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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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  #121  
Old 2010-05-29, 9:31pm
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Mitosis Glass Mitosis Glass is offline
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Thank you for bumping this! I work on a Mac but I would like to see if I can get a Photoshop Elements that'll go with a Mac (I don't know if they already do; I never looked before).

Fiddling around with bead photography is the worst part of this business! Any tips will be most helpful. Thank you for providing all this excellent information.
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  #122  
Old 2010-05-29, 9:32pm
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That won't be a problem - Photoshop was made for the Mac long before it was available for PCs.
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  #123  
Old 2010-07-21, 9:12pm
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Without reading all the entire thread, can anyone tell me what are the best lights to use?
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  #124  
Old 2010-07-22, 12:03pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Torched Art View Post
Without reading all the entire thread, can anyone tell me what are the best lights to use?
I don't know what lights are the best, but I can tell you what I use and what some others are using. Blue photoflood bulbs. They are hot and they have a short life, but they are bright. I went to the hardware store and bought 3 domed metal hoods.. whatever they're called... with ceramic sockets (needs to be ceramic for the hot bulbs). I clip the hoods around the outside of my light tent.

These are the bulbs and where I get them, seems to be the cheapest on the web that I can find. I go through about 2 bulbs a month:
http://bulbster.com/lightbulbs/eiko-...l?currency=USD

I've also ordered them thru Amazon/Adorama Camera and had a good experience with Adorama.
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  #125  
Old 2010-07-22, 12:17pm
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I have a photo of the bulb and the metal hood:
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  #126  
Old 2010-07-22, 12:27pm
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Those photoflood lights are good - I used to have a set of them. But now I just use two 100-watt halogen desk lamps that I got at Office Depot. Those suckers put out a ton of light, and I have a third that I use as a reading lamp that I can pull in if necessary. With those two lights and a photo cube (and a tripod), I can take some pretty fantastic product shots, and the smaller lights are easy to store. I put a lamp on either side of the cube and shoot through the top.
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  #127  
Old 2010-07-22, 12:50pm
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So glad to see this thread bumped up since I missed it the first time. Scott, thank you, thank you, thank you for your clear descriptions. I cannot wait to make changes in my photo process.
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  #128  
Old 2010-07-23, 5:20am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunflower33 View Post
......I've also ordered them thru Amazon/Adorama Camera and had a good experience with Adorama.
That's great to hear! But if you ever need advice or after-sales support with an order from Adorama, please don't hesitate to drop me an email.
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  #129  
Old 2010-07-24, 1:16am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cghipp View Post
... now I just use two 100-watt halogen desk lamps that I got at Office Depot.
Excellent idea, thanks!

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Originally Posted by HelenOster View Post
That's great to hear! But if you ever need advice or after-sales support with an order from Adorama, please don't hesitate to drop me an email.
Thank you Helen!
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  #130  
Old 2010-12-21, 12:00pm
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Default Histogram not active

I am so glad for the bump on this. I've had this program and never used it. But now I have my first question. I have version 5.0. When I bring up the histogram it seems to be informational only. I can see no way to make modifications like you have on your first photos. Is this version too old ( or am I too old?)?
Thanks so much.
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  #131  
Old 2010-12-21, 1:14pm
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Originally Posted by Sweetsoap View Post
I am so glad for the bump on this. I've had this program and never used it. But now I have my first question. I have version 5.0. When I bring up the histogram it seems to be informational only. I can see no way to make modifications like you have on your first photos. Is this version too old ( or am I too old?)?
Thanks so much.
I think I may have found it. Is it "layer, new adjustment layer, levels, ok"?
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  #132  
Old 2011-01-18, 3:07pm
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HI Scott,
Thanks for the information. I am new to lampwork & have found taking photographs challenging.. This should help a lot
Ellie
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  #133  
Old 2013-06-22, 7:27pm
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This is a great thread. Bumping it up for others.
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  #134  
Old 2013-08-10, 12:06am
Doug Baldwin Doug Baldwin is offline
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The first and most important step to better photography is learning how to light your work properly, not trying to save a poorly lit photo with all kinds of post-production magic in Photoshop. You can't create smooth even highlights on a bead or piece of jewelry in Photoshop. That's a function of the light source and reflector cards at the photography stage.

