Anyone have a well defined process for taking good photos of furniture and other woodworking projects? I took numerous photos of the Shaker style sewing chest of drawers I had at Woodworker's Showcase in Saratoga Springs a couple weeks ago in an attempt to get good photos. I have yet to get any photos that do the chest's workmanship or the figure of the curly maple top justice...
I'm using a 3.2 megapixal digital camera that is well regarded in it's class for good photos--Fuji Finepix 3800. I've taken some really nice photos of people, landscapes, etc., but getting pictures that really show the detail of my woodworking projects escapes me. Anyone got a reliable process?
Photography is all about light. I suspect you are shooting your woodwork porjects indoors? Get them outdoors in natural light and you might notice a big difference. Otherwise you need to rig up some good powered lighting in your shop to get better photos.
Lighting is the key. It doesn't matter how well composed the photo is, unless it's properly lit it's not going to look good.
To start with, don't use the on-camera flash. Use bounced light instead.
If you have one or two 500 watt floodlights, try aiming them at the wall and ceiling a bit behind you and off to the side. The idea is to light the object with bounced light only and avoid any direct light. You'll have to adjust the white balance for tungsten lighting. You can light small objects by placing them near a window (but not in a sunny window), with a large white board or piece of styrofoam placed near the shadow side to provide some fill.
There's a lot more ideas I can offer, but I'd suggest you go to the library and browse through some photographic lighting books. A picture speaks a thousand words. You'll see examples of different kinds of lighting compared. To take your photos you don't need any fancy studio equipment or gidgets. A
500 watt shoplight bounced off a white piece of posterboard, styrofoam, or even a wall is the functional equivalent of an umbrella or softbox.
All good advice. But the softbox and umbrella are a lot easier to manipulate.
First, we don't know what kind of controls John's 3.2 MP camera has. If it has auto white balance, and no manual, he may have problems. Same with focus. He needs some form of manual focus to lock the focus right on that dovetail or grain figure. He can use halogen shop lights for floods, if he has white balance control. He might also use a space blanket to help point up highlights in the hardware...for larger areas; Reynolds wrap also makes a good reflector. As you note, the best general reflector is a lightweight white board. Styrofoam comes in 4' x 8' sheets and weighs next to zip. Using the 2" thick stuff, if you plan to shoot more than a couple photos with it, is a good idea because the
1" breaks too easily (if you're not as clumsy as I am, this may not matter).
A quck check shows the Fuji 3800 does NOT have manual focus (and the LCD is so grainy it wouldn't matter if it did). It does have a white balance over-ride and 7 settings, though I don't know what they are from the precis.
Essentially, without a manual focus, that camera will NEVER do what John wants.
Charlie Self "It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
Good advise. . . . . BUT beware bouncing light can cause as many problems as direct flash if you do it the wrong way! If you do not have a neutral surface to bounce off of you are introducing the color of that surface into the scene. Lets say you have a red wall you are bouncing off of onto a green surface the color will turn muddy on the green surface.
Watch the distance of the surface you are bouncing off of too. If it is to high you might as well not use it.
Well defined procedure for product photography? Not usually.
One thing you might try is getting one of those large fold out white reflectors. They're nice because they fold up to a small size and can be flexed to adjust the light. (They work realllly well for hoomans too).
Try a shot with indirect light to one side and the reflector just out of the frame on the other side (to fill).
Alternately, have light shining directly on the reflector and use it as the light source.
You could just use an old white bedsheet if you want to see if the general idea is helpful.
Also, keep your camera perpindicular even if it means the chest is not in the center of the frame. Move the camera position back if necessary. Then crop your picture.
It would also be helpful if you posted a picture you are unsatisfied with to ABPW.
If he is near a large city, he may be able to rent a professional camera for a day. Set up all the lighting and try out with the 3800. Have all the pieces lined up to move into place one after the other, an plan the day out carefully.
Then rent the camera and get your money's worth out of it.
But start by studying books on photographic lighting.
Rodney Myrvaagnes J36 Gjo/a
The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry. - Richard Dawkins, "Viruses of the Mind"
But you have to go out and buy them, along with the appropriate hotlights. One decent softbox, stand, and lamp will cost more than his camera.
