Before and after

[Terry]

It doesn't matter much how you do it if you are getting the results you want. With the pens there is so much white background and so little pen, by setting the crop right away I can see the pen much clearer and concentrate on the pen rather than the background. If you sharpen your images always make the sharpening your last act before saving, but I know that's how you do it anyway. It is better to have your image at 100% zoom on your screen when applying sharpening so that you can see what is happening and not over sharpen.


Peter

Thanks for the info Peter. I feel that I have come on leaps and bounds and yet have still so much to learn !!!

 

[Grump]

What a wonderful forum this is with so much knowledge in you peoples heads init?
I happen to be using a windows 8.1 confuser today and just read the updates on this thread, my camera is next to me from the pics I put on last night.
So a little play is called for, I put the camera in A mode and went into the settings looking for a crop and colour temp.
I found a warm and some other settings but warm looked the best on screen so chose that, I also found a raw +jpg , never used that before lets have a go.
A piece of white paper and a close shot gave me two pics to choose from, I then cropped and resized both using photopad with no other changes.
The first pic is the jpg and I notice the program saved the second raw image as .png file, I have left the exif in for those who may want to look.
Flash was cocked but never lit.




The other thing I noticed was the file size of the raw was huge compared to the jpg and that the camera was still processing after I had shot so I worried about it going out of focus as I have no tripod here.

 

[Terry]

Brian to me the first photo looks the best but they both lack sharpness !!!!

 

[paulm]

You don't have to be a photographer to do it yourself, I showed my 10 year old granddaughter (she was angry that I had called her 9 year old) how to improve her photos and it is just second place to her even without using photoshop. I don't use windows so I can't help anyone much.

The first thing I would do is set the crop to the final size you want ie 800 x ??? this will take out extraneous colour bias if there is any. Then I would set the colour temperature, if your camera can accept a custom colour balance then set it accordingly, even though I use flash I set mine to 7045K. Just because everyone will tell you to use 5000k -5500k doesn't men you have to do it, much like the concavia. What you are trying to achieve is something that is like the product you are photographing. If it doesn't look right set it differently. You didn't follow all the rules about turning so why would you follow it about photos. There's lots more, but I have had too much wine.

Peter

ha ha, too much wine is good Peter. My point is that many people don't understand anything about photography/editing and even computers so I'm trying to make it as simple as possible. I understand where you're coming from but for most people, including me, it has to be simple and jargon such as 'even though I use flash I set mine to 7045K' goes over most peoples head. I hope I'm not offending you, I understand you're a pro and I'm just a novice but I like simple.

 

[Grump]

Maybe I should go back to auto mode before I bugger up my camera, all id did was change the warm to cold and it's still crap.
I know it's me and not the camera.

 

[paulm]

Brian, I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable with commenting on this photography stuff as we have a pro who can help much more that I can but basically RAW saves all the information without any interference by the camera's software so that you can do the editing.

 

[Buckeye]

ha ha, too much wine is good Peter. My point is that many people don't understand anything about photography/editing and even computers so I'm trying to make it as simple as possible. I understand where you're coming from but for most people, including me, it has to be simple and jargon such as 'even though I use flash I set mine to 7045K' goes over most peoples head. I hope I'm not offending you, I understand you're a pro and I'm just a novice but I like simple.

I think it is great that you are showing people how to better their images, the problem I have is I forget that not everyone understands certain straightforward terms, what is a very simple concept to me is not necessarily so to others, it's my fault because I should break it down into lay terms and it's hard to remember that. I used to teach digital imaging/digital processing at the local further education places and then I did break things down, but it is far easier face to face than it is on a forum.

No you are not offending me, I'm just sorry I can't seem to write things simply in a way that takes the mystery out of it. As my Granddaughter is fond of reminding me, it's because I have a very old brain

Peter

 

[Buckeye]

Brian, I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable with commenting on this photography stuff as we have a pro who can help much more that I can but basically RAW saves all the information without any interference by the camera's software so that you can do the editing.

Paul, don't feel like that, you are explaining in a way that I am not so your help is better than mine, I do things a certain way because that's what is required for my business. Unless people are photographing their pens for inclusion into hi end mags there is no need to go to extreme lengths, all that is needed is a clear, sharp image.

I think terry should chip in a bit more as he has it down really well now and he can relate to some of the problems people are having...come on Terry

Peter

 

[Grump]

I could always use my webcam which I have just done with better results tan I expected init?

 

[Terry]

Paul, don't feel like that, you are explaining in a way that I am not so your help is better than mine, I do things a certain way because that's what is required for my business. Unless people are photographing their pens for inclusion into hi end mags there is no need to go to extreme lengths, all that is needed is a clear, sharp image.

