posted on January 22, 2004 02:38:40 PM new
Can somebody out there tell me how to take better pix? I have used GE Reveal and found they were too yellow. Am now using the kind of lights that track lights use. The color is White, but how do I get rid of the shadows???
posted on January 22, 2004 02:44:16 PM new
photoluckylucy,
I had a lot of problems with the lighting for my pics too. I spent tons of money trying to find something that would allow good indoors pics.....I even tried the reveal bulbs like you. What I did end up doing was I hung a shop light from the ceiling over top of my photo area and put in 1 florescent bulb (the kind that you use for plants). That did the trick for the most part (and no shadows) but now I just have to adjust my camera's EV settings to get an even better pic. Hope this helps ya some.
You can view one of my auctions to see how my photos turn out now...just click below.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2883095454
~Shamoy~
[ edited by Shamoy on Jan 22, 2004 02:46 PM ]
posted on January 22, 2004 05:39:29 PM new
I hate to be redundant....but you need three point lighting.
First, you are on the right track with color correction.
I use bendable lamps.
You need a key light, a fill light and a back light.
Key light: strongest wattage and or closest to subject.
Fill light, can be the same wattage but is filling in the shadows that the first creates, so it's further away, or can be less wattage.
Back light creates a light that pulls the object from the background.
Think of a vermeer portrait of a lady writing. Perfect.
Imagine a clockface.
Your camera is at 6 oclock. object is at center of clock.
Key light would be at 4:30 and fill light at 7:30
Back light would be at noon or there abouts.
Of course in a 3D world you can go higher or lower and even closer etc.
You can add more light but my camera does better with more. If I can beat the flash out of it's job, I have a much better detail.
Flash is flat, flattening and eyelevel (not naturally where light comes from). It washes color out and depth.
They don't have flash photography classes for nothing! It's an art in itself.
I normally don't use lighting with film because I haven't mastered it. But my video background helped make my digital pix go from dark to decent.
Which I think helped people decide to bid...but I can NOT for the life of me figure out if that's a true statement!
J
~~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~~
All the monkeys aren't in the zoo,
Every day you meet quite a few,
So you see it's all up to you.
You can be better than you are,
You could be swingin' on a star
[ edited by Japerton on Jan 22, 2004 05:43 PM ]
posted on January 22, 2004 05:59:13 PM new
I'm having a heck of time with my Nikon taking indoor pics that don't look red. I found my overhead flourescent did well with the right camera setting, but now my background picks up the dominate color of my object. I tried the Reveal bulbs too, as well as floods. Had no luck with either.
I tried additional side lighting but was using floods and that didn't work well at all. Have been considering a goose neck florescent. With you info Jasperton, think I'll go drag some more lights around and try it. Thanks!
posted on January 22, 2004 07:34:44 PM new
ltray
In video the red green blue of the video chip color corrects as best it's weak self can do.
Fluorescents are green so the camera color corrects too warm.
One thing you may want to do is check the white balance feature on the camera...assuming it's digital. A nikon digicam should have a decent white balance set up.
I turn off my kitchen light, which is a regular tungston uncolor corrected light, because it casts a warm red color.
J
posted on January 22, 2004 08:27:34 PM new
Am sure this is naive question. But using the 3 point method recommended, where do you find the lighting fixtures? For example, is it something I could find at like Wal-Mart or should I be looking at more professional lighting for cameras? And what type of bulbs are the best?
posted on January 22, 2004 09:11:37 PM new
Thankyou, thank you thank you... I was on the right track. But, when you mentioned you had problems with the yellow from reveal. Da da dah... thanks
posted on January 22, 2004 10:39:58 PM new
tammysue68 to answer your question ....yes Walmarts should carry a light with a bendable neck.I picked up 4 of them from Target after school started on sale for like 90% off cause they were dorm back to school items .I think I pay a 1.68 each...they have a squeeze clip to attach them to desk or anything that might be close which has worked out great.
posted on January 23, 2004 11:01:47 AM new
Japerton gave a good suggestion about the use of fill light but there is another way to achieve it. When I was teaching studio lighting my first assignment was called "There is only one sun." The idea was to achieve natural looking lighting on an object with just one light source. This can be accomplished with the use of reflector cards to bounce the light from your one light back into the dark side of the object. A sheet of white cardboard or (for a brighter fill) cardboard covered with slightly crumpled foil can make a big difference. This can also be helpful when you are working with natural light.
I have a reflector photoflood stand (could be a clamp on work light) with a blue photoflood bulb (from a photo store) on hand for quick pictures. The blue bulb is the perfect color balance for daylight film and my digital camera does great with no color balance adjustment. Warning: Photofloods get really hot. If you point a white card at the shadow side of the object and move it back and forth you will see that you can bounce a good deal of light back onto the object. Prop the card up on a chair or delegate an assistant to hold it out of the picture.
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on January 23, 2004 01:59:26 PM new
photosensite: why dont you post some of your pictures so we can see?
I'd like to improve my picture, although I dont know if I have the time or inclination to do all these things. I''d really like to take a class and get a better camera, tho.
posted on January 23, 2004 02:29:54 PM new
Foamcore works well for bounce cards. It's cheap!
IMHO, cheaper lighting such as clamp-on or floor posable lamps is cheaper than any used gear I can buy at my local camera shop. Or even painters lights, very cheap.
A three light Lowel kit used isn't cheap, they start around 800 for a complete kit with stands.
Even one tota starts at around 150, sans stand.
At 500 or 750 watt per lamp(bulb), you may rethink the painters lights in a hurry, because you can get approx the same with those!
Painter's lights have figured in many a video production I have worked on (I even saw it in the background of a show on HGTV) and is very good for larger items. It translates well to digital photography.
I used to teach studio and field lighting for videography and yes, the sun is the most natural direction of light, so the goal is to imitate the direction and the reflective qualities of natural light.
I think with any digital camera, white balance is your best place to start, once you understand how the camera thinks it sees light, then you are on the right track.
Final ramblage: the lower wattage you go, the the color correction of a bulb in a cheaper lamp, means you don't have to worry about ampage usage per plug. When you get into high wattage you can overdo it a your breaker will shut you down.
Basically it's wattage/100 (for safety sake we did not use 120 volts)=#amps per plug. So for a shoot at a home it's a lot of extension cords to separate the ampage.
All that for the photo of a pair of earrings??
I downsized to el cheapo.
DDDD
J
PS You can use three point lighting to take very nice family photos too!
[ edited by Japerton on Jan 23, 2004 02:32 PM ]
posted on January 23, 2004 09:34:28 PM new
Thanks to you all for such great advice and suggestions. As a Vendio "person", I think we could use a dedicated photo info discussion board on Vendio. As evidenced from your posts below, there is a wealth of photography knowledge here. It has helped me greatly, and I think it could benefit others, even newbies.
I do think good pics make a difference in sales. Just my opinion.
DDDD