What Do You Think?

[Dick Wilson]

Earlier Pete asked what resolutions have you promised yourself.218008218009218011

My one and only New Year's resolution is to take much better photos. I would love to have a $500 photo set-up, sadly Santa or one of his devious little elves reached really deep into my back pocket this X-Mas sooooo.......I am starting on a bare bones minimum. I have read Jamie's tutorial as well as the extensive writings of Darrin Hill, John Lucus, Ed Koenig, and others. These pictures show the "progression":
Nikon Coolpix L3
Daylight
Exposure - 0
Gradiant background
White foam core
Daylight bulbs - 2 18W R40 900 lumans 5000 degrees K
All shop lights out
No Flash The first is a before shot, second shot is setup, and third shot is what I am coming up with after croping

[Alan Zenreich]

Dick,

Instead of pointing the lights at the subject, try pointing the lights at the white side walls. The reflected light from the walls will be softer than the directional lights from the bulbs. Alternately, use translucent panels for the side walls and light through the walls. You can pick up white translucent ceiling tiles from your local big box store for an inexpensive way to try this out.

[Brian Effinger]

The end result isn't bad. It does seem a little pixelated though. What is the speed set at? (ie, 100, 200, 400, etc.)

Alan is right about the lights - try to filter them or bounce the light off of something. Also, try to change the white balance in your camera from daylight. I'm not sure what Nikon calls each of their WB settings, but I would think something like bulb, or indoor. You could also try "auto WB". The goal here is to try to get the photo as perfect out of the camera as possible. The less you have to mess around with it in the computer the better looking photo you usually end up with.

Just my 2 cents.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dick - I think the center photo - showing your setup - is the best. The final photo of your turning is somewhat washed out and like Alan pointed out - that is due to the lights being pointed directly on the subject. Another thing I would suggest is to vary the height of one of you lights so that it is much higher then the other. That should offer a shadow that presents the piece with more of a realistic/3D effect.

[Dan Forman]

The pixilation issue may be from the editing software rather than the camera. Make sure you use high resolution when saving the picture. In Photoshop Elements, it gives you a choice, but the default setting is low - I always use maximum. You can play with the directness of the lights, either bounce of a reflector or sometimes just draping a piece of translucent white fabric over the lamp will soften it enough. Remember, as Steve was getting at, the goal is not necessarily to eliminate shadow all together, as shadow helps to define form and bring a sense of dimension to the photo.

Dan

[Hayes Rutherford]

Dick, I think that for one, you cropped your photo too much. And as much as I like the gradient background you are using (I just ordered one) the fact that the base is almost white and ends up in the white area it doesn't seem right.... unless your intention was to make it disappear. What I think would have a better appearance is for the base to have a contrasting background and your sculpture have a little more space around it. I don't know how to get the base to stand out more but the solution might be in what others have suggested. I hope you take some more shots and post them along with the description as it is very informative.

[Dick Wilson]

Dick, I think that for one, you cropped your photo too much. And as much as I like the gradient background you are using (I just ordered one) the fact that the base is almost white and ends up in the white area it doesn't seem right.... unless your intention was to make it disappear. What I think would have a better appearance is for the base to have a contrasting background and your sculpture have a little more space around it. I don't know how to get the base to stand out more but the solution might be in what others have suggested. I hope you take some more shots and post them along with the description as it is very informative. Hayes, Agree on background vs. base. Seeing as I have not read anywhere that the background has to go from white to grey, thinking in this particular shot a grey to white background might look better:D

[Jamie Donaldson]

Big improvement so far, but eliminate the L side light. This will enhance the 3D appearance, as some shadow is necessary to show dimension. If the R side light is too harsh because its directly aimed at the turning, bounce it off a foamcore side panel. This indirect(softer) light will also reduce the lack of detail in the white base.

[John Keeton]

Dick, I think a lot of your pixelation is related mostly to the size and compression of the image. The new image is 500x526 pixels, compressed by 89%. I think you would get a better image by sizing it at 1024xwhatever, and compressing to get to the 107KB limit. I use FastStone (recommended by Steve S.) to tweak and resize my pics.

