Just a test.. New camera..& Light Box..

I can hardly see a difference. Guess it's time to go light bulb shopping again.

2011-11-20_12-22-54_203.jpg
 
Just a few suggestions for you. I'm not familiar with "smartphone" photography (looks like you're using a Droid) but if you can manually set the white balance, that will improve the color - try something around 2800 to 3000 to start. Once you get what you want, keep the WB the same on all future pics as long as you don't change the type of lights you are using. If you leave the WB on AUTO, the camera will be "thrown off" by the red (or whatever) background color and all all colors in the shot and there will be a color cast to it - if you know how to use a photo program like photoshop or something, you can remove this cast. Also, your shutter speed is too low to get a sharp picture by hand-holding (EXIF says 1/20, 1/40 or 1/60 sec) - if you shoot at those speeds, you need a tripod.

If you can prop the gun up off the background, the shadows behind it won't be as obvious. Also, keep the camera and gun in the same plane so that the entire gun is in focus - unless you don't want that. In that same vein, your pics are all at the widest aperture (I assume) of 2.8 which gives the least amount of "depth of focus" - using a tripod will allow smaller apertures (8, 11, etc) and greater depth of focus.

Hope that helps a little & good luck!
 
I reworked the one shot a little in PS Elements - I figure the grips would look something like this, so that's what I based the colors on:

maxbob54.jpg
 
Sal, good job, nice gun. Doc sent me some advice on taking photos a while back, but I haven't got it together yet. Anyway, as always, thanks for sharing!
DLB
 
No denying it, Photoshop can do some amazing stuff. That is an awesome rendition or whatever you call it of my pic. That is one of the guns I got from my father's collection. Those are real ivory grips that he bought before I was even born. It has "Reno" in tiny print at the bottom of one side, so I suppose that is where they came from. But I wanted this to be my first pic and I'm turning out miserable at it. Here is a pic of my setup:

2011-11-20_17-42-35_265.jpg


No I'm off for higher wattage. In Tim Taylor's voice...

More Power!!!!
 
Great work on the light boxes guys. I need to build one soon so I can start taking better pictures. I generally find the pics they produce very "clean" though. I prefer to involve interesting background material and shadows when I can.

grips06.jpg
 
loutent said:
Just a few suggestions for you. I'm not familiar with "smartphone" photography (looks like you're using a Droid) but if you can manually set the white balance, that will improve the color - try something around 2800 to 3000 to start. Once you get what you want, keep the WB the same on all future pics as long as you don't change the type of lights you are using. If you leave the WB on AUTO, the camera will be "thrown off" by the red (or whatever) background color and all all colors in the shot and there will be a color cast to it - if you know how to use a photo program like photoshop or something, you can remove this cast. Also, your shutter speed is too low to get a sharp picture by hand-holding (EXIF says 1/20, 1/40 or 1/60 sec) - if you shoot at those speeds, you need a tripod.

If you can prop the gun up off the background, the shadows behind it won't be as obvious. Also, keep the camera and gun in the same plane so that the entire gun is in focus - unless you don't want that. In that same vein, your pics are all at the widest aperture (I assume) of 2.8 which gives the least amount of "depth of focus" - using a tripod will allow smaller apertures (8, 11, etc) and greater depth of focus.

Hope that helps a little & good luck!
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest white balance as well. You could try using a bulb which is not frosted too. You have a few hot spots so try angling your light source or repositioning your pistol.
 
I will try moving the bulbs around tomorrow. 4Am is coming way too soon right now.
 
For light-box photography I use a Canon 40D and either a 35mm/1.4 or 50mm/1.8 lens. I shoot RAW and convert to JPG, using a WhiBal for getting my white balance. I should add that I use a tripod, lock my mirror up and focus using my LCD back screen. I use a shutter release that's connected by wire to the camera body to minimize shake. Here's a couple of my light-box shots.

