Light Box For your forum photos

[sharptonn]

Boy! You guys go big with these things!
A razor is small, so my redneck light box is small.
Originally for some sort of instrument, it is 13 X 9 X 8 inches.
Opens so the front and top are free. I blow my desk lamp in the top and another LED bulb rigged on an old telescope tripod. Inside painted white. Paper towel held up with magnets.



There is a sheet of Styrofoam under the paper towel. Handy for a pin to keep the razor from flopping.



It's all about focus, lighting/angle, exposure, etc. Wotta pain in the ass.
I forgot everything I knew!

Took a jillion, got a few decent ones. I Mix close-up pics with normal.
At times, I can take saturation out, add some contrast, play with the shadows and highlights in the editor and my worst becomes my best...Like so.


To this....


A few more which are not too bad;


It takes patience. changing things. A notepad and pencil. Lots of time.
Most importantly, scads of pics, moving lights, changing settings, etc.
Pain in the butt.

So the box closes up and the light folds-up and off to the shelf it goes!

[Johntoad57]

That is amazing Sharptonn. To see the before and after pictures are night and day! Outstanding!

[sharptonn]

That is amazing Sharptonn. To see the before and after pictures are night and day! Outstanding!

Thanks, John. The yellow pic is what I get using the close-up setting after setting white balance on normal mode. Sucking the saturation out gets the yellow out.
I just experiment. Have NO idea what I am doing, really.
Say! Charlie did a video on Photographing razors.
Perhaps he will post it here.
Also, some of our fine SOTD participants might give some tips?

All I know is you cannot go wrong with sunlight.
That is why most of my SOTD pics are on the windowsill.

[sharptonn]

As JP5 pointed out on Ebay pics, look at my pictures. The soft fabric hides a lot of things.
Only in the last picture do you see the grinding striations.
In that picture, you can also see the reflection of my 2 lamps in the scales.
On Ebay, the striations could be pitting!

And as Gabriel and outback pointed out with their lighting sources, my tripod light gets a LOT of use.
I have even taken it camping!

The desk lamp lights my restorations and my honing.
That desk pull-out the lightbox is sitting on is my razor spot.

Lastly, I would say Mike hit a Home-Run with the Connecticut Silver photo!

[spazola]

My video is ancient, with my old point and shoot camera. I really like crafs man video better. The SOTD of the pictures are great.

Here is the video for those who are a glutton for bad videos.

[32t]

I like the thoughts and ideas in this thread. Many of the SOTD pictures I have seen are wonderful!

If you have nothing to gain all power to you with manipulating your picture if it is by light, background, or a program.

Where should the line be drawn that you are misrepresenting the object?

I admit that if I take 10 pictures of a project or anything I am going to post the best one!

[sharptonn]

Thanks, Charlie!


Tim. TBH I have bought more razors with mundane pics off the bay which were perfect in-hand than the other way around. You can make a silk purse look like a sow's ear from a pic....
OR the other way round!
I hide from too much flash there. Anything 'Restored' for the most part.
The glamour shots for SOTD are another thing for those who do them.
(NOT Mine!)
They do some wonderful shots. That is art, IMO.

[32t]

Thanks, Charlie!


Tim. TBH I have bought more razors with mundane pics off the bay which were perfect in-hand than the other way around. You can make a silk purse look like a sow's ear from a pic....
OR the other way round!
I hide from too much flash there. Anything 'Restored' for the most part.
The glamour shots for SOTD are another thing for those who do them.
(NOT Mine!)
They do some wonderful shots. That is art, IMO.

Mundane pictures for a lack of a better term to me are more honest.

Your post with the grinding marks in the last one made me think about this. I like the grinding marks because that is what it is.The other pictures are arguably better looking.

[sharptonn]

I suppose unless it is in your hand with your eye on it, it's all interpretation anyway!
What to look for?
Most look better in hand, FME. All it took was to get a few which did not stack-up. Figured that out.
Like a Big Mac opposed to the picture of a Big Mac!


Anyhoo. Great thread. Charlie was flying with that camera!
Betcha all of ours have those features. Mine does.

Smartphones have good cameras now.
Soon, SIM cards and rechargeable batteries will be gone.
Mad Max

[cwomg]

As I continue this new found journey and take pics of the items I'm working on, I quickly realized that everyone's great photo's didn't happen by chance. Thanks for starting this thread, I think I'll have something usable soon...