I am trying to find the right technicque for photographing my plates so they look professional. Do many of you use professional people?
A lot of my glass is transparent, so the darker backgrounds don't work. I spent the entire day taking these images and writing these descriptions. Any advice?
http://gardenplum.com/Merchant2/merchan ... ry_Code=GA
How to take professional photographs of glass
Moderator: Brad Walker
The time plate seems to be most successful with just enough shadow to give depth to the piece. Jurors for shows don't like shadows, but sometimes there's no way to get around it. Have you tried a light gradated gray background.... the lighter the better? That's the ony thing I can think of that may help give more depth to the pieces. Of course, if you're doing advertising slides as opposed to the morgue look of jury slides.... you could try other creative backgrounds, like gradated colors which might make your work really pop. Having said all that, I think it was a rather successful shoot really.... not sure a pro could have done much better. What does everyone else think?
There is a reason they call them professionals
I am lucky enough to have a wonderful brother-in-law who is a professional commercial photographer. I tried week after week of getting photographs with mixed results. I finally spent and afternoon with my BIL and came away with a dozen photographs that made my work look BETTER than it does in reality.
I saw him rearrange lights, catch shadows and emphasize colors and forms in ways that I never would have been able to do - and with equipment worth 20 times my whole glass studio.
2 cents cheap.
AJ
I saw him rearrange lights, catch shadows and emphasize colors and forms in ways that I never would have been able to do - and with equipment worth 20 times my whole glass studio.
2 cents cheap.
AJ
Last edited by Andrew on Fri Aug 08, 2003 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jane Lindell
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 5:36 pm
- Location: Marion, Iowa
- Contact:
Here is the link to Rob Morey's setup/demo:
http://www.ramoreydesign.com/Photosetup.html
And two threads from the old archive:
http://www.warmglass.com/cgi-bin/wgarch ... read=48563
http://www.warmglass.com/cgi-bin/wgarch ... read=49348
Lots of good suggestions in these.
My hubby did the digital pictures on my website with a roll of grey photo background paper taped on the wall and curved/draped over a card table in our storage room. The 250 watt tungsten bulb or sometimes halogen is suspended above from a pole that can be moved around. The pictures with the reflection underneath are with a piece of smoky grey plexiglass. He employs either white cardboard, aluminum foil, white shower curtain or a silver windshield sun protector for reflecting light extra light onto the piece. as needed. Not too high tech but I think he did a good job.
Looking at the pictures again, I see we will have to consider what Dani said about no shadows in jury slides. More side light will probably help.
There is lots more in the old archives.
Jane
http://www.ramoreydesign.com/Photosetup.html
And two threads from the old archive:
http://www.warmglass.com/cgi-bin/wgarch ... read=48563
http://www.warmglass.com/cgi-bin/wgarch ... read=49348
Lots of good suggestions in these.
My hubby did the digital pictures on my website with a roll of grey photo background paper taped on the wall and curved/draped over a card table in our storage room. The 250 watt tungsten bulb or sometimes halogen is suspended above from a pole that can be moved around. The pictures with the reflection underneath are with a piece of smoky grey plexiglass. He employs either white cardboard, aluminum foil, white shower curtain or a silver windshield sun protector for reflecting light extra light onto the piece. as needed. Not too high tech but I think he did a good job.
Looking at the pictures again, I see we will have to consider what Dani said about no shadows in jury slides. More side light will probably help.
There is lots more in the old archives.
Jane
Wendall,
Your glass is so transparent that it will be hard, under any conditions to get the amount of depth that you want. Hard, but I don’t think impossible. You need a good digital camera to take test shots before you commit to slide film. I would use a white background and have it drape down and then flow onto the table and under you piece. All one piece of clothe. It needs to be long because you want to put your stage where the plate will be standing, at least 8 feet from the back ground. This will give you a nice, even gradation going from white in the front to gray in the back. It will be hard to have any stand and not see it, so I would try some short plexiglass rods. Drill holes in the stage and cut very small holes in the cloth. If that doesn’t work there are ways to make a light box to place the glass on. The light comes right up through the glass with no shadows. I think that this may be ideal for your work, however, I’ve never used one and I have no idea how you would adjust the settings on your camera. It would require some experimentation. I’ve thought about making one. If I do, then I’ll let you know. Some professionals have great big expensive tables like these. If you do decide to go with a professional then really check them out. Ask for references and have them show you examples of their work shooting glass like yours. Even the best can have a hard time with glass. I decided to spend a lot of time learning instead of paying $800 to $1200 for a professional. I’ve seen some pretty bad photographs that people paid a lot of money for. On the other had I’ve spent a lot of time and effort to try to get my photographs to look good. It's a trade off of sorts. Let me know if there is any thing else that I can help you with.