[Dick Wilson]

Dick, I think a lot of your pixelation is related mostly to the size and compression of the image. The new image is 500x526 pixels, compressed by 89%. I think you would get a better image by sizing it at 1024xwhatever, and compressing to get to the 107KB limit. I use FastStone (recommended by Steve S.) to tweak and resize my pics.

Hi John, Happy New Year. I resized the pictures to be able to upload it on Wood Central. I just used the same pics here. I use Pixsizer.

[John Keeton]

Dick, Happy New Year to you, as well!! I meant to respond to your question in another thread on how I was doing. The cardiologist said I have normal heart function, with no damage - nothing short of a miracle. Every day but Sunday, I walk a very hard 1.6 miles (21 minutes) that includes a 1/4 mile hike up our 35% grade drive. 4 days a week, I do a series of calisthenics that includes 40 situps and crunches, and 90 pushups. I feel great and have cut back on what little fat I would have previously eaten, but other than that, life is good!!

But, back to the issue!! What size restrictions are at WoodCentral? Can't you get to that file size by compression vs. pixel size? Compression will degrade the image a lot less.

[Scott Hackler]

Dick, this setup is a tremendous move in the right direction. You've already gotten some good pointers to "tweak" it. My suggestion is to rip some 3/4" pine up and screw together a box and wrap that dude with a white bed sheet stapled tight (that's what I did) and place your light(s) so that they are shining though the sides and not pointed directly at the piece.

Another thing I did recently was to move the background so that the bottom of my pieces are resting on the start of the grey, not the white. In my situation, since my tent is large, I placed a shoe box under the background and elevated the piece (and the camera!).

It's a bit frustrating complying with every sites restrictions on the file size. WoW is under 200KB, here is under 107KB and I am not sure about WTA or the AAW. I think my files must be be getting auto-resized here because I generally size mine 1024 x whatever and make sure the file is under 200KB.

[Dick Wilson]

Dick, Happy New Year to you, as well!! I meant to respond to your question in another thread on how I was doing. The cardiologist said I have normal heart function, with no damage - nothing short of a miracle. Every day but Sunday, I walk a very hard 1.6 miles (21 minutes) that includes a 1/4 mile hike up our 35% grade drive. 4 days a week, I do a series of calisthenics that includes 40 situps and crunches, and 90 pushups. I feel great and have cut back on what little fat I would have previously eaten, but other than that, life is good!!

But, back to the issue!! What size restrictions are at WoodCentral? Can't you get to that file size by compression vs. pixel size? Compression will degrade the image a lot less.

Dang my friend......get the women and kids off the street. The mean/lean woodturner is on the move:D Great to hear it.
The size for WoodCentral is 500x700 pixel max. I do not have a clue on how to go about compression. I don't think some of the forums take compressed files. I may be wrong.

[Dick Wilson]

Dick, this setup is a tremendous move in the right direction. You've already gotten some good pointers to "tweak" it. My suggestion is to rip some 3/4" pine up and screw together a box and wrap that dude with a white bed sheet stapled tight (that's what I did) and place your light(s) so that they are shining though the sides and not pointed directly at the piece.

Another thing I did recently was to move the background so that the bottom of my pieces are resting on the start of the grey, not the white. In my situation, since my tent is large, I placed a shoe box under the background and elevated the piece (and the camera!).

It's a bit frustrating complying with every sites restrictions on the file size. WoW is under 200KB, here is under 107KB and I am not sure about WTA or the AAW. I think my files must be be getting auto-resized here because I generally size mine 1024 x whatever and make sure the file is under 200KB.

Hi Scott, Yea, I try to post on four sites. Each as it owns size limits. I have stickers on my screen as a reminder of size maximums.:eek::confused::confused:. I had a PVC tent with white sheer over it. I plan on trying that tomorrow using the new lights and background. I am starting to enjoy playing around with it. My aim is to get the best pics I can for jury entries this year.

[Alan Zenreich]

Dick,

Some programs just call it "Quality" rather than "Compression" settings.

The higher the quality setting, the lower the compression rate.

[Alan Zenreich]

"I have stickers on my screen as a reminder of size maximums"

Also, from time to time, be sure to clean the white-out off of your screen from all the spelling corrections <s>