Need help with taking pictures

sbebenelli

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I just got a nice digital camera and was wondering what type of set up is used to take picture of flashlights or items that would be sold on eBay. The type of picture that you just want that item in. The problem I have is it's usually dark out when I have a chance to do these things and I can never get good pictures. If I don't use flash it's to dark if I use flash it's to bright and it puts a glare on the item. Are you using some sort of white box with lighting? I'm I making since?
 

The_LED_Museum

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To reduce the illumination level of the photoflash, hold or tape a thin piece of white paper (such as a grocery store receipt) over the front of the flash.

That's what I do to reduce the intensity when the photoflash is too bright.
 

nethiker

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If your camera has a hot shoe, an external flash with directional abilities would help a lot. When I want to take a picture of an item I place it in a corner with white walls and bounce the flash off the wall. This is a cheap way to try and soften the light and fill in the shadows. You can also hold up a piece of white cardboard to help reflect the light from the flash.

Greg
 

KevinL

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Try zooming in, and standing further away from the object you're photographing. This will reduce the intensity of the flash, and often it will reduce the aperture of the camera (automatically, not something you need to worry about). Both of these combined will prevent whiteout.

I used to do that a lot with my Canon Powershot S40 (which took most of the pix I've posted here on CPF). I found out by zooming out to maximum, taking a couple of steps back, the flash would be weakened sufficiently so as not to overexpose the image.

Also, if the light reflects off a flat surface directly back into the camera, even the matte black of the the Surefire U2's side panels like the one in my avatar, it will white out. Change the angle of the light or your camera and that might help.

Some cameras have the ability to reduce flash power, it's usually a menu option called Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) or something similar. Knock it down to -1 or -2 and experiment, different settings work for different cameras and situations. Don't forget to reset it to 0 after you're done! Also, if you're in a situation where you need more power, +1 or +2 can help.


Finally, if all else fails, go out and buy a digital SLR with automatic variable-power flash control. I had NO idea they had this amazing feature until I bought one - and suddenly, I didn't need to resort to ANY of the above tricks! It turns out that my onboard flash fires a very weak preflash, the camera meters the returned light and automatically adjusts the power of the main flash. This is fired so fast that even I didn't realize there were actually two flashes going off (preflash, main flash). But suddenly all the lights look better, I wonder why! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

jtice

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I use a set of 1000 watt halogen shop lamps for lighting,
then adjust hte white balance so they dont apparer orange.

This makes a more even light, instead of the flash glare.
You will also need a tripod.
 

sbebenelli

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Thanks all, I'll give all this a try. I did try zooming in like Kevin said and that did help.
 

KevinL

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Great /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Also a small tripod helps a lot. Get a small inexpensive one at Wal Mart or something and leave it on your bench, it will make taking beamshots and photos a lot easier. Once you have a tripod you can turn the flash off too and get reasonable photos.
 

gadget_lover

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A tripod (even a little $10 table top model) will allow you to take good pictures without a flash in lower light levels. It holds the camera steady so the picture does no get blurred due to your hand shaking.

I find that I can also use some of my 1 watt LED lights to provide a bit of side illumination when taking close up pictures. Put it about 18 inches back and it's amazing how nice they can come out.

For posting on E-bay or CPF, you'll want to limit the picture size to around 640x480 pixels. You can do that when you take the picture, or you can use the software that came with the camera to do it in your PC. I like to take big pictures )(2500 x 2100 pixels) and then crop them and shrink them in the PC. It's like having and extra 4x zoom.

Daniel
 

bjn70

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For photos of small objects it helps to have some form of even, diffused light. This can be done with reflectors, diffusion of some sort, or a whitebox. For small items you can buy a plastic storage container from your local store, a container that is translucent white plastic. Set it on its side and set the object in it on a suitable background material, and shine light on the box from the outside, from multiple directions if possible. The translucent plastic will diffuse the light and make it more even. I have even seen people build little frames out of plastic pipe and drape a white sheet over it.

If you do a google search for "lightbox" you should find some ideas, then use your own ingenuity.
 

KevinL

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Cones (torch-reviews.com) bought a laundry basket for a couple of dollars and draped cloth over it. Don't laugh, some of the nicest U2 pics I've ever seen came from that lightbox! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/kewlpics.gif
 

The_LED_Museum

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In addition to lessening/diffusing the camera's built-in flash with a small piece of white paper, I've turned the flash off and used a wide-angle flashlight like a McLux with McFlood reflector to illuminate subjects.

Hmmm...using a flashlight to light up another flashlight...wonder what Sigmund Freud would say about that.
 

KevinL

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Hmm, should have mentioned that. I use the L4 with F04 for an optically perfect (no hotspot) flood because the camera can pick up the hotspot. Even used the L4 in combination with the onboard variable-power flash for fill flash work, must say I kinda really like the results /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

And yes, I did this while trying to take photos of yet another light.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Also, one of the best things about high powered white LEDs - the camera's automatic white balance recognizes it as 5500K CCT 'true white' that matches the onboard flash, so I don't get strange effects from two different lighting sources of different power levels (try tungsten incandescent combined with onboard flash or incan+LED and see what I mean). No need to spend hundreds of dollars on color-corrected lamps, just whip out my flashlight collection and get the job done /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Also, you guys really need to check out jtice's "painting with light" pictures where he lights caves using portable lighting systems and takes pictures of them. He takes it to a WHOLE new level! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif
 

sbebenelli

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Thanks for all the info. I'll give some of these things a try. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thanks.gif
 

cy

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Please note: more megapixals don't always mean better picture quality, when you are posting for web.

your screen can only display so much resolution. for my 19in flat screen, that's 1024 X 768 or lowest sitting on my Sony 3.2mg Cybershot.

yes there are larger display resolution, but they are the exceptions.

point is quality of the image for web depends more upon quality of lens, lighting conditions and as always person operating it.

since I seldom print, almost always shoot at 1024 X 768

here's an example of sharp taken at lower resolutions.

mce2s fix.JPG
 

The_LED_Museum

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I generally shoot at 640x480 for photographs to be posted to my website; the higher settings get used only when doing macro photography, and I then crop the image to a size suitable for use on my website; preserving the size of the subject itself.
 

sbebenelli

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[ QUOTE ]
pradeep1 said:
A cheap diffuser for the on camera flash from this site works reasonably well.

http://www.flashclip.net/

I was one of the original reviewers of this product when the manufacturer was fishing for ideas to make this product.

[/ QUOTE ]

This has some interest to me. I might buy it.
 
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