Playing with photo's

deb tarry · #1 2011-01-25, 5:27pm

I spent yesterday and today photographing implosions for my etsy shop. I still have more to do and then I have to transfer then to the shop and add a little story and price them. How do you guys keep it all together?

deb tarry · #2 2011-01-25, 5:29pm

Man I really admire you guys that keep you shop up and running with new things added all the time. Oh and you have to keep the actual pieces organized because if it get's sold you have to find it and mail it.

J.Meader · #3 2011-01-25, 5:31pm

Looking good Deb! I am in the middle of the same process, and I agree what a pain.

Ashmo · #4 2011-01-25, 5:54pm

Beautiful pieces, loving the yellow!
I feel your pain, I think we would all rather just sit on the torch and play, rather than do any "business" stuff

deb tarry · #5 2011-01-25, 6:18pm

I am wondering if it would be better to leave it for the professionals because having a good picture can really sell your piece. Having a bad one can't. After you spend a whole day looking at photos they all look bad to me. Arggg...where is that grumpy face.

Bunyip · #6 2011-01-26, 6:58am

Photos are a necessary evil for a glass artist, as it is simply not economical for us to hire a pro. A little delving into the world of photography, depth of field and so forth really will improve your photos, as will a decent lighting setup - preferably a tent. There is a lot of good information out there geared towards what we do in general, although finding a solution to the reflections inherent in glass is something every glass artist struggles with.

I think (and I'm not sure because I have yet to actually not procrastinate) that the key is to take photos as soon as your work comes out of the kiln so that you don't get overloaded with dozens of pieces. A good photo setup really really helps too. If you can find a corner somewhere to permanently set up your light tent and a camera, all of a sudden taking the pictures becomes less of a chore. Again, this is a hypothesis, as I have not found that corner, or the time to create that corner...

I do know this - dealing with photos of 4 or 5 pieces is MUCH easier than dealing with dozens... You definitely get mental fatigue and they all start to look like terrible pictures.

If you don't have a photo tent, you can build a really nice one for under $20.00, with some options that are not commercially available. Be sure to read the comments too - there is often lots of good information there for those with a DIY inclination! (this is something else I haven't found or made time for but I know a some of the functional guys use something similar - in fact it's where I got the idea)

Over the Moon · #7 2011-01-26, 11:05am

I. Feel. Your. Pain.

Kim V · #8 2011-01-26, 1:10pm

By swearing a LOT.

Gorgeous pendants!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by deb tarry

I spent yesterday and today photographing implosions for my etsy shop. I still have more to do and then I have to transfer then to the shop and add a little story and price them. How do you guys keep it all together?

beauxartz · #9 2011-01-26, 1:30pm

Hi Deb,
Kevan Aponte has a most wonderful tutorial on taking photos. You can find it on etsy under Dancing Star Beads. At $18 it's a bargain and her set up for taking the pictures is very simple. Maybe that will help make things easier for you.
BTW your beads are lovely.

e. mort · #10 2011-01-26, 4:44pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunyip

Photos are a necessary evil for a glass artist, as it is simply not economical for us to hire a pro. A little delving into the world of photography, depth of field and so forth really will improve your photos, as will a decent lighting setup - preferably a tent. There is a lot of good information out there geared towards what we do in general, although finding a solution to the reflections inherent in glass is something every glass artist struggles with.

I think (and I'm not sure because I have yet to actually not procrastinate) that the key is to take photos as soon as your work comes out of the kiln so that you don't get overloaded with dozens of pieces. A good photo setup really really helps too. If you can find a corner somewhere to permanently set up your light tent and a camera, all of a sudden taking the pictures becomes less of a chore. Again, this is a hypothesis, as I have not found that corner, or the time to create that corner...

I do know this - dealing with photos of 4 or 5 pieces is MUCH easier than dealing with dozens... You definitely get mental fatigue and they all start to look like terrible pictures.

If you don't have a photo tent, you can build a really nice one for under $20.00, with some options that are not commercially available. Be sure to read the comments too - there is often lots of good information there for those with a DIY inclination! (this is something else I haven't found or made time for but I know a some of the functional guys use something similar - in fact it's where I got the idea)

This is very good information! The secret is to have an area that you can leave everything set up, because setting up everything again each time is a real pain, and that is what takes so much time. Also, try and ake sure it is a kitty free zone as I have found that cats love to sleep inside of light tents and get them all dirty and hairy - and getting cat hair out of a light tent is a real pain.