I think terry should chip in a bit more as he has it down really well now and he can relate to some of the problems people are having...come on Terry

Peter

Thanks Peter but all I know is that if I go into manual I have my focus on auto.My depth of field is set at f5.9. I set my white balance manually using grey card whereas most people will have there's on auto and I keep my speed at 1/25th of a second. I also use a tripod and keep my distance to around 12 - 15 ins from the pen. My focal length I keep at 24mm.
I fiddle around with the f no's and the speed to see if I can make it better but I haven't succeeded yet.
White balance is a subject that you will be able to explain better than me Peter that I am certain of!!!!
As regarding Photoshop Paul told me to go into light levels and adjust to the histogram rather than auto and the same with sharpness !!
I am playing around with most of this stuff and reading books on it to try and learn a bit more as it is a fascinating subject and as Brian once said to me that quality photographs of pens goes hand in hand with making them or words to that effect!!!

I am reading this thread with great interest as the more that I can glean the better !!!!

 

[Buckeye]

Thanks Peter but all I know is that if I go into manual I have my focus on auto.My depth of field is set at f5.9. I set my white balance manually using grey card whereas most people will have there's on auto and I keep my speed at 1/25th of a second. I also use a tripod and keep my distance to around 12 - 15 ins from the pen. My focal length I keep at 24mm.
I fiddle around with the f no's and the speed to see if I can make it better but I haven't succeeded yet.
White balance is a subject that you will be able to explain better than me Peter that I am certain of!!!!
As regarding Photoshop Paul told me to go into light levels and adjust to the histogram rather than auto and the same with sharpness !!
I am playing around with most of this stuff and reading books on it to try and learn a bit more as it is a fascinating subject and as Brian once said to me that quality photographs of pens goes hand in hand with making them or words to that effect!!!

I am reading this thread with great interest as the more that I can glean the better !!!!

I also remember saying to you to turn off the setting which sets the ISO on auto and set your ISO manually to 100, when it is on auto it does silly things and can increase the grain.

If you can set the camera to manual exposure it is much better and where you can look at the histogram on the camera you can adjust your exposure to get the optimum exposure and post processing will be much simpler.

It's the aperture that you set to f5.9 not your depth of field although it is related. I would use a longer focal length that 24 in fact I think I use 105, but looking at your photos I wouldn't change anything as you are producing great photos.

I have got various photoshop books if you want them, but to be honest they might over complicate things for you.

A little tip that might not be of any use is that when you focus on something you have more depth behind the focal point than in front of it, so depending on your fstop and the focal length of the lens you are using, it is often beneficial to focus on a nearer part of the subject and you can get images that look sharp from front to back, of course everything has it's limits.

Peter

 

[Terry]

Thanks Peter!!!
Yes I have the ISO on manual at 100. I forgot to mention that and yes the f stops relate to aperture just shows how thick that I am !!!! LOL
I'll try setting the focal length up in increments until I get to 105 just to see how it goes as I can always delete if I don't like the results.
I wouldn't mind looking at the photoshop books as anything that I can learn can only be of benefit. I'll pm my address !!!
Thanks for the tip on the focus I'll bear that in mind !!!

 

[Buckeye]

If you do change anything remember to write down what you already do so that you can get back to it, but I would stick with what you are already doing unless you want to play for the fun of it.

The one I have at hand is Adobe Photoshop 6 for Photographers by Martin Evening. Even though it is for PS 6 the techniques may be transferable to Elements.

I have just looked for more photoshop books and I can't find any so I may have loaned them out and not had them back, If I come across them I will include them.

Peter

 

[Terry]

If you do change anything remember to write down what you already do so that you can get back to it, but I would stick with what you are already doing unless you want to play for the fun of it.

The one I have at hand is Adobe Photoshop 6 for Photographers by Martin Evening. Even though it is for PS 6 the techniques may be transferable to Elements.


I have just looked for more photoshop books and I can't find any so I may have loaned them out and not had them back, If I come across them I will include them.

Peter

Will do regarding writing things down. Thanks !!!

 

[Grump]

Just grabbed a quick cuppa and read the latest, couldn't resist picking up the camera again and found my iso setting turned it off set it to 100 and took these.
The shadows are the sun coming through the net curtain.
No other changes made as yet but I will play later.
Better start another photography thread sorry for nicking this one Matty.
Jim It might be an idea to have a photogrphy forum as well as the scrollsaw one iinit?

 

[Buckeye]

Just grabbed a quick cuppa and read the latest, couldn't resist picking up the camera again and found my iso setting turned it off set it to 100 and took these.
The shadows are the sun coming through the net curtain.
No other changes made as yet but I will play later.
Better start another photography thread sorry for nicking this one Matty.
Jim It might be an idea to have a photogrphy forum as well as the scrollsaw one iinit?

View attachment 6717

These are the best I can get with the first one, without playing around for a long time and without knowing what it looks like in real life.





Peter

 

[Grump]

I would say you're about spot on, I still have the colour setting on cold and can't find it again to change it.
It seems turning off the iso has taken that menu away

 

[Terry]

Good idea to have a section on photography do just like the IAP !!!! Are you listening Jim ??? LOL

 

[Buckeye]

I would say you're about spot on, I still have the colour setting on cold and can't find it again to change it.
It seems turning off the iso has taken that menu away

I can't imagine that the colour setting would be linked to the ISO, The trouble with a modern digital camera is that there are so many options it hard to find a particular one.

Peter

 

[Grump]

How dare you swear like that Terry, go and wash your mouth out init?