a DSLR, any camera or phone will make a decent job, the background and lighting are the important things along with a means of keeping the camera steady.

Some people like to include props (Like Johnny5's crystals and dragons) whilst others think they distract from the subject. Don't get hung up on it, just make sure there is nothing in the photograph that you didn't intend to be there and that the pen is clearly the subject.

I will take a photograph of my set-up later.
 

Dalboy

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Mar 20, 2014
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7,679
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Kent
First Name
Derek
What do you guys use to photograph your pens?

A camera what else:devil:

I use a very simple set up a plain background plenty of natural light but not direct sun light as that cast too harsh a shadow and a simple camera nothing fancy unless like Walter you have to take top quality photo's that is all that is needed I must confess that I should really invest as like Walter I write for a woodworking magazine which involves the use of photo's.

This is my set up the camera photo is rubbish as I had to use my phone to take that. then some results of the set up. Thought i had better throw in a picture of a pen to prove I do make them occassionally:whistling::whistling::whistling:
 

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21William

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Dorset
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William
Some of the cameras on today’s phones are easily up to the task, you just need a suitable background and a good light source. You don’t even need lights, shooting outdoors on an overcast day can give good enough light for the job. I’ve taken some very good pictures in the conservatory on an overcast day.
 

Walter

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As promised here is a photograph of my setup. The backdrop and lights are relatively inexpensive from eBay, the tripod is a cheap Jessops one. The camera is an entry level DSLR (Canon EOS450D) but a decent quality phone or a compact like Derek's will be fine.

As you can see it is just set up on a workbench with the other stuff moved out of the way. The top of the backdrop is fixed to the shelves with Velcro strip and the bottom edge clamped to the edge of the bench.

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Great for photographing pens.

IMG_3514-Edit2.jpg

And for bigger things too.

IMG_3634.jpg
 

Bucks

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North Yorkshire
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Paul
I use one of these which has a small strip light inside it and my iPhone 6s, the photos are far from perfect, but they ain’t bad.

Edit but then again comparing my photos to others on this thread, mine do look pretty shite, maybe it’s time I looked into some other sort of lighting? Hopefully still using my phone though?

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Pastor of Muppets

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Oxford (ish)
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Andy
So I have ordered myself a small light box that has a variety of coloured but plain back grounds and colour adjustable LED lighting. My wife has DSLR that I bought her as a wedding present and hopefully she will let me use that! I just need to get a tripod now!

Many thanks again every one
 

Morse

Graduate Member
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Dec 20, 2016
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679
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Cheshire. UK
First Name
Dave
Hey Paul don't knock yourself about those pictures.
They show off the pens well.
I'm still trying, using my iPhone.

Dave
 

Phil Dart

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What hasn't been mentioned, which is every bit as handy as a light box, is a bit of software to tweak your photos if they need it. Very often a piccie can be rescued, and the background made to look whiter with a couple of mouse clicks, rather than spending the kids inheritance on photographic gear. And even if you spend drug money on a good setup, it's difficult to stop the background from looking grey in many cases. As I already own a package, and therefore not having had to buy one for years, I'm a bit out of touch with what's out there these days, but I'm pretty certain that Mr Google will be able to put you in touch with more than you can shake a stick at, and probably free to download in many cases too.
 

Les ELm

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Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
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Les
DSLR, tripod, plain white background, and overhead daylight florescent shop lights.

Les
 

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Dalboy

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Kent
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Derek
What hasn't been mentioned, which is every bit as handy as a light box, is a bit of software to tweak your photos if they need it. Very often a piccie can be rescued, and the background made to look whiter with a couple of mouse clicks, rather than spending the kids inheritance on photographic gear. And even if you spend drug money on a good setup, it's difficult to stop the background from looking grey in many cases. As I already own a package, and therefore not having had to buy one for years, I'm a bit out of touch with what's out there these days, but I'm pretty certain that Mr Google will be able to put you in touch with more than you can shake a stick at, and probably free to download in many cases too.

