Starting to learn Pen photography

[txomsy]

That shot looks pretty nice to me.

[Gadget]

Struggles with light continue, although you guys point out it is not the kit that matters so much its the fundamental understanding of the subject... well maybe but i am starting to feel my lack of light control and or limited to what i have is a bit of a draw back, none the less i march on... for good or for probably worse

 

 

 

 

[txomsy]

I think that -besides maybe being a bit dark you have gone through large improvements.

 

If you are so worried, then try to shoot in RAW mode and lighten up in the photos in post-processing. That's the fastest approach while you learn to master photography.

 

If you have a tripod and your camera allows it, try bracketing and HDR. And then play with light and settings:

 

You leave the subject and camera in place and try different apertures, exposition times and zooms (you may also enlarge the pic in post-processing and most modern cameras will give you a lot of lee way). Take note of each pic so you remember the conditions when you inspect them later (or look at the EXIF data).

 

This is a lot easier if you camera can be computer-controlled, which many modern ones can: you may be able to play with the settings and see the result, which will accelerate learning.

 

But the trick, which took me decades to face up to (the decades when I was using expensive analog film with long delays till development and handwritten notes to remember the settings) is to simply experiment.

 

When I started with digital photography I still kept the mindset of getting it right with the one shot. It was when I realized that now taking pics is so cheap that I can take a hundred pictures of the same subject in different conditions, angles, distances for the same cost of a single picture, that I started to  play and experiment, which led to faster learning.

 

Yeah, that still has a cost in personal time to review pics and internalize their association with shot conditions, but you'll still have to expend that time to learn any way.

[Gadget]

Thank you  @txomsy appreciate your comments a lot

Being a bit dark is an understatement, sometimes i am in the dark trying to avoid blown highlights which is my lighting issues, i do shoot RAW but the camera is an old entry level Nikon 3100, little used but old and the standard 18-55mm VR lens, i do have a macro zoom lens but standing 8ft away just isnt a thing even with the tripod, i wish it did connect to the Pc, that would certainly speed up the process but as it is, i shoot multiple images and then take the mem card out and plug into the Pc, no easy wifi or cable option available... that i am aware off, i did purchase a power adapter to replace the ageing battery, so now i can shoot for as long as my patience will allow, backgrounds .... i now have found a multiple source for free which in itself is time consuming just going through them all, i know for fact at some point i will have a eureka moment, i usualy do find it but in these early days of learning its just out of reach so far

 

This was a ... OMG how the heck do i make a white Prelude look reasonable, i tried various things and then !! oh, that will do

 

 

 

[txomsy]

Those look like very good pictures to me.

 

They may not be what you intended, but remember the viewers also add their own interpretation, and from outside, at least to me, they look great!

[Gadget]

Bracketing and understanding a Histogram was last nights project, in themselves not the reason for a good picture but as part of an overall image they are most definately useful

[inkstainedruth]

My suggestion is that if you're having issues about lighting, you might want to consider shooting against a white background, instead of the ones you've been using.  You'll get more of a bounce-back/white reflection and it will also help with the focus being on the pens and nibs).  

I learned about grey-scale stuff in photography and history of photography classes in college (think of the work of Ansel Adams, in particular).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gadget]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:47 PM, inkstainedruth said:

My suggestion is that if you're having issues about lighting, you might want to consider shooting against a white background, instead of the ones you've been using.  You'll get more of a bounce-back/white reflection and it will also help with the focus being on the pens and nibs).  

I learned about grey-scale stuff in photography and history of photography classes in college (think of the work of Ansel Adams, in particular).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Honestly, i tried white @inkstainedruth but for me the fun is finding the right background, perhaps with more knowledge and even better kit white would be great, there are certainly some awsome images using just white but to get a great picture using just white, thats a whole level of clever i am not at

 

been poking around for a few days, with various shots and angles, different pens/backgrounds, some look nice when they are donebut coming back to them a few days later they just dont seem to work... whats that about !!

 

anyway, all said and done these sort of look ok to me and i managed a whole pen shot !! who says you cant teach and old dog to do algebra... or sumfin like that !!

 

[txomsy]

That looks like a really beautifully patterned Parker. Cool!

[Gadget]

Thank you @txomsy i am starting to get the hang of things, not always but sometimes

[Gadget]

i found my sweetspot of where i wanted to be....finaly, i now know it can take me approx 4 hrs to organise, shoot and work with the images and get them posted, this last week has been tricky, from no where one of my kidneys decided to get a 8mm stone wedged in the outlet pipe (no idea of the technical name for the pipe) happily now things are alot better and i havent screamed in agony for a whole 3 days

[kealani]

On 2/10/2024 at 3:37 PM, Gadget said:

Struggles with light continue, although you guys point out it is not the kit that matters so much its the fundamental understanding of the subject... well maybe but i am starting to feel my lack of light control and or limited to what i have is a bit of a draw back, none the less i march on... for good or for probably worse

 

 

 

 

belated post here. Congratulations on doing such a wonderful job with the equipment you have. These are very nice and it sounds like you've headed in the direction that "you" wanted. There are a lot of YouTube Videos of high end european product and jewelry and fashion photographers, Yuri, etc, that you can get equipment and lighting setup ideas, as well as inspirations on your compositions. Suggest really take time to get your "iconic keepers" over taking a large number of shots that are throwaways.

 

Wife and I have been commercial product and stock photographers ever since film. It is a demanding but rewarding genre of photography. Have fun with it. Up your gear as your skills improve as well. Though an investment, consider a full frame or aps-c sensor camera with proper lenses and lighting, and if you have the space, shoot "tethered" to a laptop or computer and use a very solid tripod and setup or lighting table. So you don't touch the camera. Also, learn to "focus stack" to control your depths, etc. The later and newer Olympus OM's do in camera focus stacking and finishing.

 

If you have the budget, shoot raw and refine your post processing. Have fun. k