Spent A Morning Doing A Pen Shooting Session.

[KBeezie]

Spent a morning doing a pen shooting session.

 

http://i.imgur.com/CjVzvwh.jpg

 

1930 Eversharp Pencil in "Rosewood" (that color/pattern of hard rubber), uses 1.1~ lead (currently filled with Worther 1.15).

 

http://i.imgur.com/edXO8qi.jpg

 

Mabie Todd & Co, N.Y. (American, ~1910-1921) Swan Self-Filling Pen Mabie Todd '2' 14K Flex Fine

 

http://i.imgur.com/tLV7oxq.jpg

 

Wahl #2 Gold-Filled Pen (~1925) 14K Wahl Semi-flex Needlepoint.

 

http://i.imgur.com/aeyCBm8.jpg

 

Eversharp Doric (1st generation), in Kashmir, 1931-1935 14K Eversharp #3 Adjustable, EF point, firm to full flex.

 

http://i.imgur.com/GZ8sY6l.jpg

 

Eversharp Skyline, Standard Size 14K Eversharp Semi-flex EF Mid to Late 1940s

 

http://i.imgur.com/jtz6T6K.jpg

 

Parker 45 GT (Made in USA Body/Cap) 14K French-Made (and hallmarked) "R" Relief nib Mid-to-Late 1960s (Though Nib itself could be later)

 

http://i.imgur.com/YocRdsl.jpg

 

Platinum Pocket Pen (Pre-1968) 14K Firm Fine (this one is currently listed for sale)

 

http://i.imgur.com/c5bQarY.jpg

 

Pilot Long Murex (MR-500SS) October 1978, Hiratsuka Plant Integrated Steel <F> Nib (in between a modern Pilot EF and Fine)

 

http://i.imgur.com/PXl0L2y.jpg

 

Pelikan M640 Special Edition, Mount Everest 18K Medium, 2008

 

http://i.imgur.com/KV0vb2Z.jpg

 

Aurora Afrika Limited Edition (#1,765, 2002) Celluloid body, Piston filler, 18K "M" Nib (though writes more like a western EF) Bout the same size as an Optima but with a thicker/fancier body, not as large as the modern Aurora 88 but uses the same size nib.

Edited February 7, 2016 by KBeezie

[usk15]

Nice photo session! I like the contrast of the pens vs background.

[KBeezie]

Nice photo session! I like the contrast of the pens vs background.

For some of the combinations I just went with complimentary colors.

 

Red + Green, Blue + Orange (or gold) causes a sort of visual vibration (more so if luminance/hue of both is identical).

[Buzz_130]

Very nice photography, but I like the look of your vintage pens! Those are exceptional examples from the Golden Age of fountain pens.

 

Buzz

[sirgilbert357]

Great, thanks a lot KBeezie...now I want an Eversharp Doric with an adjustable nib. I'm staying away from any thread that contains your photography, LOL...

[Wahl]

Nice pics, beautiful pens !

[helene20]

ScheduleI like your pens a lot. What camera/lens combo do you use for to take pics of your fp?

 

Spent a morning doing a pen shooting session.

[KBeezie]

ScheduleI like your pens a lot. What camera/lens combo do you use for to take pics of your fp?

Primarily in the sequence above I usually use two lens for the table-top studio. Sigma 60mm f/2.8 DN-Art which can't get any closer than the pen filling the frame usually, but is sharp as a tack at 100%. Then the 40+ year old Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 1:1 (Lifesize) macro lens adapted via an adaptall-to-micro-4/3rd adapter to get closer.

 

The camera body being an Olympus E-M5 that I got used a little over a year ago.

 

But then I'm also using a 1970s Bogen 3021 tripod with a 3-way head, and a pair of photogenic powerlight 750 with 32" soft boxes on them at left and right. And glare/reflection is controlled with a circular polarizer on the lens along with me holding up a sheet of white printer paper in between the mainlight and pen to diffuse the glare more.

[Larry Barrieau]

Show us a picture of your set up please. Thanks

[helene20]

Schedule

 

Primarily in the sequence above I usually use two lens for the table-top studio. Sigma 60mm f/2.8 DN-Art which can't get any closer than the pen filling the frame usually, but is sharp as a tack at 100%. Then the 40+ year old Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 1:1 (Lifesize) macro lens adapted via an adaptall-to-micro-4/3rd adapter to get closer.

