Thread: Still Trying

Originally Posted by leadduck

Then again, your sample shot looks pretty darn good, in my opinion.

I've noted a most curious phenomenon. Last night, I looked at your image of the pen on my home computer and wondered what you were complaining about. It looked perfectly fine. This morning however, I brought it up on my office computer and on this screen, there is a very dark cast shadow obscuring the pen. I don't remember seeing the shadow last night, at home. I can't explain it

Well i hadnt intended the shadow on the nib, but liked the way it turned out. The background is definitely more along the lines of the picture i posted. Its a light gray. I tried going 1/2 and 1 stop on the + side and it washed out the pen.

On a side note..i just found out my Photoshop 6.0 is along the lines of the Win 95. I thought it was a newer program, but alas, Im behind the times again.

I've checked your photo on my home computer and there is a definite difference. The shadow is still there but much more subtle. The markings on the nib are visible while on my work station, it's a dark black with no detail. Must be a low quality monitor I have at the office. Strange. Regarding Photoshop 6, I've never used it but it should be fine.

You should let us know what kind of camera gear you're using....camera, lens, flash, etc.

Here's an image I shot a few months ago...let me know if this is the kind of photo you're looking to get.



Here's what I did. The backdrop is a plain and simple piece of paper, but it serves the purpose of reflecting light into the underside of the objects and lightening any harsh shadow. I'm using a Canon Xti with a 50mm 2.4 prime lens, and a 580EX II flash. Since I'm not using a light booth for this shot, I rotated the flash to shoot against the wall behind me at about a 45degree angle. The light returning to the objects are bounced around the room using the laws of inverse square for light Inverse Square Law for Light Essentially, by flashing on the wall behind me, I'm turning the entire room into a giant lightbox.

On a shot like yours, you could go one of three different ways, increase ambient light in your box, bump the iso setting, or drop the f-stop down a couple clicks. Ideally, you'll want to change the lighting in the room...bumping the iso may increase grain in the photo and dropping the f-stop creates a shallow depth of field.

here's another one using the same technique

Well here is what I was using

D90
Nikon 50mm F1.8

Settings were F8, 1/15sec, 200 iso on a tripod

I honestly dont own a Flash. I have been debating on getting a Tamron 90mm Macro or a Flash for my camera. The only real indoor shooting I do is for SOTD pictures. I really dont know how beneficial the flash would be for me, except in these instances. What do you think...a Macro or Flash?

BTW, Lovely picture.

Personally, I would go for the flash. Those built in flashes are jank and won't provide nearly the amount of light or proper direction. Additionally, if you ever take portraits, a good flash won't give you red eye since it's not in direct line-of-sight with the person looking into the lens whereas the built in flash will deliver red eye every time. For the macro work, those built in flashes won't do the job either since you'll end up with a bunch of overexposed areas and then a bunch of cheap shadows.

Don't discount the 'nuclear option' of using Photoshop to subtly...and I reiterate the subtle part, you can pull a mediocre shot into a better shot. Don't try to get absolutely white whites...it's photography, not underpants Here's your photo with a hint of adjustments...I brought up the levels and slightly moved the greys over but left the blacks and whites alone. Right off the bat, you'll notice details in the shot that were hidden in the shadows of the original. Notice how the reflected light is revealed on the top of the barrel of the pen?



Based on your info on the original pic, bump your iso to 400 and the f-stop down to about 3.2-4.0 and see how that works for you

Well...this shows me that Ill be getting the flash, as well as needing to work on Photoshop. I havent used the built in flash at all. I have 2 5k lightstands for the shadowbox.

You know, another thing that i do and dont like is photoshop. i know there were tricks to the trade with developing pictures, but photoshop is really cheating..haha

Maybe im just saying that because im struggling with both pictures and photoshop.

Ill check out walmart tomorrow to see if they carry the flash i want, as it seems this is a Jewish holiday and B&H and Adorama are both closed till Saturday.