Lighting Comments Please

[SooperJake]

I am trying to get a good lighting set up for photographing holsters which often have a reflective topcoat. I want to highlight the molding details and avoid the hot spots caused by the lights?

Here is my latest attempt. Comments welcomed and appreciated.

I'm not really sure how to proceed or have I arrived? Something just seems off about this latest picture.

[SooperJake]

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=47531

this link to the holster forum shows my previous lighting set up.

Jake

[Northmount]

I am trying to get a good lighting set up for photographing holsters which often have a reflective topcoat. I want to highlight the molding details and avoid the hot spots caused by the lights?

Shiny materials will almost always have "hot spots" where the light is reflected into the camera lens. Try to use diffused light where ever possible. Take outdoor shots in the shade or on cloudy days. For indoor shots, you need to collect a few items of equipment to help out.

Thin paper, muslin cloth, fiberglass cloth over light sources will diffuse the light and get away from a pin-point source reflections. Reflected light from a flash/strobe bounced off the ceiling will give you diffused scattered light that will help, and will eliminate some shadows.

Here are a number of links that may provide you some useful tips.

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent DIY light tent, notice there is still hot spots on some of the examples, it didn't get rid of all the problem.

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/lighting/93930-do-you-have-any-tips-using-light-box.html You'll see some comments here about not using a light tent!

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/how-i-took/39101-my-first-diy-light-box-tent-shots.html

http://strobist.blogspot.ca/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/other-digital-photography-technique-discussion/203536-how-achieve-look-product-photography.html some highly reflective metal

Some where in an old book around here, there was a comment about dusting a powder (same colour) over the item to reduce the amount of reflection. Maybe a simple cure might be (depending on the order of your assembly and work) would be to take the photos before the holster is all buffed up and shiny.

Hope you find something useful here.

Tom

[SooperJake]

Shiny materials will almost always have "hot spots" where the light is reflected into the camera lens. Try to use diffused light where ever possible. Take outdoor shots in the shade or on cloudy days. For indoor shots, you need to collect a few items of equipment to help out.

Thin paper, muslin cloth, fiberglass cloth over light sources will diffuse the light and get away from a pin-point source reflections. Reflected light from a flash/strobe bounced off the ceiling will give you diffused scattered light that will help, and will eliminate some shadows.

Here are a number of links that may provide you some useful tips.

http://digital-photo...sive-light-tent DIY light tent, notice there is still hot spots on some of the examples, it didn't get rid of all the problem.

http://digital-photo...-light-box.html You'll see some comments here about not using a light tent!

http://digital-photo...tent-shots.html

http://strobist.blog...oto-studio.html

http://digital-photo...hotography.html some highly reflective metal

Some where in an old book around here, there was a comment about dusting a powder (same colour) over the item to reduce the amount of reflection. Maybe a simple cure might be (depending on the order of your assembly and work) would be to take the photos before the holster is all buffed up and shiny.

Hope you find something useful here.

Tom

Thanks, Tom, but what did you think of my picture?

Edited April 28, 2013 by SooperJake

[David8386]

I think the picture is ok, but it looks kind of like instead of the hot spots you were talking about you have dead spots ( for the lack of a better word) where there is no light reflected at all. Mostly from the bottom of the picture up. That is the only thing I noticed and that mostly because you were saying something was off.

David

[Northmount]

Thanks, Tom, but what did you think of my picture?

The picture is quite good. There is not a lot of hot spot reflection, and most people wouldn't notice what little there is. Can see the molding quite well. (Better on my PC than on my iPad. Lots of web photos don't show well on it.) So photo wise, you're doing a great job too.

And the holster looks pretty great too. Kept the white thread white! Sometimes very hard to do.

Tom

Edit: Just saw David's comment, the right side light needs to move down on the right a little so the whole vertical length is covered. I think you are using just one light from the right? Hard to tell. Use 1 from each side at roughly 45 degrees up from the center of the holster. You might have been casting a shadow from the ambient light that dimmed the forward edge. So many things to look out for. Maybe your diffuser over your light needs to be bigger, so the light appears to be a larger circle covering all the holster.

Edited April 28, 2013 by northmount

[SooperJake]

Thanks guys. I was thinking a third light from above, a bit dimmer than the two sides might cure that dullness which you picked up on. I used to have 3 lights for taking pics of my girlfriends African violets. About the only way I could get a good picture was using 3 lights then.

I am currently using 2 lights, one has its own diffuser cloth over it (left) so the right side light is slightly stronger. Both lights are pointed upward to the ceiling with no other lights on. Could be the window light as you say. I 'm shooting straight down on the holster also.

I actually liked the earlier photo only because it accurately reflect the sheen on the holster. This latest shot is misleading, and makes the finish look more matte.

Edited April 28, 2013 by SooperJake

[Northmount]

Thanks guys. I was thinking a third light from above, a bit dimmer than the two sides might cure that dullness which you picked up on. I used to have 3 lights for taking pics of my girlfriends African violets. About the only way I could get a good picture was using 3 lights then.

I am currently using 2 lights, one has its own diffuser cloth over it (left) so the right side light is slightly stronger. Both lights are pointed upward to the ceiling with no other lights on. Could be the window light as you say. I 'm shooting straight down on the holster also.