I would hope so. Any camera that lacks white balance for incandescent lights is pretty useless.
There's a bit of a parallel here with woodworking tools. It's nice to have purpose built tools, but you can improvise a lot of the tools you need. Like you say, styro and foil work well. So does a white wall, white sheets, white posterboards. Posterboards are cheap enough that one could get a selection of white, silver, and gold foil for under $10, and they'll be fine for lighting smaller items.
I think he was just looking for a few quick tips to get some better shots. If wants professional quality promo shots of his work, especially prints, he's going to have to hire a photographer with the know-how and equipment.
Hotlights? Good hotlights are no longer that much cheaper than low end studio flash. My softbox setup, with boom and overstrong stand did cost more than his camera, without the White Lightning 10,000 inside it. Later this year, I hope to add a couple more lights to replace the 20 year old Spiratone strobe I bounce off an umbrella. I'd also like to be able to work with at least a semi-decent snoot that I don't cobble up out of seamless paper.
Well, there are certian minimums on gear, but practice is what makes a good photographer, so there's really no need to hire a pro. Just add in a few bucks and stir. A pro is going to cost about what a decent set-up does, for a one time shoot. And that's a minimum charge that has to be repeated every time he has a project to be shot.
Charlie Self "It is not strange... to mistake change for progress." Millard Fillmore
I'd like to elaborate a bit further on this point, as it's important. The size of the light source in relation to the subject is what determines how hard or soft the light will appear. The larger the light source, the softer the light. When photographing woodwork, it's generally best to flood the item with soft, diffuse light, especially if the item has any pronounced sheen to it.
For most people without photographic lighting gear, an easy way to do this is to shine bright lights (like $10 halogen shop lights) against a light coloured wall or ceiling. In order to have a large light source, you'll need to position the light some distance back from the wall. Five to ten feet would probably be good. The lights should also be aimed high on the wall, at the wall/ceiling juncture. This way you'd have some side lighting and some overhead lighting. Position the lights so they're a bit off to the side, 45 degrees or so is good to start with. If you use more than one light, try to slightly vary the brightness of each light so that the different surfaces of the item being photographed are lit with different amounts of light. Anyone who's tried photographing woodwork with direct flash will be amazed at the improvement a change in lighting will make.
I posted a picture there last evening. It was of the top of the chest of drawers I had at Woodworker's Showcase in Saratoga Springs, NY last month. I had previously posted some pictures I took at Showcase but even I understood the lighting conditions there were horrible. On top of that the finish looked splotchy in the flash because it wasn't evenly dry! I'll repost the top... items don't seem to stay on that news group long.
There was definitely a theme in the responses to my original inquiry. Lighting!
I kind of like the outdoors idea as I've gotten some really good photos with this camera outdoors. However, given the nearly constant overcast days we've had around here this year, and the fact that I have to work for a living, it could take weeks if not months to get ideal conditions that match up to my available time!
The reflector and indirect lighting techniques should be doable with things I've got around the house. I'll give that approach a whirl.
I'm not looking to become a professional photographer but it would be nice to get decent photos of things that I've taken a lot of care in making. It looks like some reading on lighting is needed. The couple of books I have on photography and digital photography deal more with choosing cameras and editing the output in Photoshop than they do with actually taking pictures and lighting techniques...
I have years of photography experience, all sorts of cameras both analog and digital, fancy studio lights, flash meters, soft boxes, umbrellas, the works, but you don't need any of that to make good, maybe even great, images. The fancy toys just make it easier to make good images any place you might be, at most any time of day. I tried to teach my father-in-law how to use some of these nice toys to make goodl images of his fancy pottery for e-bay sales, but it mainly confused him. What follows is what I taught him that does work.