Google is not my friend tried to find somewhere to tell me how to turn a pen be buggered if I could find anywhere:sob::sob::sob::funny::funny::funny:


Yes I did forget to mention about tweaking with a program I use what was already on my computer
 

Pastor of Muppets

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Oxford (ish)
First Name
Andy
What hasn't been mentioned, which is every bit as handy as a light box, is a bit of software to tweak your photos if they need it. Very often a piccie can be rescued, and the background made to look whiter with a couple of mouse clicks, rather than spending the kids inheritance on photographic gear. And even if you spend drug money on a good setup, it's difficult to stop the background from looking grey in many cases. As I already own a package, and therefore not having had to buy one for years, I'm a bit out of touch with what's out there these days, but I'm pretty certain that Mr Google will be able to put you in touch with more than you can shake a stick at, and probably free to download in many cases too.

Excellent advice Phil and something I hadn't considered as its so easy to do on the phone!
 

Pastor of Muppets

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Andy
My only other question is staging. I notice that a lot you show your pens with one end elevated on either a prop or the cap. Does this add to the photo or is it just styling?
 

Phil Dart

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Colebrooke, Devon
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Phil
I get told off for my photos Andy - I get comments like " I like the unusual angle" which is code for "why the heck did you take it like that". Some people have certain ideas about how a pen looks good, and they're largely right, but at the end of the day if there is a feature you wish to show off which the light doesn't catch in a conventional shot, then set it up in a way that does.

Others are far better at shooting their pens than me, but the best advise I can give you is to lose all the clutter behind your shots. It's the pen that folks want to see. I tried tinkering with your tinsel pen and your bloodwood set to illustrate my earlier post, but there was so much going on the the background of both that it was impossible in the time I had to do anything useful with them.

There are several people here who ALWAYS take a good shot. Often they use a conventional "pose" to impress but often they don't. Have a trawl back over some past pens and see which ones appeal , and why they work well. Rather than sticking to a formula imposed by others, learn from them and adapt to your own sense of aesthetics. Get your light tent set up and experiment with the lighting to see what difference it makes from different angles, or with the number of lights you use. You already have your feet well and truly under the table here, and as time goes by, people will feel more emboldened to tell you if it's a load of old shite, and equally so if its a good'n. You'll soon learn what works and what doesn't.
 

Neil Lawton

Longlocks
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Dec 26, 2013
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York
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What hasn't been mentioned, which is every bit as handy as a light box, is a bit of software to tweak your photos if they need it. Very often a piccie can be rescued, and the background made to look whiter with a couple of mouse clicks, rather than spending the kids inheritance on photographic gear. And even if you spend drug money on a good setup, it's difficult to stop the background from looking grey in many cases. As I already own a package, and therefore not having had to buy one for years, I'm a bit out of touch with what's out there these days, but I'm pretty certain that Mr Google will be able to put you in touch with more than you can shake a stick at, and probably free to download in many cases too.


DRUG Money!!!!:shocking: Is there something you're not telling us [MENTION=735]Phil Dart[/MENTION]!
 

Prokraft

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Oct 21, 2017
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32
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Ludlow, UK
First Name
Jon
I wrote at length the same as you Phil, I think my interweb broke this afternoon as my reply is not here and I had other troubles too.

To recap - the screens on most cameras are fairly poor - shots look ok until you get them on a PC - as long as you have a shot in focus you can do something with it.

I have tried various software packages, I used to use Corel - absolute rubbish - I now use PhotoScape which is open source software (free) and it is superb - i only use the basics but you can sort out the background and adjust the photo angle (I can never see straight). It is well worth having a look at before shelling out the dosh.

The other thing you need to do is resize the photo's especially if you are uploading or emailing them - or you may have a long wait!
 

Penpal

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Canberra AUSTRALIA
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Peter
I use a right angle folded printed light cardboard,in manual focus my camera brings the image up close during focus making it easy to set.I tend to show multiple ie more than one view to prove the pen is just as exciting all round.My average time taking the pen picture is a few minutes then the same to transfer to the computer and post. I believe because of my lighting etc elevating one end gives separation under the pen that I like.For detail of other items the same system is more than adequate.The two pics of my variable speed controller on the VL100 proves this.

Peter.
 

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