Ernie Swanson
SASSY PINK LUUNCHBOX KNIFE MAKER
Here is a write up for different settings and uses for your cameras. match these with a good lightbox and you can have good looking pictures.
This write up is provided by curtisk
This is the short and sweet of it. Photography is about light. A camera will attempt to balance the light to an 18% grey. That is why the exposure changed when you added the dark cap. When a camera is set to full auto it balances everything: film speed, f/stop, shutter, light, etc.
The background you are using is fine. The background changes depending on the target or the results you are seeking to achieve. If you want a high contrast between the background and the target such as a dark knife, you would use a light background, and conversely a light colored knife against a dark background. The purpose of a light box is to diffuse the light evenly and eliminate shadowing so the eye is drawn to the target. In viewing your photos I saw very little shadowing, and in fact, you light box is working very well. I agree with other comments though in that you may be getting it a little “too busy” with the additional items placed in the photograph, but in your defense, including the money clip with the friction knife was an excellent idea as a scale.
Don’t change anything with your light box yet, instead try the following steps first. I sue the same kind of set up in the lab and get great results. You WILL get the results you are seeking within around 6 photographs if your camera allows it, and you follow them to the “T”.
Set the camera to manual.
Set your image size to the highest quality possible (I believe you stated your camera was a 6mp).
Set you camera “film speed” to ISO/ASA (even though it is a digital this is still applicable) to 200. This is a relatively “slow” film speed and gives much higher saturation resulting in better enlargements which allows you to crop the photo without losing any detail.
Set your f/stop to f/ 5.6. The f/stop is considered very “wide” at this setting allowing a lot of light into the camera and at a wide setting your depth of field is shallow. A shallow depth of field simply means that things that are on the same plane will be in focus, those that are not, will be out of focus. A “high” f/stop lets a small amount of light in through the lens but gives you a greater depth of field. Don’t get hung up on this! All of your photos are going to be at a wide f/stop anyways.
So, again, set your f/stop to f/5.6 (or wider if your camera will allow it) Set your shutter speed to 100th of a second.
Take the photo. If the photo is over exposed (too bright), change your shutter speed to 125th of a second (faster shutter speed) and keep doing this incrementally until the photo is exposed correctly. If the photo is underexposed (too dark), slow down the shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. If it is still underexposed lower it again to 1/50th but this will be the slowest you can set it shooting freehand. If you are still underexposed after this photo you will need to place the camera on a tripod
Best option: Place the camera on a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, stack up books or whatever you have and then place a towel or a hunk of Play-Do on top. This will allow you manipulate the camera some and then take your hands away. Be careful not to get the Play-do in any of the camera’s components! Also, you will need to use the camera’s timer (or a shutter release cord or remote). Remember for anything slower than 1/50 shutter speed it will require hands free operation.
Another option for free hand photos would be to change the film speed to 400 (stay with me, I know it can get confusing). This is a “faster” film speed which means it requires less light for development. Enlargements will not be as high quality as a film speed of 200, but they should be adequate.
If you have had to change the film speed to 400 start of with an f/stop of 5.6 and the shutter at 1/200 and check you results. From there follow the steps I previously described for getting the correct exposure.
Note: An excellent program to check your results is Microsoft Picture Manager. When you open the photo in this program right click on the image and select properties. In the right hand drop down panel you can select camera properties and click on more. This will give you the camera settings used in that particular photo (shutter speed, f/stop etc.).
I reckon you will think I’m pokin’ fun, but that would be far from the truth. I used to make the “The Idiot’s Guide to Photography” required reading for all new hires. It is an excellent book and teaches far beyond the basics without all of the boring crap that is often stuffed into photography books. You will not be disappointed.
And finally, an SLR (single lens reflex) camera is the way to go. For a relatively inexpensive camera I recommend the Canon EOS “Rebel”. I am not a Canon rep either; they just make a good product.
The shadows that are present are very soft and are desirable to have in the photo. As you continue to experiment you will find new ways to capture images that you should by all means share with the rest of us. Most of what I have learned has come from reading, listening to others, and of course screwing up regularly. Checking you exposures (shutter speed and f/stop) will help you learn about photography at an exponential rate. I will add that I was glad to read that you were manipulating the shutter speed. You keep doing that and it will all start to come together. If you want to try something that is really cool, shoot a few of your knives in black and white. Your camera likely has that setting as well.
As for the yellow color in your photos, it is being generated by your light source. That is the effects of ultra violet light on film (CCD for digital). The “daylight” or full spectrum bulb gives you “all” light including the light in the UV and infrared spectrum. Your idea of adjusting the color balance in Picasa appears to be working wonderfully and it is fine to do it that way; professional photographers “cheat” a little too. Something you may try though is fixing the problem before it gets into the camera, so here we go.
You should have a light setting on your camera allowing you to choose between different light sources such as sunlight or fluorescent. They may be labeled outdoors or indoors on your camera. Since you are using a full spectrum bulb you will need to choose “daylight” on your camera and this should take care of the yellowing problem. The camera will filter out the UV light prior to it getting to the camera’s film. Another way to do it is to filter the lens, and for SLRs this is the way to go. You can purchase a UV filter for around $8 bucks from B&H Photo and I think Wal-Mart carries them too. It will look almost like a clear piece of glass but don’t let that fool ya, they work great. Shank and anyone else who doesn’t use an SLR, you can actually tape the UV filter to the end of your lens (the corners of the filter of course ). I am all about saving a buck and come from a long line of bailing wire and duct tape fixer uppers.