If you have a porch with a roof, or a large picture window, this can be pretty easy. In good daylight, cover said window or porch exposure with a large, white, semi-transparent cloth to diffuse the lighting. You might want to find another large piece of opaque fabric, or studio paper (under $35 for a large roll and its reuseable if you are careful) to use as a backdrop. Cluttered backgrounds really detract from a produc type shot. Pick medium, neutral tones to start. Photograph on an axis parallel to your diffuse lighting panel. Go to the art store and pick up some large foamcore panels. Hinge two pieces (2'x4' for each, perhaps a little taller if your piece is taller) together with some duct tape on the long edge. Open these up like a dressing screen, duct tape seam to the outside, and place out of frame on the unlit side to fill in the shadows. You can also play with opaque panels, on the lighting side to 'flag' or block some of the light on portions of your subject.
The above description is a bit terse, but a decent photo book that covers lighting should have a simple diagram to get you started. A stop at the library or a peek in the bookstore will get you started. If not, ring back and I will forward you a .jpg line drawing.
One of the keys is good product lighting does NOT come from an on camera flash. Getting the light off of the camera to subject axis will give your subject depth and dimension.
The other issue that crops up is color balance, Experience and a good eye are great, but you can cheat a bit by learning to "color balance by the numbers." See the following site for a more complete explanation:
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does help to be in the ball park to start. Look in your camera manual to see if you can set a manual white balance. If you can, set your balance off of a couple sheets of "white" paper ( laserjet paper with a brightness in low 90's from Office Depot, Staples, etc.; normal copier paper is too yellow, and the ultra bright papers have optical brightners that can give you fits).
You can also make a small white/grey/black target. These should be non-reflective. A playing card piece of flat metal sooted up over a smoky candle works great for black. You should buy a Kodak neutral grey card from your camera store for the grey, and the white can be a few layers of your clean white copier paper. Coble them together in a small target, then tape/set/sticky tack to the object you are photographing, make an image, then remove it and quicky take a second shot. Use the first shot, with the target to nail your color balance. These curve and level adjustments can then be saved and applied to the second shot. Ideally, shoot for the following RGB values: Black,
10,10, 10, and White 245, 245, 245. The grey should end up somewhere in the 100, 100, 100 to 150, 150, 150 range, depending on how you like the midtones to look. Tuning the RGB values on your neutral target to be equal will ensure proper color balance. Note: equal values on your neutral grey is the most important. If this is a bit confusing, please ring back. It will make sense after you walk through it a couple of times.
A couple of other things, it helps to shoot in manual, and bracket some shots around your indicated exposure. If you white target has any RGB value above 250 (yes I know 255 if pure white), then your shot is likely overexposed. Similarly, if any of the black RGB values fall below 5 then you are underexposed.
Next, use a tripod,a cheapy is fine for this purpose, and use the camera in self timer mode. Works just like a cable release for subjects that don't move.
If you are having problems with reflections, a polarizer might help, although complete relief likely is not possible.
There are some good product shot type books out there. Again check your library. Don't worry if they are primarily film based. The fundamentals aren't any different.
On Wed, 7 Apr 2004 22:16:40 -0400, "John Grossbohlin" brought forth from the murky depths:
Overcast days are PERFECT for outdoor photography, John.
Yeah, books on "how to use software to overcome noobness" abound. I've learned a lot about how not to shoot pics with my newest camera, a Nikon Coolpix 995 digital: It does pretty well with lowered light but hates low light, I need a polarized filter, a lens pen (cleaner) works great for $8, a $50 investment in the lightweight Slic tripod was well worth it, and the cost of studio lighting is staggering.
Here are some interesting links:
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on the cheap
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tutorials
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Excellent in-depth review/technique/info site!
formatting link
cool gadget dude (mostly macro)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If God approved of nudity, we all would have been born naked. ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
The camera is the least important item, really. As long as it has the basic functions and some manual control it'll be fine. Lighting is what he needs to concentrate on.
Go for the overcast. As long as it's not raining, overcast is best, as it reduces harsh shadow, thus reduces the need for bouncing light every which way.
Even light is a help, and you can use reflectors to pick up what isn't lighted well, without having to worry about whether or not the sensor can capture that range of light (digital sensors do not yet capture detail in as broad a range as do fine grain films...almost, not quite).
Charlie Self "Adam and Eve had many advantages but the principal one was that they escaped teething." Mark Twain
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