Good luck,
Rob
Your glass is so transparent that it will be hard, under any conditions to get the amount of depth that you want. Hard, but I don’t think impossible. You need a good digital camera to take test shots before you commit to slide film. I would use a white background and have it drape down and then flow onto the table and under you piece. All one piece of clothe. It needs to be long because you want to put your stage where the plate will be standing, at least 8 feet from the back ground. This will give you a nice, even gradation going from white in the front to gray in the back. It will be hard to have any stand and not see it, so I would try some short plexiglass rods. Drill holes in the stage and cut very small holes in the cloth. If that doesn’t work there are ways to make a light box to place the glass on. The light comes right up through the glass with no shadows. I think that this may be ideal for your work, however, I’ve never used one and I have no idea how you would adjust the settings on your camera. It would require some experimentation. I’ve thought about making one. If I do, then I’ll let you know. Some professionals have great big expensive tables like these. If you do decide to go with a professional then really check them out. Ask for references and have them show you examples of their work shooting glass like yours. Even the best can have a hard time with glass. I decided to spend a lot of time learning instead of paying $800 to $1200 for a professional. I’ve seen some pretty bad photographs that people paid a lot of money for. On the other had I’ve spent a lot of time and effort to try to get my photographs to look good. It's a trade off of sorts. Let me know if there is any thing else that I can help you with.
Good luck,
Rob
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Geri Comstock
- Posts: 340
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 4:16 pm
- Location: Northern CA
- Contact:
Tough question...I don't have the answer either, except that you might find it useful to take some classes or attend some seminars. Bob Leatherbarrow gave a good one about how to photgraph glass yourself on the cheap last year at WGW.
A few years ago, I spent a bundle on a professional photographer to get some photos I wasn't at all happy with. However, they did serve to get me into some shows I wanted to apply to so they were valuable to me.
Since then, my husband has invested in a digital camera, classes, etc. and has become my photographer. He sometimes has to massage things in Photoshop to get rid of hot spots and other problems that the camera/lighting introduces.
The most important thing seems to be background and lighting and using them properly. This year we'll be buying some professional lights instead of the kludgey setup he's been using. And we'll also be getting a horizonless background.
It has taken him alot of time and experience with feedback from me to get the shots I feel comfortable with. With his new toys, I'm sure his shots will only improve.
Geri
A few years ago, I spent a bundle on a professional photographer to get some photos I wasn't at all happy with. However, they did serve to get me into some shows I wanted to apply to so they were valuable to me.
Since then, my husband has invested in a digital camera, classes, etc. and has become my photographer. He sometimes has to massage things in Photoshop to get rid of hot spots and other problems that the camera/lighting introduces.
The most important thing seems to be background and lighting and using them properly. This year we'll be buying some professional lights instead of the kludgey setup he's been using. And we'll also be getting a horizonless background.
It has taken him alot of time and experience with feedback from me to get the shots I feel comfortable with. With his new toys, I'm sure his shots will only improve.
Geri
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stargazer
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Geri Comstock
- Posts: 340
- Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2003 4:16 pm
- Location: Northern CA
- Contact:
Others may do this differently, but this is how we do it.cephas wrote:How do you get slides from a digital camera? Wow that would be wonderful to take digital photos, touch them up in Photoshop, them produce slides. thanks, sheryl
I work with a photo lab that does printing and stuff for professional photographers...it's not like your local photo processing place. They do all sorts of weird magical photo stuff that most consumer places don't do. LOL.
They can produce slide for me if I supply them with digital images saved as files on a CD-ROM. Mr. Geri (David, my husband), takes the photos, massages them in Photoshop, burns a CD-ROM with all of the images I want slides of (using the format the lab wants), I take it to the lab, they do their magic on it and about a week later I go back and they give me slides.
Very cool.
This is not inexpensive. The first slide of any image costs about $10. This covers the cost of their magic. LOL. The duplicates of the same image are much less expensive. I usually get the original and 10 copies. I think the last batch of 5 images with 10 copies of each images cost about $70. It was completely worth it to me.
Geri (Mrs. David)
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Gale aka artistefem
- Posts: 184
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 8:14 pm
- Location: MO-on the banks of the Mississippi
- Contact:
there's lots of places around on the net. one is http://www.ezslides.com/digitalcamera.htm. i would ask at your local 1 hour photo place. the drugstore near me does it. they'll also print up any digital jpg for .39 for a 4x7, $2.50 for an 8x10.cephas wrote:How do you get slides from a digital camera? Wow that would be wonderful to take digital photos, touch them up in Photoshop, them produce slides. thanks, sheryl
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stargazer
I had decided to buy a digital camera last month. But after calling every photo/imaging place in town I found out I wouldn't be able to get slides locally. So I undecided to buy a digital camera. I'm up here in the smokies. Wow this is great news. I will just have to search until I find some where to get slides from my digital files. Thank you. Sheryl