The camera body being an Olympus E-M5 that I got used a little over a year ago.

But then I'm also using a 1970s Bogen 3021 tripod with a 3-way head, and a pair of photogenic powerlight 750 with 32" soft boxes on them at left and right. And glare/reflection is controlled with a circular polarizer on the lens along with me holding up a sheet of white printer paper in between the mainlight and pen to diffuse the glare more.

 

Turned out really well. I love using a tripod for still pics. My setup is a Rebel T6s with the new Canon 50mm 1.8 for my food pics. I'll try my setup to take pics of my pens. Have a great Sunday!

[KBeezie]

Show us a picture of your set up please. Thanks

http://i.imgur.com/O6et7CU.jpg

 

 

 

 

Schedule

 

 

Turned out really well. I love using a tripod for still pics. My setup is a Rebel T6s with the new Canon 50mm 1.8 for my food pics. I'll try my setup to take pics of my pens. Have a great Sunday!

The Thrifty-Fifty was my favorite lens when I was shooting with a Canon DSLR back in 2005 on both a film EOS-1 body and the original digital rebel (300D I think, 6.3megapixels).

 

http://orig06.deviantart.net/989d/f/2012/284/0/1/01bced9095e6a43d11a7d5a421f59777-d5hh446.jpg

 

http://orig14.deviantart.net/6a9c/f/2007/090/7/5/ethan___brick_and_vines_by_kb244.jpg

 

The Olympus 45/1.8 is probably the closest I have to it (45mm * 2.0x crop factor = 90mm equiv, on the Canon 50mm * 1.6x crop factor = 80mm equiv) But I prefer the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 which has a closer field of view to 'normal' (40mm equiv).

 

http://orig06.deviantart.net/fe4f/f/2015/321/5/6/_b172610_bw_sm_clr_by_kbeezie-d9h0of4.jpg

 

PS: For people who want to eliminate glare *completely*, the strobes or hot-lights (using CFL bulbs instead so they don't melt the gels) is often covered with a polarized gel or sheet, that way the light falling onto the subject is already polarized and using a polarizer filter on the lens can remove the catchlight completely. Often used for documenting or reproducing flat art work.

Edited February 7, 2016 by KBeezie

[Runnin_Ute]

You do such gorgeous photo work KBeezie. Manufacturers/Retailers should spend a few more minutes when shooting their products. I see so many photos online that are just "blah". That allegedly were taken by professionals who should know better.

 

A great example is of one of my favorite pens I own, a Levenger True Writer Silver Anniversary. They used a white background for a pen with a "gunmetal" finish. (silver colored), the shadow shown stands out more.

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Fountain%20Pens/TrueWriterSilverAnniversaryAP9950_0312_zpsb8b12b4d.jpg

 

They usually do a better job than this but blew it this time.

[KBeezie]

You do such gorgeous photo work KBeezie. Manufacturers/Retailers should spend a few more minutes when shooting their products. I see so many photos online that are just "blah". That allegedly were taken by professionals who should know better.

 

A great example is of one of my favorite pens I own, a Levenger True Writer Silver Anniversary. They used a white background for a pen with a "gunmetal" finish. (silver colored), the shadow shown stands out more.

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Fountain%20Pens/TrueWriterSilverAnniversaryAP9950_0312_zpsb8b12b4d.jpg

 

They usually do a better job than this but blew it this time.

Course their white background looks like it was put into place after the fact. It was most likely shot on top of a regular white background, flat, then was masked out so that they could superimpose it on top of a faux shadow. But course by masking it they could have put it on nearly any number of backgrounds if they so wished.

 

For example (and this would be better if I had the original sized image and shot a background prepared for the purpose) :

 

http://i.imgur.com/Oog4U4Y.jpg

[maus930]

great suggestion -- Thank You

[helene20]

Thanks so much again for all of your tips, you take great pictures!

[Larry Barrieau]

Thanks KB. More technical than I can do but there are good tips I can use.