There is a lot of free information both on this site and others, so I don't see the $18 tutorial as a necessary thing.

deb tarry · #11 2011-01-26, 5:07pm

Thanks for the compliments and tips. I took today off to organize another spot for the photo tent closer to the computer. Tomorrow I will get a couple more lights. Kitty free zone is a good one, I don't have a cat so that is taken care of too.

ginkgoglass · #12 2011-01-26, 5:13pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunyip

I think (and I'm not sure because I have yet to actually not procrastinate) that the key is to take photos as soon as your work comes out of the kiln so that you don't get overloaded with dozens of pieces. A good photo setup really really helps too. If you can find a corner somewhere to permanently set up your light tent and a camera, all of a sudden taking the pictures becomes less of a chore. Again, this is a hypothesis, as I have not found that corner, or the time to create that corner...

I do know this - dealing with photos of 4 or 5 pieces is MUCH easier than dealing with dozens... You definitely get mental fatigue and they all start to look like terrible pictures.

I made it part of my goals for the new year to do just the above -- take pictures of everything that I made the day before. I have my photo tent set up in the studio and even adjust the photos as I'm taking breaks from working. Taking it a step further -- as soon as those pictures are ready I put the items up on Etsy.

e. mort · #13 2011-01-26, 5:55pm

also here is a link to a free site with tips on bead photography. http://www.beadphotography.com/

Ashmo · #14 2011-01-26, 6:57pm

Good info, thanks for posting. I definitely need to work on my photos too.

Rodger · #15 2011-01-27, 2:42am

I made myself a tent/box thingy for my photos, which is just a cardboard box with the sides and top cut out, leaving a frame of cardboard still on each side, and replacing the cut out sections with tracing paper. Then cut out the front, and put some card in it so it curves up and back (like in the link to the DIY tent), and it's done!

I then took photos outside on a sunny day:

You can see the reflection of the box on the marble lol

And you can also have the sun shine directly on the piece by turning the front of the box towards the sun, which gets a sharp shadow.

With the white background I found my camera wanted to take really fast pictures, so I had to set on manual shutter speed and slow it down until I got bright enough photos. In the sunlight though this was still ~1/400, so no problem with blur!

indyglassman · #16 2011-02-05, 2:21pm

Have a look here

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=183639

Kalera · #17 2011-02-05, 2:57pm

I hear ya.. I'm procrastinating photos right now! Blah.

deb tarry · #18 2011-02-05, 4:36pm

You know what is funny I moved the photo cube to an area in the basement so I would have room for lights above the cube and I got distracted. I looked around the room and thought the walls need a coat of paint so does my sons room and there I was off in a different direction. I still haven't finished taking the photo's but the photo cube has a freshly painted room to occupy. lol I think I might be procrastinating too.

Mr. Smiley · #19 2011-02-09, 9:13am

A lot can be done with Photoshop... what comes out of your camera is just the beginning for most of us. I have to adjust a few things for the image to look true to life. I don't have this marble in hand, so I just played with the white balance... the colors in the marble may or may not be this color. With the piece in your hand, you can adjust that in the photos too...

This took less than a minute... I hope you don't mind me stealing your image to play with Rodger...

indyglassman · #20 2011-02-09, 2:12pm

I posted a link in a previous post that talks about my setup. Its fairly simple but it allows me to take a photo and do absolutely nothing but crop and resize.

The trick is avoiding a blue or orange hue from your bulbs so you don't have to white balance. Most cameras allow you to adjust for this, but they are still not perfect. I got tired of adjusting every photo to get it to look exactly right (Like the piece looks in real life). After some research and help from a fellow lampworker (Lisa Atchison) I found that changing to a true white bulb (5000k) made all of the difference in the world.

They can be purchased at Home Depot and the part # is in the post I linked too. I have 4 of these which looks really bright when you're taking photos but in practice it seems to be just right. (Two is not enough for sure).

Here is a link to the posting where I describe my setup and give details on the bulbs:
http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=183639

deb tarry · #21 2011-02-09, 6:24pm

Thanks I am off to get light bulbs at the end of the week.