All my life the only name I heard in relation to old landscape work and Yosemite in particular was of course Ansel Adams. Watkins predated him by decades first doing work in Yosemite and then in the Columbia River gorge. While Watkins claims the title of the original artist, Adams due to the improved technologies, certainly claims more viewable photos. Thanks for posting this nice history lesson.
Keep posting the photos of the old cameras and sharing your enjoyment of them. As you can see, there are those here who do not appreciate the old cameras just as there are those of us who don't appreciate BIF or flower photos. Keep posting them as you do have an audience here, UHH is a big room.
Scruples wrote:
I have used a tilt-shift lens for some unique and pristine results. I am not very fond of a photograph of a building or a room that suffers from distortion that looks as if it is falling backwards. I keep a prime 24mm f3.8 T-S lens in my bag for just such opportunities. I do not get a fish-eye effect unless close-up to the subject.
I was going to suggest the addition of a TS lens but you beat me to the punch. I have used one, Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift Lens (borrowed) a number of times and they produce fantastic results in real estate photos. I have seen way too many exterior and interior photos with visually skewed angles bad enough to make one think it was an MC Escher drawing. If I get into doing real estate on a regular basis that TS lens will be my first purchase. That said, you can also reset wall angles in both LightRoom and PhotoShop but the results are less than what you could get with out of the camera with the TS lens.
The lens and light you have now is more than adequate. Learn how to focus-stack images to increase your depth of field for stationary objects. For single shots of living bugs or flowers affected by even the most gentle breeze, start your F-stop at 11 and work with your light to freeze the action. Of course mounting your camera on an adequate tripod is beneficial as would be a remote shutter release. You are off to a good start.
rplain1 wrote:
It is a Godox ligthbox 33x33x33 with LED lighting. What I am dissatisfied with is mostly the lack of flexibility of the backdrop. The clips will not hold it in place. There is some reflection from the surface which I can get rid of in Photoshop but I would just like to replace it with a fabric if possible. I photograph various objects for still life photography (not for product sales). I don't need diffusion material - the LED lighting is fine. It is just the background I am concerned about.
ELS has a good grasp of your issues here. I think what you are finding is the challenges that separate great product photographers from the wannabes (like me). Controlling light is essential and is accomplished by using scrims, gobos and flags to block, modify or direct light. While I'd like to use these in my own work, the job just does not allow enough time for setting up the perfect lighting for each item, and in your light box you will have very limited space in which to set these modifiers. A big problem with light boxes is how close the backdrop vertical is relative to your item. I will only use my shop-made box for jewelry, coins or other similar very small objects. All that said, if you set up the light right and get the proper backdrop the box can really help getting great results.
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
The concept of a lightbox is based on a fixed lighting effect, generally, on an item "floating" on a white or solid small cyclorama kinda background. If the light source is external to the box, you will have some control of directionality whereas if it is built into the box, there will be less, if any and fine control. A degree of diffusion is usually designed into the box, especially if the light passes through the box from an external source.
In a small confined space with the interior surfaces are made of white or metallic reflective material, the light bounces off all the inner surfaces of the box and much of this bounce light will strike the background from various angles that will reveal its texture. Unwanted reflections from the background and possibly the item being photographed will be beyond control because you have no control over the angle of increase. With all that light bouncing around in the box, you can not isolate the background in order to lighten or darken it independently of the subject. There is no enough space to facilitate the use of a gobo or flag to keep light off the background, especially the kind of side lighting that reveals texture and defects in fabrics.
So, you end up trying to correct those unwanted reflections and background details in post-processing which is tedious and usually not all that effective.
Control over background rendition is also influenced by the distance between the subject item and the background, the degree of depth of field or lack thereof. There is not sufficient space in the bix to fully manipulate all the elements.
Solution- GET OUT OF THE BOX! The box is fine for what it intended and designed for a quick system for a simple shot of an item in a solid, usually white, background. It is no difficult to create a mini-studio type setup with your LED lig source, some diffusion material and a few reflectors. You can aim the light(s) strategically to control modelling, reflection control and background rendition. A softbox modifier fitted to your light source and a few homemade reflectors can do the job.
Yet another approach could be to construct a simple cyclorama type light table made of white Plexiglas wh can be transilluminated with white or coloured light to create your backgrounds.
If you continue to use the lightbox but are dissatisfied with its construction as to the background support, you will have to consider some modification or improvisation to shore up the frame and add some clips or other fasteners to hold materials in place.
It does no matter if your photography is for commercial product illustration or strictly for artistic still-life work. Understanding the principles of light control will be beneficial.
I hope this helps.
The concept of a lightbox is based on a fixed ligh... (
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Great discussion of the challenges of "product" photography and the use of light. You are exactly right on how the interior of the light box will scatter light and may work against you. The vast majority of my work is outside of the studio and I have to admit there were many times at cluttered locations when a light box would have been a lot more handy than my usual backdrop stands and shooting table setup. I did make one for shooting jewelry and colored gemstones but that was to completely eliminate any color pollution from the room and my own clothing.
