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The Dark Room -- Photo Editing and Picture Taking. Advice, tutorials, questions on all things photoshop, photo editing, and taking pictures of beads or glass.

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  #61  
Old 2008-10-14, 6:10pm
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OK, I was checking it out online and it looks like on yours, you just select macro mode using a button on the back of the camera. How convenient! I wish mine had that instead of fussing around with the sub-menus.



(Sorry if I'm being overly simplistic... people have different levels of camera-savvy, you sound like you know what you're doing but the close-up vs. macro is something I've seen a lot)
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Last edited by Kalera; 2008-10-14 at 6:15pm.
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  #62  
Old 2008-10-14, 6:35pm
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I have never used that damn button - man, I am a dork - ok - I am going to go try that. It appears to keep my ISO and Exp Comp changes.
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  #63  
Old 2008-10-14, 6:36pm
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Oh and Kalera - thank you!!
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  #64  
Old 2008-10-14, 7:14pm
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OK - here are some new pics with 200 ISO and Exp Comp of +1.0 - unedited first and edited second:





second pic:





third:





fourth:



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  #65  
Old 2008-10-14, 7:15pm
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sorry - those are huge, but what do you think?
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  #66  
Old 2008-10-14, 9:17pm
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I like your beads much better now!
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  #67  
Old 2008-10-14, 9:25pm
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I think in general I'd crop them a little less tight and leave a touch more background. I might also try going to down to 100 ISO if you can.

Do you have the main light for the room behind you? I'm trying to figure out what that light / reflection is.

In the last one I think it's a bit too bright, several points have lost their detail, and might try to back off (Exposure compensation 1/2 or 1/3)
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  #68  
Old 2008-10-15, 12:04am
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Oh and Kalera - thank you!!

Yay! I'm glad I could help and your new photos are looking way better!
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Old 2008-10-15, 4:26am
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Marking for later reading as my pics suck. Lots of great and well explained info here, i am sure it will help me with my messy pics. I get too much reflection too and it is very annoying.
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  #70  
Old 2008-10-15, 6:49am
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Wow thanks everyone for an excellent thread!
Thank you Kalera for sharing how you focus on your beads. I usually do a big shot like Squid and my pix are horrible even with photo shop. My next round I'll try getting up close an personal with the beads!

Thank You
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  #71  
Old 2008-10-15, 9:37am
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You are very welcome, I'm glad I could be useful!
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  #72  
Old 2008-10-15, 9:59am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by parisgal View Post
I think in general I'd crop them a little less tight and leave a touch more background. I might also try going to down to 100 ISO if you can.

Do you have the main light for the room behind you? I'm trying to figure out what that light / reflection is.

In the last one I think it's a bit too bright, several points have lost their detail, and might try to back off (Exposure compensation 1/2 or 1/3)
I was thinking the same thing on the Exposure compensation - I am going to back it off a little.

I am pretty sure I can go to ISO 100 - my shutter speed is still quite fast at 200, so I will try 100.

That reflection is one of the lights I am using to take pics - probably the one on the top of the box. Even though they are diffused through the fabric, I get that spotlight type reflection. I am going to move them away from the fabric a little and see if that helps.
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  #73  
Old 2008-10-15, 10:01am
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Originally Posted by Kalera View Post
Yay! I'm glad I could help and your new photos are looking way better!
I might never have realized I had that macro button if you hadn't pointed it out - I thought the close up *was* macro.
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  #74  
Old 2008-10-15, 10:02am
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One last thing - how do I get rid of the reflection of the camera and the outer edge of the photo cube? Is it possible?
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  #75  
Old 2008-10-15, 10:44am
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For the reflection from the light on the top - you could also try putting something else translucent in front of the lamp to diffuse the light. Then you'll need to recheck your camera settings because there will be a bit less light. I'd try tracing paper to start with and if it worked find something less flamable


And for the reflection of the camera - it's possible. Ever notice how cars commercials don't have any cameras in them? I know some of that is photo retouching, which is pretty time intensive.

For you and the camera, you could drap a black cloth over everything except the lens, like an old time camera. Black reflects less, so you get less reflection on the shiny object. You could also build a funnel or cone that goes from the edge of the box to the camera lens (I'm thinking of one of those cones that dogs have to wear so they can't chew on themselves). Not entirely sure those would work, just being creative.
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  #76  
Old 2008-10-15, 10:46am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by squid View Post
I was thinking the same thing on the Exposure compensation - I am going to back it off a little.
Notice that is the lightest bead, the last one, which is why it is overall image is a bit more washed out. When you have a nice dark part of the bead, I think the +1 compensation works well. JMO
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Old 2008-10-15, 10:50am
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Originally Posted by parisgal View Post
For the reflection from the light on the top - you could also try putting something else translucent in front of the lamp to diffuse the light. Then you'll need to recheck your camera settings because there will be a bit less light. I'd try tracing paper to start with and if it worked find something less flamable


And for the reflection of the camera - it's possible. Ever notice how cars commercials don't have any cameras in them? I know some of that is photo retouching, which is pretty time intensive.

For you and the camera, you could drap a black cloth over everything except the lens, like an old time camera. Black reflects less, so you get less reflection on the shiny object. You could also build a funnel or cone that goes from the edge of the box to the camera lens (I'm thinking of one of those cones that dogs have to wear so they can't chew on themselves). Not entirely sure those would work, just being creative.
I will give the black cloth a try first - that one seems simple enough to have a crack at.

Thank you for your help!
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  #78  
Old 2008-10-15, 12:20pm
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  #79  
Old 2008-10-15, 7:11pm
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Well, covering the camera didn't work - I still get a lot of reflection from the camera and the photo cube. I added a layer of white paper in between each light and the photocube and still had plenty of light - but also still had spotlight looking light on my beads.

