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| Photo/lighting question http://www-.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=8375 |
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| Author: | Kelby [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:57 am ] |
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Have any of you considered using a lighting tent to photograph your guitars? If you have tried it, how did it work? If you thought about it but didn't go that route, what steered you away from it? Obviously, it would require a pretty big lighting tent, but it looks like you can pick up a 48"x48"x48" tent for a hundred bucks or so. They seem to be the standard for product photography, and it looks like they would eliminate a lot of the lighting/glare issues. |
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| Author: | James Orr [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:09 am ] |
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I've used a light tent for a few projects - mainly personal art projects (a b/w photo collage of a trumpet). 48x48 seems a little tight for me. I like some space in there. Did you see the link I posted in Brocks photo/logo thread? The person who write the tutorial does product shots for some major companies. It's a good read and I think it can save you some money. If I were to shoot a guitar, I'd have a seamless background with three soft boxes. I haven't done any "real" photography since graduating college and losing the lab :) |
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| Author: | Kelby [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:21 pm ] |
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Thanks, James! I hadn't looked at that link before, because I was having a hard time getting it to work. But I finally put in the effort, and it looks very helpful. Any idea why he recommends a shower curtain rather than a white sheet? |
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| Author: | James Orr [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:46 pm ] |
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It's about diffusion. I don't believe a shower curtain will produce the same diffused light as the material they use for soft boxes and light tents, but I can't imagine a white sheet letting much light through. Think about heat, too. 500 watt (the minimum you want) lights are HOT. |
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| Author: | James Orr [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:50 pm ] |
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What kind of lights do you have? Light tents just make for an easy (very easy) setup. Soft boxes aren't terribly expensive. A light box is like a tent in that it has a frame that slips in to frame it out. That frame slips over the light mount and twist locks on. I'm sure it would be very easy to adapt to your fixture. And a roll of seamless paper is around $30. Earlier I said three lights because the third would lighting that background paper. You want it bright (a stop or two brighter than anything else) to make it completely white in the exposure. Light needs to be so much brighter than we think. |
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| Author: | Kelby [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:29 pm ] |
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James, thanks for the suggestions. I'm starting pretty much from scratch in terms of light, reflectors, etc., and I welcome any suggestions you can offer. I have the tripod, camera, lenses, etc., but none of the studio equipment. |
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| Author: | James Orr [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:06 pm ] |
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Hey, no problem! It's a big thing to get into. And, you know, there are different ways to work. I like working with hot lights (lights that are always on, not triggered as a flash). It would help me visualize. Off topic, but I did this with two soft boxes. One on each side with the light baffles set wide. [IMG]http://www.languagepool.net/samples/photoshop_flowers.jpg[/ IMG] |
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| Author: | bob J [ Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:57 pm ] |
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For the attachable Nikon flash, I purchased a difuser that slips over the business end of the flash. Not the control of using the set-ups above, but with difuser and boune the flash, you can obtain very good shots.--just a thought. |
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| Author: | Michael McBroom [ Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:18 am ] |
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Back in a previous life when I did a lot of photography, I picked up a tip from a wedding photographer that I found worked well for diffusing a flash, and softening the highlights. You need to have a pretty good sized flash, though, with bounce capabilities. The old Vivitar 285 or 283 (or equivalent), set to max output, should work. Take a piece of white posterboard and cut it to a shape about 8" square, leaving about a 2" x2" extension below one of the sides of the square. Attach the square to the back of your flash, holding it in place with a rubber band wrapped around the 2" extension. Point the flash up at about a 75 degree angle or so, and fire away. I've used this a lot for both product and people photography. Works surprisingly well. Best, Michael |
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| Author: | Steve Saville [ Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:31 pm ] |
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I will not use a flash. I take pictures with natural light. A cloudy day is the best, but you can get great light right at the time the sun goes down. You have about 15 minutes of even and warm light. I also can get good shots outside on a sunny day under nice shade - tree or patio cover. Another tip - Get a CPF to control reflections. (circular polarizing filter) |
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