In my response to the OP I mentioned our process and selection of backdrops. None of our photos were done in a lightbox, all small objects are table top with a sweep and good diffused continuous light. Your photos really help the new shooter to start thinking/shooting outside of the box.
I work in fast paced, high volume product photography using backdrops all the time (these are for online auctions). We use both fabric and heavy rolls of paper. Anything will get dirty and collect fibers. With the fabrics we eventually put them through the washing machine, for the paper we unroll more and cut off the soiled part. Felt, velour and velvet while excellent at providing a non-reflective backdrop will all be dirt and fiber magnets and you will spend time "grooming" them to get rid of unwanted junk. Another poster said go to the fabric store and I am pretty sure you will find what you need there. Just look for heavy fabrics that are de-lustered or flat colors. I have found man-made fabrics provide less texture than say wool or cotton fabrics. While you are making your choices don't disregard using shaped plastic (a cyclorama) as your continuous as it is easy to clean with a spray bottle of Windex and holds up well as long as you are careful about scratches. For a flat black field, just spray paint it with flat black and refresh the paint when the surface becomes worn. With your using the light box you will not spend a fortune experimenting with various fabrics, just think about it as an investment in your professional development. Using colors other than flat black or white can add interest to your photos but keep in mind those colors will want to affect the perceived color of your primary [photographic subject. With your box being small I'd go buy a variety of small swatches and give them a test run. Once you decide on a specific fabric I would make sure I had three or four of them so I can simply swap them out on the shoot instead of taking the time to clean them. Later pop them in the laundry. For our operation throughput is king and we don't do anything that will slow down the shoot. Good luck.
Just Fred wrote:
Thanks everyone for your replies. Not surprisingly, thread creep occurred fairly early on. Not once did I mention having or using a scanner, so those who mentioned it, thanks for playing, but no. And, unsurprisingly also, I received recommendations to use each of the lenses I did mention (I wonder, if I'd included my 10-24mm 3.5-4.5 wide angle zoom would someone have recommended that as well?).
Returning to my original question: I am comfortable with any of the lenses. What is unknown are the conditions (light, space, angle, etc.) and the number of documents. I should add too, that I and one or two of my fellows are doing this in an office, possibly in a store room. We don't plan on being there long, just long enough to photograph the envelopes.
Thanks everyone for your replies. Not surprisingl... (
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If this is legal research and you have a lot of envelopes, for me a major consideration is clarity of text and rapid throughput. Yes, the scanner would be waaaayyy too slow for that. Can you do two or three envelopes in one photo? When I have multiple documents I try to fit as many in a photo as is reasonable and still give appropriate detail for the subject. The lens for what you are doing is already in your possession, go with the fastest lens, especially if you must hand hold. An assistant to set the envelopes and take them away will go a long way to speeding up the operation.
I do this type of work (flat work) all the time with documents, coins, paintings, photographs and books. My key considerations are keeping the lens centered and parallel to the work. I also make sure the lens is far enough above the work to avoid any barrel or pincushion effect in the image. By mounting the camera I can keep the ISO very low to minimize noise.
If I have a number of items I will use a tripod or my converted darkroom copy stand. I also use two large softboxes set at 45 degree angles and far enough to the side to make sure they are not reflected in the work. Of course you want to make sure your color fidelity is controlled so I will do a custom white balance using a grey card to set it. This may be important if you are operating in a room with extraneous mixed light like tungsten or fluorescent bulbs that differ in temperature from your photo lights. My lights are continuous as I like to see how it will look before I snap the shutter, which, by the way, is often done with a remote to help eliminate any shake.
This can also be done hand held but you will need to be a lot more steady than I, but this will only be important if very fine details in the text is needed, like in a forensic analysis of a typeface in a questioned document. If you take some of the suggestions above, you can use just about any lens you wish. For me my general lens is a Canon 24-105. For single items like stamps, coins or jewelry I will use my 100mm macro.
Good luck with yur project. Let me know if any of this helps.
Welcome to the forum. Your adopted country has many beautiful vistas and I look forward to your interpretation of them.
Amazing video. I imagine the shoreline calves like that from time to time. A major stroke of luck to actually be there and filming!
took that same cruise many years ago and it was one of the highlights of our big loop drive through the UP. Great photos. Now imagine those scenes when the "...storms of November come early."
last photo: varsity Jenga!
I have two astronomical telescopes each with its own tripod. Both tripods are big, heavy and solid as a rock. I need that to stabilize the telescopes so the images are not blurry from movement. If they are stable enough to hold a telescope or as has been discussed here, a surveyor's transit, then they will be more than stable enough for any photography task. If I ever need a really stable mount where size and weight are not a consideration, I will screw on my tripod head and get to work. I have two watch words on accessory purchases, "cheap and works." Go for it if you feel like it.
Just a thought here. Great photo for a scout mission. On the shoot night I wonder if you would tease out more detail in the canyon if you tried a graduated neutral density filter for a few shots??? I would not use it exclusively, just as one of my many shots along with all bare lens shots. I use them for real estate photos so I can balance the (daylight) sky and the comparatively darker structure itself. If you have one you might give it a try. It is all about experimenting and having fun.