Overall though, my pics look better, imho. Here are a couple - please take a look and give me your feedback









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  #80  
Old 2008-10-15, 9:29pm
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Those look great!
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  #81  
Old 2008-10-15, 9:36pm
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I actually think they are *much* better. They pop so much more. And like I said before, I keep liking your beads more (meaning, the pictures are much better so I like the beads more).

The reflections don't read as "forms" anymore, except for the top on picture. I don't really see the camera at all. I"m sure you could point it out and then I'd see it forever after, but I can't find the lens reflection quickly. I do see the white line, which is the opening, but I don't think most people will see it as an opening (the black makes the edge of the box stand out more because there's a sharp contrast there)

And the grain (or lack of) is better too, they look much cleaner.

If you've still got the light, I might trying changing the F stop to a still larger number. IT depends on what you want. I love lots of soft focus, but many people like having more of the bead really sharp.

If you want to keep refining, I could come up with ideas that might or might not work
Like the cone for the opening, but that might make the lens *really stand out. Or you could try making that side of the box black, so that you wouldn't see the edge of the box meeting the outside world in the reflection.

But I'd suggest taking a look at someone's photos that you think are really really great. But really look, like you'd look at your own work, and try to find all the flaws. See how close you think you are. It's much easier to be super perfectionist about your own work while not see the flaws in others.
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  #82  
Old 2008-10-15, 11:37pm
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Wait, just had a "duh" moment. You can get a filter for your camera that reduces and sometimes eliminates reflections. It's called a circular polarizer. Works wonders. Very worth it if you still want to cut reflections.
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Old 2008-10-15, 11:50pm
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Well, I disappeared for a day and all the problems were solved! Squid your pictures look great. I was having a bit of trouble understanding fstops and speed and I think I've always had a block. So, I'm a visual learner and I like science so I did an experiment that gave a visual result. It was a good learning experience to see how changing the fstop, speed and ISO, brought more or less, light into the FOV. I'd love to know what you think of this. Scott, it's a great visual for where the "sweet spot" is. Thank you all for so much help.

Kathy
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  #84  
Old 2008-10-16, 10:07am
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Wow Kathy thats great. Bet you learned a lot with that project.
Scott
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Old 2008-10-16, 10:57am
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You betcha! I forgot to mention that this chart was done on ISO 200, so these charts could be done with any number of a gazillion combinations. It was fun for me and a distraction from the daily demands. Since we use our cameras to tell who we are online, I thought it was a good way for me to understand something that I'd been avoiding and make that whole porcess a lot easier.

Kathy
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  #86  
Old 2008-10-16, 3:34pm
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What you don't want to think about is that you can spend hours, getting your lighting just right, perfect color balance, pin sharp focus with every little detail crystal clear with your image ready to aw and amaze the world on your web site... and it all be for nothing. If the person viewing the image is looking at it through a un-calibrated, over bright, maximum contrast monitor with glare from the over head floresent lights and sunlight coming in the window almost turning the screen white, they are going to look at your piece of art and go, "hmmm not a very good picture." And we won't talk about how your monitor not being color, brightness and contrast calibrated plays into how it looks as well.


Nope, you don't want to think about that at all.

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  #87  
Old 2008-10-16, 4:08pm
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Those look great!
Thank you - I couldn't have done it without that button!
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  #88  
Old 2008-10-16, 5:05pm
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Kathy. If you change the ISO to 100 from 200 it would be the same with only one shift to to left.
Squid. You've come along way over night keep up the testing and you will come out on top.

Mike, LOL why do you want to rain on their parade? Com"on just because we can't control other people. We should just give up.

Scott
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Last edited by Tanner Studios; 2008-10-16 at 5:48pm.
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  #89  
Old 2008-10-16, 5:07pm
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Originally Posted by parisgal View Post
I actually think they are *much* better. They pop so much more. And like I said before, I keep liking your beads more (meaning, the pictures are much better so I like the beads more).

The reflections don't read as "forms" anymore, except for the top on picture. I don't really see the camera at all. I"m sure you could point it out and then I'd see it forever after, but I can't find the lens reflection quickly. I do see the white line, which is the opening, but I don't think most people will see it as an opening (the black makes the edge of the box stand out more because there's a sharp contrast there)

And the grain (or lack of) is better too, they look much cleaner.

If you've still got the light, I might trying changing the F stop to a still larger number. IT depends on what you want. I love lots of soft focus, but many people like having more of the bead really sharp.

If you want to keep refining, I could come up with ideas that might or might not work
Like the cone for the opening, but that might make the lens *really stand out. Or you could try making that side of the box black, so that you wouldn't see the edge of the box meeting the outside world in the reflection.

But I'd suggest taking a look at someone's photos that you think are really really great. But really look, like you'd look at your own work, and try to find all the flaws. See how close you think you are. It's much easier to be super perfectionist about your own work while not see the flaws in others.
Thank you! I am much happier with them myself! I'm controlling the ISO and have an exposure compensation of +.7, but am letting the camera pick the f stop and exposure. I am looking at my manual and it shows how to change the shutter speed and aperture, but it isn't working when I try it. Will keep messing with it.
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Last edited by squid; 2008-10-16 at 5:10pm.
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  #90  
Old 2008-10-16, 5:08pm
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Wait, just had a "duh" moment. You can get a filter for your camera that reduces and sometimes eliminates reflections. It's called a circular polarizer. Works wonders. Very worth it if you still want to cut reflections.
Cool - thanks. I will see if I can find one for my camera.
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