I actually liked the earlier photo only because it accurately reflect the sheen on the holster. This latest shot is misleading, and makes the finish look more matte.

You generally don't want to put a light looking straight down onto the article since the shiny spots will bounce straight back to the camera. If you place it shining across the article, from the top or the bottom, it would give deeper shadows for any depressions. On carved/tooled work, would show the textures off much more. For the holster, it may show off the molding a bit more.

One thing about digital cameras is, can do lots of experimentation and see the results right away, no cost or delay for processing film. So experiment some more. Good luck.

Tom

[bizbeblu]

I am trying to get a good lighting set up for photographing holsters which often have a reflective topcoat. I want to highlight the molding details and avoid the hot spots caused by the lights?

Here is my latest attempt. Comments welcomed and appreciated.

I'm not really sure how to proceed or have I arrived? Something just seems off about this latest picture.

Jake?

Nice piece of work and a creditable pix. You haven't mentioned (as far as I can tell) what camera you use. If it is what's called a "point and shoot" i.e. built in lens/built in flash likely shooting JPEG, the only way to improve the image is to shut off the on camera flash and develop an indirect lighting setup. A "lightbox" is one approach. If you are using any sort of DSLR, then the addition of an inexpensive flashgun with which you "bounce" light to your work can provide one of best possible photo lightings. In this image if one looks carefully, one can see that the left and right sides aren't really black. They pale off to a sort of green - particularly on the raised areas at the left side. This is called "clipping" and indicates that a combination of your camera's settings and the light source is so bright that the camera's sensor can't really read the areas as black. This could possibly be addressed in a simple photo editing program by adjusting "color temperature" and "tint."

Some shadow is good as it indicates texture but you'll note that at the muzzle end and towards the top at the butt end of the holster your shadows have done the opposite of the sides. They have go so far black that the detail is lost in the shadow. I don't make holsters nor do I work in single color items so advice is based upon knowledge drawn from my other profession of photography. You seem to have a light at both sides. A flash with its output bounced would even out the center of the holster yielding an all around better image. Also, I can't tell if it is "white dust" on the holster and the background or perhaps dirt on your camera's sensor but I see a fair amount of white specs on the background and on the holster. Both major computer operating systems come with photo programs that will allow you to do simple editing and improvement. Past that, Adobe markets a program call "Photoshop Elements" which is reasonably priced, not particularly hard to learn, and likely will provide everything you need to fix technical problems with your pictures. (There are a number of alternatives to Adobe some significantly cheaper. Any editing program will require learning time on your part.)

It is fair to note that if you have no interest in photography and don't want to invest time and money in improving your product photos, I think what you have is about 90% effective and most potential buyers will find the pix adequate. I learned long ago that I can't master everything, so I pick the hills I want to climb and automate or accept the others.

Hope some of this is helpful,

Robert

[SooperJake]

The camera is a Canon S100, which during my research was rated as the best point and shoot camera out there. I still like my Nikon Coolpix 4500 better, mostly because I had it long enough to master its quirks. I hope the SOB that stole it dropped it in a fishbowl. As I recall I took that picture, above, inside a large photo tent with 2 external lights. One bouncing off the wall next to the tent and one shaded but shining in from the right. Under my current living arrangements, I can't leave my photo area set up. Ideally, I'd get things situated and then leave the hell alone. Appreciate the tips. The last couple picture I took were outside under overcast sky. Just a few quick snaps to get a couple items up on my website. http://www.corvusleather.com/Talons-Mag-Carrier-T-100.htm http://www.corvusleather.com/Talons-II-Double-Mag-Carrier-T-200.htm

[bizbeblu]

Jack,

I hope you took my comments about your photos in the positive way I intended them. As I noted they are quite good, probably better than 90%-95% of the pix I see people using to display their work. Your advice on the Canon S100 was spot on. It is an excellent "compact" camera (often referred to as "Point & Shoot"). Everything about it can be controlled manually and it can shot RAW images if you become interesting in post processing. As for your pilfered Nikon, I hope someone drops him/her in a fishbowl! I understand the problem of not having the room to keep a permanent setup. The pictures on your web site really are quite good. Of course the great thing about digital cameras is you can try all sorts of experiments without burning film and creating costs. I experiment a lot as product photography isn't really my expertise.

Robert

[SooperJake]

Yes

Jack,

I hope you took my comments about your photos in the positive way I intended them. As I noted they are quite good, probably better than 90%-95% of the pix I see people using to display their work. Your advice on the Canon S100 was spot on. It is an excellent "compact" camera (often referred to as "Point & Shoot"). Everything about it can be controlled manually and it can shot RAW images if you become interesting in post processing. As for your pilfered Nikon, I hope someone drops him/her in a fishbowl! I understand the problem of not having the room to keep a permanent setup. The pictures on your web site really are quite good. Of course the great thing about digital cameras is you can try all sorts of experiments without burning film and creating costs. I experiment a lot as product photography isn't really my expertise.

Robert

Yes, Robert, I took them in a positive way. Photography isn't one of my strong suites by a long shot. One day they will invent a point and shoot camera that will not only yield the best picture possible, but upload it to a photo program and do all that work too. I want that camera!