Rich

IMG_3527_SW36_07-01-11.jpg


IMG_3506_SW332_07-01-11.jpg


IMG_4453_SW63_07-07-11.jpg


IMG_4459_RugerSingle-Six22lr_07-07-11.jpg
 
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If you're a guitar player, you may have seen the big color coffee table book by Gibson "The Beauty of the Burst." It's page after mouth-watering page of vintage 50s and 60s sunburst Les Pauls. It makes me wonder why someone hasn't done that with all the awesome guns I see on this forum. Print On Demand book... calendar... something. Put it on Amazon and make some money. You guys are so good, and you have the cream of the S&W crop in your safes -- share the love! Start with the N frames... Among other things, complete packages -- boxes and papers, grips, tools, etc. -- will be recorded for posterity. Who knows what screwdriver came with what gun? Gold box or blue? You guys know, and you'd be doing the gun loving world a favor. Just my opinion.
 
I have to agree. As great as the SCSW is, it needs more photos to back up the print. This forum is great and I love some of our "ultimate" threads like the Highway Patrolman and Combat Magnum threads.
 
brokenprism said:
If you're a guitar player, you may have seen the big color coffee table book by Gibson "The Beauty of the Burst." It's page after mouth-watering page of vintage 50s and 60s sunburst Les Pauls. It makes me wonder why someone hasn't done that with all the awesome guns I see on this forum. Print On Demand book... calendar... something. Put it on Amazon and make some money. You guys are so good, and you have the cream of the S&W crop in your safes -- share the love! Start with the N frames... Among other things, complete packages -- boxes and papers, grips, tools, etc. -- will be recorded for posterity. Who knows what screwdriver came with what gun? Gold box or blue? You guys know, and you'd be doing the gun loving world a favor. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I did a Blurb photo book on all my firearms. Came out great! Problem is; 1-I only show that book to certain folks due to security concerns, and, 2-It's too darn expensive to vanity print up enough copies in order to try and sell them (cost would be nearly $40 per book, nutty).

Rich
 
Since there are so many amazing pics on this forum, it might not be a bad idea to have a section devoted for "ultimate" type threads. Right now it makes sense they way they are setup for the various generations, but the great models have spanned the generations and it isn't right to not include them in the right "ultimate" threads. Just some food for thought if a mod reads this.

I'm itching to go home and add a real update to this light box issue. If the full spectrum just isn't the right light for photo taking then I have a package of "daylight" bulbs to try. But they are only 60w... Back to the Home Depot for more money spending...
 
Maximumbob54 said:
Since there are so many amazing pics on this forum, it might not be a bad idea to have a section devoted for "ultimate" type threads. Right now it makes sense they way they are setup for the various generations, but the great models have spanned the generations and it isn't right to not include them in the right "ultimate" threads. Just some food for thought if a mod reads this.

I'm itching to go home and add a real update to this light box issue. If the full spectrum just isn't the right light for photo taking then I have a package of "daylight" bulbs to try. But they are only 60w... Back to the Home Depot for more money spending...
Click to expand...

If you take your photos in RAW then you could use just about any light source you wished and correct in post processing. RAW is not as tough to use as most people think.

Rich
 
Maximumbob54 said:
I'm itching to go home and add a real update to this light box issue. If the full spectrum just isn't the right light for photo taking then I have a package of "daylight" bulbs to try. But they are only 60w... Back to the Home Depot for more money spending...
Click to expand...

The type of bulb you use is not as critical as having your camera set to "match" the type of bulb you are using. If you don't want to get in the weeds too much, I would suggest using a neutral background color like white, gray or black - then your camera may be able to give you more realistic color.
 
Ditrina has put me on the right path. And thank you, by the way... :D

The fancy pants full spectrum bulbs are 5500K and the daylight bulbs are 5000K. But either way it makes a huge difference. I fiddled with my Fuji's white balance settings for a while and didn't get much of a change until I put in the daylight bulbs. I didn't have 100w daylight bulbs but I have 60w bulbs to at least try:

29-3

2011-11-21_17-20-55_890.jpg


At least the red background hides that she needs a new red ramp...

I can tell the daylight bulbs are the way to go. Now to step it up to 100w bulbs!!! MORE POWER!!!
 
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Still getting the hang of it:

637-2

She developed a frame crack and had to go back to her birthplace for some surgery. She is still madam turn ring, but no more crack. This is her good side since she still has her beauty mark on the other side... So she only allows me to take pictures of her good side:

2011-11-21_17-45-07_785.jpg


So as you can see, I'm still getting the hang of it, but it's just a matter of tweaking the angles and reflections now. I'm very pleased. Thanks to all who helped! :D
 
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