Thread: Photographing your Woodwork pieces – doing it properly

Photo's look fine but I like the turning area even more!

Peter if those were my photos this is what I would do.

First 4 photos.
Nothing much, lighting is pretty good. i would just load them into Photoshop and adjust the shadows to reduce them a bit, then use the highlights filter to tone down the highlights where you have light bouncing off shiny surfaces. Then I'd sharpen the image - as ALL digital photos need sharpening. Really, they are Ok as they are - its just that these steps would give them what potogs call 'pop' or 'snap' - the thing that makes you go 'wow' when you see an image.

Next 4 photos.
I think here the shutter speed was a bit slower cos they're a bit blurred. Best solution here is a tripod, or something home-made to steady the camera. After retaking them without the blur, to process them I'd do the same as for the first 4, then I'd use Photoshop to remove the keystoning and twist the horizon back to level. (keystoning is the fisheye distortion, removing it makes the verticals vertical and the lines striaght).

Photoshop is pretty expensive I know, but I think Photoshop Elements is still free and will do most of what you want, or there are plenty of other inexpensive image processers around.

Cheers
Arron

Yeah, i forgot to add, if that was my shed I'd be pretty happy.

Originally Posted by BobL

Photo's look fine but I like the turning area even more!

I like it too. Nice and cool in summer- 40 outside 23 inside and warm in winter. Everything close and handy and the drawers hold more turning goodies.

Trouble is I haven't had much time or energy to do much in there.


Peter.

Originally Posted by Sturdee

Advice as to how these can be improved upon would be appreciated. Peter.

Peter, all good really - remember what I said about fit for purpose. In pics like these you are trying to show what a general area is like, and these do that job. The colour balance of the light is what you would expect from fluoros (as good as white enough for colour balance, but fluoros always make colour a bit flat photographically).

You could make use of your various lamps, to either highlight an area or a lathe with a piece on it, or just add extra light for a bit of general warmth (if they are incandescent). That's prolly more of a personal preference for me.

The thing that I notice is it looks like you've used a rather high ASA or ISO setting, and this has added a bit of noise (digital speak) or grain (film speak). This goea back to what Arron said about using a tripod in such situations. But hey, have you got a tripod already? If not then you'd hardly buy one to take some pics to show your turning area, if you understand my drift.

The point I'm making is that these pics, under those conditions are fit for purpose, even with the grain. However, if you were shooting a piece that you had just turned from a gas bit of timber, then you would not want that grain in the road. The fluoro light wouldn't do much for the colour or grain of the timber either. Solution: take them out into the sun and use the lowest ASA.

I reckon the photos are pretty good - show this area of the shed really well.

My problem is that it is too neat and too tidy and too clean ...









sorry these quips aren't photography related

All good advice, will try to incorporate it.

I took the pictures of the turning area to try out the camera. First photos with this one and I'm still trying to work out which general setting to use. It has two general settings apart from the menu controlled special ones. I'll try the other setting next.

The second lot of photos with the wide angle was just to see the difference as we've got that add on lens. Apart from showing larger areas I doubt I'll use it much, definitely not for close ups.

Don't have a tripod but my daughter has one that I could use if really needed.

Don't have Photoshop on my computer but it's on my wife's computer and Digital Photo Professional is on the laptop that I also. So I'll have to try to transfer them and learn how to use them.

I'll try to take some photos of my recent turnings and see how I go.


Peter.

First 4 are fine for the purpose of showing off your workshop. (shame about the nude models)

The 2nd 4 could have been aimed a bit lower so you didn't include so much of your ceiling unless of course you were trying to show us your lighting & the fact that they are clean & not covered in cobwebs full of woodchips like mine are.

Not too much wrong with the images except they could not have been taken in a productive workshop.
Why, it is too clean and organised and not much sign of finished work, or works in progress.
It does however illustrate good placement of dust extraction and it is possible to have a clean and tidy workshop. (Just don't tell anyone you spent half the day cleaning before taking the images.)

In any wide angle image, it is useful to look about and try to pick a natural horizontal such that the camera is level with that line. A bit less expensive than Photoshop. From eye level, aiming slightly downward, the WA puts the scene in a funnel.

Lots of nooks and crannies in a shop, flat nearly shadowless light is what you'd expect in a shop. The odd warm-white incandescent highlight might be a future consideration.

With my Schneider 90 on my 4x5 in the recessed lens board, I can make some tilt adjustments and watch the line come level in the ground glass screen. The immediate down side is that those 8 shots would cost me more than $100 and take maybe 3 weeks before I even saw what I got. I did shoot 4x5 Paranoids some times. Next, I'd have to wreck the resolution by scanning them for the net.

Oh Gawd Brett, I must confess (probably obvious to you) that I use my Canon 400D in automatic mode, and often with the built in flash. I'd do natural light if I could but my shed is a garage and not that great in that department.

I do a lot of close ups for use in my articles and on the forums, and I am guilty about not taking the time to study the art. The pics have been "just good enough" but not good. I need to get a macro lens, better lighting, and build a light tent. I need to learn how to use manual!

I've learned a number of very useful tips from your posts here. Many thanks.

Now I see a way of fixing the depth problem here ...



My method has been to take 10000 images. One or two usually end up reasonable



Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Derek, glad you gleaned something out of it. You can make a very effective light tent pretty easily. Get a base of timber (that will be the backdrop), drill a series of maybe 3-4 blind holes up two parallel sides, insert something bendable with an end in each side of the base to make a hoop (like a wagon wheel hooped frame, and then cover it with some suitable material. The thinner the hoops the better to minimise the own shadow inclusion.

As you look into it you'll be able to see out the back, and you could just place another suitable backdrop there (not even inside the tent necessarily). With the natural perspective of lenses it would be a good idea to make the back of the base board wider than the front, so that when viewed through the lens they would appear to be about the same width.

Two or three strong halogen lamps (say Portafloods mounted to a custom bracket jimmy up) shining on to the tent should be enough to illuminate it, or (as I keep harping about) take it out into the sun for that extra fillip - flashes are only trying to replicate the sun anyway. A white reflector card under the camera (as close to the lens axis as possible) can be used for fill-light.

I'd reckon that the best focal length for a macro lens would be 100mm, and the Canon is a beauty. 50mm is actually very slightly wide angle and so the perspective isn't as nice.

Learning to shoot in manual is dead easy. Set the camera to auto and see what readings it gives you, then set the camera to manual and apply those readings, adjust as necessary and make sure you bracket +-1/3 stop. Won't be long before you'll have the various exposures locked into you head near enough. Then you get absolute control over your DOF by just using the shutter speed to hone in to the correct exposure, and for bracketing. Remember to focus (manually) about a third the way through the zone that you want sharp and use f16 or thereabouts.

Originally Posted by derekcohen

My method has been to take 10000 images. One or two usually end up reasonable Tsk, tsk, tsk - think of the time you'll save in uploading to your computer and editing! Work the composition up until it's the way you want it, three exposures and you're done.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I forgot to add that the optimum point of focus would be almost halfway along the arms (I'm sure they have a different name.

Derek

Here is a link to a light tent I made a couple of years ago (post #62) Simple and easy to make.

It might give you ideas on your own version - I have thought of using 1"x1"x1" blocks for the corners, drilled out to take the dowel. When glued up it would be a fixed size



My only comment on your photos would be that the background in the knife block photo is a bit cluttered and takes away from the item on display.