Before & After – Wine Glass Charms

I got a comment from Becky (Etsy shop theMonkeyButtons) about her wine glass charms. She says: ”I have a hard time with black and white objects. I can only get the black or the white to look good in any picture. These are also made with carved mother-of-pearl buttons, and I can’t get the details to show well because they are slightly shiny.” Specifically, she was referring to this set, which includes the following listing photo:

It’s actually quite a nice shot, as are all the others in the listing. Becky obviously has good technique and understands how to control depth of field. But I think that the lighting is just a bit too yellow and warm to capture the true colors and details of the buttons. So I thought I’d try for a more dramatic look and avoid the influence of the tablecloth.

First up, a very simplistic shot taken on a reflective white background (click to zoom):

Same concept, different charms:

Same concept, different charms, and a cork for added interest:

Now for a few on a reflective black background, again with emphasis on the details of the buttons and wire wrapping:

This time, the entire set hanging in front of a flat white background:

Less attention on the charms, more on the setting:

Now for something completely different, a little post-processing to give this shot an aged, vintage look:

That’s all for this post. Click here if you want to see a few more photos, and be sure to check out some of the other cool items in Becky’s shop.

Next time — Glass Marble Pendants.

Before & After – Rectangle Hoop Earrings

Annette (PreciousMetalsWire) took me up on the offer that I made last time for a free studio session for one of her items. She chose a set of sterling silver rectangle hoop earrings, and says “silver earwires are a pain to take pictures of, because they always looked washed out to me.” Here’s one of Annette’s photo of this item: I think Annette was being a bit too hard on herself. That’s really a pretty nice shot – good focus, no camera shake, proper exposure, realistic colors and an overall good representation of the earrings. But since I made the offer, I thought I’d give it a go and see what else I could come up with. First, a simple shot with the earrings suspended in front of a plain white background (click to zoom): Next, a close-up against the same background: Then, for a more dramatic effect, the earrings laying on a reflective black background:

And for a totally unexpected and fun look, and to show some sense of scale, a caffeinated shot:

There you have it. A variety of photos that I hope show off the beautiful simplicity of Annette’s earrings. Click here if you want to see a few more.

Next time — Art Deco Wine Glass Charms.

Free Product Photography Studio Sessions

Important Update 10/10/2012 – Thank you all for your interest in this special offer. Unfortunately, the “limited time” has expired, and I will no longer be offering this service.   

That’s right … FREE! For a limited time, I will be offering free photography services to a few readers. If you would like to be considered, the following requirements must be met:

• You must have an active Etsy shop
• You must pay for round trip shipping of your item
• You must grant me permission to use both your original shop photos (that you took) and the new photos (that I take) in a future blog post

Here’s what you’ll get:

• About five unique digital images that you can use, without restriction, in your Etsy shop, Facebook page, website, etc.
• A feature in a future “before and after” post on this blog (with a promotional link to your Etsy shop)

If you would like to be considered for this free promotion, simply comment on this post with a link to a particular item in your Etsy shop that you would like me to photograph.

That’s all there is to it! No fine print!

By the way, check out these two posts if you want to see what I have done for a few other readers:

• http://gpix.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/the-stained-glass-challenge/
• http://gpix.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/creative-lighting-made-easy/

The Stained Glass Challenge

I received a note from reader Christine, who was having some difficulties photographing stained glass artwork for her Etsy shop. She had previously received some advice in the Etsy forums about shooting in the sun to get some of the glass colors on the background, and after following that advice, realized that she still wasn’t satisfied with her photos. Here’s an example:

So Chris asked for some help, and we worked out an arrangement where she would ship a piece or two to me for a few days to see what I could come up with. I admit that I did like the way the sunlight played off the colors and textures of the glass. If we stayed with this concept, there would be some simple issues that we could address (angle of the shot, filling the frame with the background, cropping, etc.) But it still would have left Chris with the rather troubling prospect of shooting outdoors year-round in Michigan.

When the package arrived and I got my first look at the green jewelry box, and saw the detail and quality of Chris’s work, I knew that the right approach was to just keep it simple and make sure that the photos accurately represented the art. No problem … and it could all be done indoors using a simple setup. I used a continuous white background, with a gradual sweeping transition between horizontal and vertical (no distracting seams). Then I set up the lighting using the proven technique of lighting the background separately from the subject. This little trick solves a lot of background issues, and can be done with either continuous lights (any color temperature) or flash units. I also wanted to make sure that I showed the entire piece (from different points of view) in some shots and concentrate on details in others. Shown below are the results. Have a look, enjoy and be sure to check out Chris’s shop.