Lens filters can open up a whole new world to you too. You can purchase filters to fog, soften, brighten, subdue or enhance specific colors, there are numerous variations you can try.
This write up is provided by curtisk
This is the short and sweet of it. Photography is about light. A camera will attempt to balance the light to an 18% grey. That is why the exposure changed when you added the dark cap. When a camera is set to full auto it balances everything: film speed, f/stop, shutter, light, etc.
The background you are using is fine. The background changes depending on the target or the results you are seeking to achieve. If you want a high contrast between the background and the target such as a dark knife, you would use a light background, and conversely a light colored knife against a dark background. The purpose of a light box is to diffuse the light evenly and eliminate shadowing so the eye is drawn to the target. In viewing your photos I saw very little shadowing, and in fact, you light box is working very well. I agree with other comments though in that you may be getting it a little “too busy” with the additional items placed in the photograph, but in your defense, including the money clip with the friction knife was an excellent idea as a scale.
Don’t change anything with your light box yet, instead try the following steps first. I sue the same kind of set up in the lab and get great results. You WILL get the results you are seeking within around 6 photographs if your camera allows it, and you follow them to the “T”.
Set the camera to manual.
Set your image size to the highest quality possible (I believe you stated your camera was a 6mp).
Set you camera “film speed” to ISO/ASA (even though it is a digital this is still applicable) to 200. This is a relatively “slow” film speed and gives much higher saturation resulting in better enlargements which allows you to crop the photo without losing any detail.
Set your f/stop to f/ 5.6. The f/stop is considered very “wide” at this setting allowing a lot of light into the camera and at a wide setting your depth of field is shallow. A shallow depth of field simply means that things that are on the same plane will be in focus, those that are not, will be out of focus. A “high” f/stop lets a small amount of light in through the lens but gives you a greater depth of field. Don’t get hung up on this! All of your photos are going to be at a wide f/stop anyways.
So, again, set your f/stop to f/5.6 (or wider if your camera will allow it) Set your shutter speed to 100th of a second.
Take the photo. If the photo is over exposed (too bright), change your shutter speed to 125th of a second (faster shutter speed) and keep doing this incrementally until the photo is exposed correctly. If the photo is underexposed (too dark), slow down the shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. If it is still underexposed lower it again to 1/50th but this will be the slowest you can set it shooting freehand. If you are still underexposed after this photo you will need to place the camera on a tripod
Best option: Place the camera on a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, stack up books or whatever you have and then place a towel or a hunk of Play-Do on top. This will allow you manipulate the camera some and then take your hands away. Be careful not to get the Play-do in any of the camera’s components! Also, you will need to use the camera’s timer (or a shutter release cord or remote). Remember for anything slower than 1/50 shutter speed it will require hands free operation.
Another option for free hand photos would be to change the film speed to 400 (stay with me, I know it can get confusing). This is a “faster” film speed which means it requires less light for development. Enlargements will not be as high quality as a film speed of 200, but they should be adequate.
If you have had to change the film speed to 400 start of with an f/stop of 5.6 and the shutter at 1/200 and check you results. From there follow the steps I previously described for getting the correct exposure.
Note: An excellent program to check your results is Microsoft Picture Manager. When you open the photo in this program right click on the image and select properties. In the right hand drop down panel you can select camera properties and click on more. This will give you the camera settings used in that particular photo (shutter speed, f/stop etc.).
I reckon you will think I’m pokin’ fun, but that would be far from the truth. I used to make the “The Idiot’s Guide to Photography” required reading for all new hires. It is an excellent book and teaches far beyond the basics without all of the boring crap that is often stuffed into photography books. You will not be disappointed.
And finally, an SLR (single lens reflex) camera is the way to go. For a relatively inexpensive camera I recommend the Canon EOS “Rebel”. I am not a Canon rep either; they just make a good product.
The shadows that are present are very soft and are desirable to have in the photo. As you continue to experiment you will find new ways to capture images that you should by all means share with the rest of us. Most of what I have learned has come from reading, listening to others, and of course screwing up regularly. Checking you exposures (shutter speed and f/stop) will help you learn about photography at an exponential rate. I will add that I was glad to read that you were manipulating the shutter speed. You keep doing that and it will all start to come together. If you want to try something that is really cool, shoot a few of your knives in black and white. Your camera likely has that setting as well.
As for the yellow color in your photos, it is being generated by your light source. That is the effects of ultra violet light on film (CCD for digital). The “daylight” or full spectrum bulb gives you “all” light including the light in the UV and infrared spectrum. Your idea of adjusting the color balance in Picasa appears to be working wonderfully and it is fine to do it that way; professional photographers “cheat” a little too. Something you may try though is fixing the problem before it gets into the camera, so here we go.
You should have a light setting on your camera allowing you to choose between different light sources such as sunlight or fluorescent. They may be labeled outdoors or indoors on your camera. Since you are using a full spectrum bulb you will need to choose “daylight” on your camera and this should take care of the yellowing problem. The camera will filter out the UV light prior to it getting to the camera’s film. Another way to do it is to filter the lens, and for SLRs this is the way to go. You can purchase a UV filter for around $8 bucks from B&H Photo and I think Wal-Mart carries them too. It will look almost like a clear piece of glass but don’t let that fool ya, they work great. Shank and anyone else who doesn’t use an SLR, you can actually tape the UV filter to the end of your lens (the corners of the filter of course ). I am all about saving a buck and come from a long line of bailing wire and duct tape fixer uppers.
Lens filters can open up a whole new world to you too. You can purchase filters to fog, soften, brighten, subdue or enhance specific colors, there are numerous variations you can try.
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