Steve Busey
Member
Had a couple folks ask how I did the red pen photos here, so I've tried to put together a quick overview.
I have a tiny "studio" that I got from RadioShack for $20 (Sakar PS101 - shop around, it can still be had for $20, not the $60++ from Amazon!). The package comes with a tiny box (about 10-12" square side panels) and a couple small lights. Because they're so small, I've developed a technique using lots of shadow play, versus omnipresent light. Not saying one's better than the other, but you use what you got!
The left pic shows the general layout (on the long abandoned kids' pool table) - studio/tent, lights and board I use to support the pens.
The big difference in my pics came when I gave up on the Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot, and bought a used Nikon D40 SLR (their low-end SLR) from Craigslist. I had a bunch of (30 year) old Nikon lenses and made due for a while with manually focusing and metering, but finally broke down and bought a used 18-55mm auto focus/meter lens off eBay.
When I shoot, I slightly underexpose to get rid of any overly-bright highlights (there are override settings on the camera where you can adjust over/under exposure in 1/3 f-stop steps, I believe). I also use the tripod so I can close the aperature down at least a couple of stops for depth of field, and then use the self-timer to take the actual shot so my hands don't vibrate the camera when I press the shutter release.
The final pass is through PhotoShop to remove dust from the image.
Bottom line - I went from this on the old Coolpix camera:
to this. Also, I upload them first onto facebook, then link the image to here so they can be bigger and sharper. How's that working for me?
:biggrin:
Comments and questions are free!
I have a tiny "studio" that I got from RadioShack for $20 (Sakar PS101 - shop around, it can still be had for $20, not the $60++ from Amazon!). The package comes with a tiny box (about 10-12" square side panels) and a couple small lights. Because they're so small, I've developed a technique using lots of shadow play, versus omnipresent light. Not saying one's better than the other, but you use what you got!
The left pic shows the general layout (on the long abandoned kids' pool table) - studio/tent, lights and board I use to support the pens.
The big difference in my pics came when I gave up on the Nikon CoolPix point-and-shoot, and bought a used Nikon D40 SLR (their low-end SLR) from Craigslist. I had a bunch of (30 year) old Nikon lenses and made due for a while with manually focusing and metering, but finally broke down and bought a used 18-55mm auto focus/meter lens off eBay.
When I shoot, I slightly underexpose to get rid of any overly-bright highlights (there are override settings on the camera where you can adjust over/under exposure in 1/3 f-stop steps, I believe). I also use the tripod so I can close the aperature down at least a couple of stops for depth of field, and then use the self-timer to take the actual shot so my hands don't vibrate the camera when I press the shutter release.
The final pass is through PhotoShop to remove dust from the image.
Bottom line - I went from this on the old Coolpix camera:
to this. Also, I upload them first onto facebook, then link the image to here so they can be bigger and sharper. How's that working for me?
:biggrin:
Comments and questions are free!