Reflections Aren’t Necessarily Evil

We all know that if we’re not careful and don’t pay attention to proper lighting and subject positioning, we can end up with some nasty reflections (usually on our subject). So, naturally, many of us assume that we shouldn’t have any reflections on our backgrounds either. That’s often true, but if staged properly, reflections can add dramatic effect to your images. Check out the following examples and see if you agree.

If you like the way these look, and want to try it for yourself, here’s a link to the reflective background I used for these shots: http://www.etsy.com/listing/97176853/photography-background-material

Until next time … Happy Shooting!

Getting Creative with a Wide Angle Lens

My wife and I recently made a trip to Philadelphia to attend the 2012 flower show at the Convention Center (well, at least that was a good excuse to spend a few unseasonably warm late winter days in the city). I decided to travel light (for me that means taking only one camera body and one lens). It was only a week or two earlier that I had found a good deal on a used Nikon 24mm f/1.4 lens, and I hadn’t had much opportunity to use it yet, so that was my choice. For those of you who don’t pay much attention to focal lengths, 24mm is considered a wide angle lens. Not crazy wide, but wide nonetheless. On my full frame camera, the maximum angle of view (in the horizontal direction if you’re holding the camera normally) is 84 degrees. So unlike a telephoto lens, it encompasses a pretty generous field of view.

With gear in hand, I just needed to decide what to shoot. So I started with a typical shot one might take with a wide angle lens:

I like it, and it’s interesting. But it’s not very creative, is it?  Okay, here’s one of the headboard of the bed in our hotel room. Notice the extremely narrow depth of field (not something you usually get with a wide lens).

Here’s one of the phone in the hallway by the elevators. Because of the 84 degree angle of view, I was able to get up close and personal with the phone, while still capturing the interesting colors and textures of the desk and mirror.

This one is of the famous Wanamaker eagle.  The wide angle allowed me to get much of the eagle, up close, along with a good deal of architectural background.

Coffee, anyone? Typically, if you want to grab the detail of the front bag, you’d miss everything else. Not so with a wide lens.

Same with a few bowls of steel cut oatmeal. Plenty of detail up front; lots of interest in the background.

Here’s one of the back bar at Monk’s Belgian Cafe. I’ll let it speak for itself.

Oh, yes, and we did actually go to the flower show.  Here’s an assortment of images, showing the flexibility of a wide angle lens. Most are pretty obvious, but I want to point out that the second image is a shot of one of the miniature displays.

If you want to see larger versions of any of these photos, you can find them here. Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to experiment with your camera equipment a bit. So don’t be afraid to try something unconventional — you might be pleasantly surprised.

Until next time … Happy Shooting!

A Shot in the Dark

It doesn’t get any easier than this … A simple, single-bulb light tent for photographing  your small items, any time of the day or night.

I started by cutting an old cardboard box I had laying around the house.  I ended up with two “frames,” about 11″ x 17″ on the outside and about 9″ x 15″ on the inside.  Don’t try to match those dimensions — use whatever you have on hand.

Next, I took two pieces of a diffuse fabric and “velcroed” (not a real word, but you get the idea) them onto both sides of one of the cardboard frames.  I also velcroed a piece of reflective fabric onto one side (what will eventually be the “inside” of the tent) of the other frame.  Then I taped the short edges of the frames together to make a hinge and stood the assembly up like so.

You can only see the blue backside of the reflector fabric in the above image.  Here’s what the reflective surface on the inside of the tent looks like up close.

Next, I put a 5600K bulb in a clamp reflector, aimed it at the diffuse side of my light tent, turned off all the other lights in the room (it was pitch black, except for the light coming from the single bulb), and got this.  Notice how uniform and soft the lighting is in the area under the tent.

Now, for the test.  I don’t particularly like white backgrounds, so I put a warm and natural looking cork tile under the tent.  I chose to photograph a fishing lure called a Jitterbug, not only because it’s one of my favorites, but because the huge convex lip makes it a challenge to shoot without getting nasty shadows.  Here’s the result – uniform lighting, good colors, subtle shadows and an overall pleasing shot.  All that with one bulb!

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing your diffuser and reflector fabrics. Most importantly, they both must be relatively color-neutral (unless you’re going for a specific look).  And the diffuser fabric needs to allow plenty of light through, without being so transparent that it looks like a flashlight is shining on your subject.  Also, don’t worry about wrinkles — they can actually be beneficial.  These materials are readily available at just about any local or chain fabric and craft store.  If you want to save yourself some time and money experimenting with different fabrics, I offer the ones I used in this tutorial as part of a light tent kit in the supplies section of my Etsy shop.

If you need an easy and inexpensive way to shoot small items, the give this setup a try. As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Until next time … Happy Shooting!