Forget about photo floods. All tungsten lights use a lot of the energy they consume to create a lot of heat and then some light. They're inefficient, very hot and not pleasant to work around. To light beads and jewelry you want a large, soft source close to the subject. The reason the sun creates hard shadows is because it's a small point source in relation to the object being photographed. Better yet to envelope the object with a fog bank or lightboxes very close to the subject. You'll fill the object's reflective surfaces with smooth even highlights and the shadows will be very soft and diffuse.

If you're looking for good lights, read this thread by another artist who's learned how to light her work: http://lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249840
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  #135  
Old 2013-08-10, 12:29pm
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While photo floods can be hot, the big advantage of them or other incandescent or florescent light systems is that you can see how your lighting is affecting the object. You can see the shadows and reflective hot spots before you take the shot. You can move the lights around and see when the lighting is hitting the object the way you want. For those that haven't worked with flash enough to be able visualize how it's going to look, hot or cool lights can be very beneficial in this way and is better than trying to shoot with one flash... unless you know how to use one flash to minimize hot spots and bounce the light around. The mistake most people make with incandescent or florescent lights is, they don't use enough of them, since photographically, they are not that bright (the lights, not the photographer ) and you need several of them to bring the light level up enough to be able to get good depth of field. Unless you are shooting long exposures on a tri-pod to minimize camera movement.

One kind of light I would recommend staying away from is Halogen. Now those are dangerously hot, too much of a bright pin point light source and very difficult to use in a small area around a light tent or other small area that most people shoot jewelry and beads in.

Mike
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  #136  
Old 2013-08-10, 1:51pm
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I like using photo floods. Yes they are hot, but I only need to turn the bulb on for a moment to take the shot.

In one of my posts above, you can see my Eiko bulb, metal hood and one corner of my PVC pipe and connector photo tent. I made a cube frame with PVC and I cover it with an old white cotton bed sheet, leaving one side open at the front for the camera and tripod. I use just one photo flood bulb directly above the tent, about 8 inches above the beads. It shines through the bed sheet to make a diffuse light. I have several white card reflectors inside the tent. It's a fairly easy and inexpensive set up.

Here is a photo I took recently with the photo flood:

I'm pretty happy with the depth in the beads, lack of hot spots, and the soft shadows. You can see the mother-of-pearl luster or iridescence in the encased silver glass that Hayley said she was missing in her photos with the new light box (from Hayley's blog post, http://envisionsf.blogspot.com/2013/...ic-set-up.html )
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Last edited by sunflower33; 2013-08-10 at 2:13pm. Reason: changed some words for clarity
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  #137  
Old 2013-08-10, 2:59pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunflower33 View Post
You can see the mother-of-pearl luster or iridescence in the encased silver glass that Hayley said she was missing in her photos with the new light box (from Hayley's blog post, http://envisionsf.blogspot.com/2013/...ic-set-up.html )
Karolen, I'd hate my own user error made you think less of Doug Baldwin's system. Beside, I only had the opportunity to photograph a couple of beads before posting them on my blog. I still have LOTS to learn about photography but I believe this image shows you that I am able to capture some of the iridescence using the light boxes.

I am no expert and will continue to play and hope to improve my photography.

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  #138  
Old 2013-08-10, 6:11pm
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Quote:
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Karolen, I'd hate my own user error made you think less of Doug Baldwin's system.
user error not any errors in that bead or photo! how gorgeous!
I see some luster in there!
doug's system looks good, and very convenient set up compared to my cobbled-together system
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  #139  
Old 2013-08-10, 11:19pm
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Thank you, Karolen!
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