New Photo Box/Tent Help

[IPD_Mrs]

OK The photo tent arrived today. The bulbs are 5100k.
The camera setting was at iso 800 F 2.8 shutter 125th
I realize that another object in the photo such as a shell, which another member uses, will help with contrast. Which way should I go with the settings? Here are a couple of photos.

Blue Acrylic

Purpleheart

Amboyna

 

[gketell]

What color is your background? If white then you need to get more light in so go to shutter 60th or 30th.

One thing you need is a highlight light. I use a straight bulb "over the shoulder" of my camera to give me the reflected line that shows off your polish.

GK

 

[IPD_Mrs]

When I go to the slower shutter speeds I get an over exsposure of the pen.
Example:

<br />

I did not know if the ISO or the F stop should be changed. My white balance is set to auto as well

 

[dbriski]

In still photography you ISO should be as low as your camera will go. It looks like you just don't have enough light. One thing you should try is take a large number of pictures adjusting the shutter speed and appature. Then take a look at your pictures see which ones look the clearest and look at the properties of the picture to see what your settings were. Now you have close to what you need take a bunch more pictures moving the lighting around to see what set up produces the best look. Thats the beauty of Digital, you can take a bunch and delete the crappy ones. This is the best way to experiment and learn your settings and layout.

 

[gerryr]

How many bulbs do you have and what's the wattage?
How did you determine to use ISO 800, f2.8 and 1/125th second?
The photos also look a hair fuzzy. Are you using a tripod? When shooting in macro mode, you must always use a tripod because even breathing can put the object out of focus. You won't find any pros that shoot macro photos without a tripod.
Daylight is 5500K, so your lights are a bit on the red side of the spectrum. Assuming your camera has a custom white balance setting, you will definitely need to use it. I use it on my camera and my bulbs are 5500K.
Answer the first two questions and I'm fairly certain one of us can help you. It is a bit more complicated than just slowing down the shutter speed, but not a lot.

 

[toolcrazy]

Actually, your f stop is way too low. You need to be shooting like a f16 or f22 and slow down your shutter speed to correct the under exposure. This will correct your photo depth and get the whole pen into focus.