Photographing Extra Dark Wood

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Pipes

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I am having no luck photographing a pen made from Desert Iron Wood and one from Morado wood. Both are quite dark woods. They have
exquiste grain and depth but it is not coming through in the pictures.

I have a light box,a couple of natural daylight photographers lights on tripods, a flash that is adjustable on my camera, etc. I have
tried it on macro, super macro, every flash and light configuration
I can think of and still no useable photo. If I point the lights
at the wood, it washes out the metal on the pens. If I filter the
light through the tent, it is too dark.

Here is the best I have gotten so far:

moradosierrach1Small.jpg


desertironwood1cigarchSmall.jpg


Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong? Normally I can take a pretty decent pic of a pen but these two are really giving me fits.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Pipes






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Ok...I think I figured this out. I increased the exposure +1.3 and here is what I got:

moradosierrach1Small-1.jpg

DESERTIRONWOODCIGARCHSmall.jpg


I think they are better...they look like the pens. You still can't distinguish the depth but it would take a pro to capture that.

Pipes







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That looks much better. Are you using alternative lighting in addition to your flash? Parts of the pics still look rather washed-out.
 
This is more of a question than suggestion - but would a darker background than the pen allow the pen to show up better under bright flash or light? I do not have experience in this but was just wondering.
 
Digital cameras (Most Cameras) do not work well witht he stark white backgrounds. The camera sees the bright white background and usually adjusts the shutter speed (Reed CCD Digital Collection Speed)up, allowing in less light on the subject. This causes your dark woods to look darker.

A white to black gradient fade is really a great way to go. White at the bottom with varying shades of gray to top, fading to solid black.

Your second set of photos are much better, as the shutter (CCD) was forced to stay open longer (Speed slowed down). I usually take around 4-5 shots of the same pen in the same position with varying exposures. This is one from my album, but you get the idea:

redmalleestatesman.jpg


Cheers,

Fangar
 
Originally posted by Fangar
<br />

A white to black gradient fade is really a great way to go. White at the bottom with varying shades of gray to top, fading to solid black.
Click to expand...

What is it that you're using as the background Fangar?
 
The background suggestions are right on the money. Use a background that closely matches your subject in shade. Can be a different color. I purchased a bunch of felt squares from Wal-Mart in a variety of colors. They are about a foot square and very cheap. Pick one that looks good and use as background. As suggested, digi cams, film and even the human eye have difficulty adjusting to hard contrasts.
 
Your overexposure by 1.3 is along the right track. Even withthat the white background will get whiter and brighter as you overexpose more. the detail in the pen will come out better to a point. but the hard contrast of subject and background will always remain. the darker background for a darker wood is necessary. various shades of wood will photograph better with different backgrounds. this is simply anouther area you have to experiment with until you get what you like. in some cases you can have a wood and background that look almost the same to your eye. but the pen will photograph really well against it. so try some extremes and some combos you woudl think woudl not work at all, you may be suprised. besides digital photos are free to take and you can simply delete them.
 
My son made me some gradient background with photoshop which you can easily print. If you want to see samples of it, just check my posts at "show off your pen" forum or visit my site (link with my signature)

If anyone is interested, I can email them the file.

BTW, mine are made based on Fangar's (James) explanations and it does work very well. Been using it now for a few weeks.
 
Originally posted by angboy
What is it that you're using as the background Fangar?
Click to expand...

Angela,

I use a gradient fade that I made in Photo Shop. I went to Kinko's and had them print it out on 13x16" paper so that it fit the inside of my photo box better. Here is what it looks like:

2006710153854_gradient.jpg


Anyone who wants a copy can shoot me an email. The file size is about 216 kb originally, so not too large. It is saved as a jpeg, which breaks the gradient up just a little (Due to compression), but it is not observed in the photos. If you want the photoshop version, I have t that too. Kinko's can print that as well.

Cheers,

Fangar
 
Originally posted by johncrane
<br />your photos are so good Fangar do you need a holiday down under. to show me how you do it. I sure do need some lessons. doors always open mate.
Click to expand...

I wish... I have to go back to work today after 2 weeks off...[:D]

Fangar
 
Everyone has the right suggestions I just thought I would add that most cameras average for exposure. So if the background is very light and the foreground dark neither will be exposed correctly. If most of the background is light then the darker portions of the image will be underexposed. You can, as suggested, either overexpose the background to get the darker parts of the image exposed correctly or more closely match the background and foreground so the range you need can accommodate both. The third way is to expose for the lightest parts of the photo and then manipulate the image digitally the way it is done in a darkroom with dodging and burning.

Another trick is to just meter the lightest part and darkest parts of the image and look at the range. With fancy digital cameras you can set them to use a "spot meter" or very narrow exposure range. If there is more then 4 or 5 (sometimes 6-7 depending upon sensitivity) stops between the light and dark then you are going to have a problem with the exposure. Then you have to decide which parts of your image are more important and make sure those fall within your range.
 
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