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workinforwood

workinforwood

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Mar 1, 2007
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Eaton Rapids, Michigan, USA.
My wife broke down and gave me this new camera she bought for me as a Christmas gift. It's totally off the chain!!!:biggrin:

The camera is an Olympus E-620. She also purchased a 75mm Macro lens. The camera has auto stuff and vibration stuff and lots of other fancy stuff too! It took me a while to figure out how to take a picture. The first picture was of my daughter. I have the Macro lens installed. Maybe she is too close to the camera, or the wrong lens..don't know and don't really care at this point in time! The camera spent several seconds zooming back and forth into focus, then a square came on the screen, then some circles, all with noises inside the camera as the circles zoomed around the screen and then the top of the camera popped open <there's a flash hidden in there! :confused:), some whirring noise, I pushed the button, more whirring and buzzing and clicking, then the flash went off for about 5 seconds like a machine gun while at the same time the camera started buzzing and making all types of noises inside, then after about 8 seconds of all that insanity, a photo was produced!!! No red eye or blurr either..the pic was not in any type of well lit area. Now I set two pens on the table here and just took an automatic shot of them, nothing crazy, no lighting, just a simple wham bam and the photo's look a hundred times better than my old camera just like that! Imagine if I knew what I was doing and had everything set up in my light tent..wow. I feel like I'm living in Star Trek land. The way to get images on my computer and then to edit them and save them is way different than before. I have no idea what the sizes to edit them should be anymore because it's all in pixels instead of inches. The other camera goes by inches, so I just used to size everything to be 6x8. So I will upload these two pics here and what it is is what it is! :biggrin:
 

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looking good from here from a former wedding photographer. Wait until you start using the the light room and tripod your picture will be fantastic.
 
I'm on it. Dawn sent me some cash, so I bought a couple 500 watt strobes and a sinc for my camera. Even though I don't know what I'm doing, I am going to photograph all my stuff in the dark, rather than using tents and light diffusers. Whenever I have to have my stuff professionally photographed for articles, this is what they do and I like the results. I'm setting up a studio in the basement and painting the wall in that area blue. It's about time I get more serious about what I'm doing.
 
After looking at the two pictures a little longer I have to agree with edman2. The first picture has WAY more personality.

Jerry
 
Call me!!! Blue is a bad thing for the walls if you want accurate color. White or neutral gray is your best bet.

Use reflectors with your lights to soften the lighting. Hot lights (constant on) would be easier to get the image you want because they are always on so you can move see the photo before the camera goes off. With strobes, not so much.

Congrats on the new camera, it sounds like it will give you years of fun and enjoyment learning it and using it!!

GK
 
I agree with Greg about painting the wall a neutral tone (or even black). Otherwise the reflected light will give your photos a color cast.

I once ran across a photographer who would set his shutter on B (bulb) in a dark room, and walk around the subject with a small wattage bulb. He'd play light on it, spending more time on the areas he wanted highlighted, and avoiding the spots where he wanted shadows. That technique gave him a lot of lighting control, but required better visualization than I have.

Good composition and lighting can be difficult to achieve. Even with continuous lights, it's easy to overlook problems in the viewfinder. I have a camera that can be controlled remotely by computer, and I found that to be very helpful. I compose the picture, arrange the lights, and then sit in front of the computer to control the camera settings and take the shot. The photo downloads automatically and displays full-size. This makes it easier to see errors and allows me to experiment quickly.

Regards,
Eric
 
I get that..but any artwork images in the magazine have to be with a blue backdrop. The backdrop supposedly gives the art department an easier time as they do their thing, like designing covers and whatever else they do. I do however have enough basement I can paint every color like a rainbow down the wall if I'm so motivated to do so!
 
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Did the magazine say what they want the blue background for? I'm just guessing that it simply makes it easier for them to edit out (select the color and turn it transparent). Anyway, it might be simpler to take a picture with a neutral background to get the color balance right, and edit in a blue background in postprocessing. For example, in the pictures below, the first is a pen on a neutral color backdrop. The second has the background removed and a gradient background inserted in its place. The third has a blue background.

Of course, there's nothing that prevents you from giving the magazine a photo with no background at all (just transparent).

Regards,
Eric
 

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Eric.. sounds like they're doing a sort of blue screen for the reason you mentioned. It
makes it easier to select the subject
 
workinforwood said:
I get that..but any artwork images in the magazine have to be with a blue backdrop.
Click to expand...

OK, I get that. So paint the room white or gray and then buy a blue backdrop for the photos for that magazine. Then get a nice gradient background for the rest of your shots because that will make your projects look better.


workinforwood said:
The backdrop supposedly gives the art department an easier time as they do their thing,
Click to expand...

Ahh, so like a green screen only in blue.

workinforwood said:
I do however have enough basement I can paint every color like a rainbow down the wall if I'm so motivated to do so!
Click to expand...

I'm jealous! I want a basement but they are unheard of here in North California. When we were about to put on an addition we priced putting a basement under it. They wanted nearly $1M "extra" to add a basement. Sheesh

GK
 
Right..I have enough basement I can have a blue area and a grey area. The main reason for painting the wall is that it's just easier than hanging a blue sheet. First you have to hang the sheet, then you have to hang the picture, but a picture can't hang on a sheet, so you have to have a screw behind which will wrinkle the sheet. But, it's ok if the sheet is wrinkled, I'm just too lazy to hang sheets when I have 40 foot of straight wall that I can do whatever I want to!

You guys are great. When I get set up, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. Right now, I have to fix some little dents and get some paint, and wait for my lights to show up.
 
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