product photography help for newbie

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Steffen Aufsatz - 27 Jun 2005 09:56 GMT

hi,

i am a graphic designer and just have recently started with photography.

i am attempting to take product photography of light fixtures for work.
i am placing the fixtures within a light tent and i have 3 lights set out
around the box to light the objet (top, left, right) 23watts compact
flouresvent.
problem is the images seem to be fairly washed out. the white backdrop seem
greyish.

i can fix the images in photoshop by adjusting the histogram.
however, i would rather like to have a descent source image.

is it possible that the lights i am using are not strong enough?
thought that should not really matter if you use a linger exposure time and
a tripod.
oh yes, camera is a nikon d70.

hope someone can shed some light on the situation for me - sorry for the
corny one-liner.
thanks

steff=)

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Colin D - 27 Jun 2005 11:58 GMT

> hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> steff=)

It sounds like underexposure because the camera is seeing too much white
background. Try dialing about 1½ stops of positive compensation to
increase the exposure - or shoot manual and adjust exposure till the
highlights in the histogram are close to, almost touching, the
right-hand end of the graph.

Colin

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Steffen Aufsatz - 28 Jun 2005 11:27 GMT

yep that works... many thanks for all your help

steff=)

>> hi,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> Colin

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Stephen Maudsley - 27 Jun 2005 12:00 GMT

> hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> a tripod.
> oh yes, camera is a nikon d70.

Try fiddling with the Exposure compensation setting - I think most cameras
defaults are set conservatively to reduce the likelihood of saturation in
the sensor (which can't be corrected). With an EOS300D, my default setting
is 2/3 stop.

Also - changing the brightness (with a simple brightness control) of the
finished image with photoshop won't add noise to the image as it's just
addition of an offset. Some of the histogram functions are non-linear and
can degrade the image quality.

If you're a graphic designer and buy in photo stock, check out the
histograms of stuff you buy - most of it is usually a little subdued so that
you get some detail in the whites which you can discard as you like...

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Steffen Aufsatz - 28 Jun 2005 11:36 GMT

i actually went and looked a some photographs that we had professionally
taken a while ago.
i used the histogram as a reference and used exposure compensation to get a
similar histogram.
the resault i got is satisfactory to me.
many thanx for your help,

steff=)

>> hi,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> that
> you get some detail in the whites which you can discard as you like...

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UC - 27 Jun 2005 17:22 GMT

You're not a pro, are you? Hire a pro product photgrapher.

> hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> steff=)

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Dwight Stewart - 28 Jun 2005 10:30 GMT

> i am a graphic designer and just have recently
> started with photography.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> images seem to be fairly washed out. the white
> backdrop seem greyish.

It's a very common problem. Spot meter more carefully - less of the
background and more of the primary subject. Assuming your camera has a spot
meter function, and a camera used for product shots should, spend a few
minutes learning how to use it correctly (the owners manual). If initial
metering is done properly, you'll likely be more satisfied with the end
results.

Stewart

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Steffen Aufsatz - 28 Jun 2005 11:30 GMT

hi stewart,

tried all the metering modes on the camera.
it was only through exposure compensation that i got the desired resault.
thanx,

steff=)

>> i am a graphic designer and just have recently
>> started with photography.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> Stewart

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