Photographing Pipes
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I promise- last post on this subject (I'm making my wife Greta crazy when I get obsessed)...but I think this one is getting closer. Straight shot with automatic processing through the software...Still needs a little more tweaking, but getting closer. I think next step is to get some grey scales to build a curve....(This is annoying-just checked after I posted- background is light gray on my Mac monitor, which I calibrated. Still looks blue on my PC monitor- uncalibrated...I'm ready for a beer already!)
I like it, nice set-up. Tell your wife not two worry, we built a 10million dollar computerized photo shoot room for a gent just so he could photograph his cars & antique firearms with PERFECT room & lighting design so he would have NO shadows.
It looks light gray on my PC monitor as well Zack. I think this picture is a good basis to work from.
Good for you Zack. Today I cut and stained molding, smoked some McC St James Woods, watched snippets of The Return of the King with my son, and cooked a shrimp based pasta dinner.
Do you have a website for your pipes? I would like to see what you have made.
Cheers,
Dan
Do you have a website for your pipes? I would like to see what you have made.
Cheers,
Dan
Awesome thread guys. Keep the info coming. I'm always trying to improve my poor pipe photography.
Rebornbriar...You should have been here for the ribs! As far as the photography, Once I get everything tweaked, the time per shot should drop to a minute per shot. The automation and batching features in the software are huge advantages. I used to run a $200,000 Crosfield drum scanner in a prepress shop and it wasn't unusual to scan and process 100 transparencies in a day...and half of that time was spent cleaning and oil mounting the transparencies on the drum. I'll keep ya posted...
Woodsroad gave you some great advice. Clearly he knows what he's doing. He did a great job post-processing your photo.
One of the things I would advise is shooting at the same elevation as the pipe with it resting naturally. Don't shoot down at an angle; it creates lens distortion plus the composition isn't as pleasing.
There will almost always be tone in the background, even if you're shooting against a white background The only way to eliminate withing post processing is to use flashes to blow the background out. That means firing flashes behind the pipe. What this requires is using three to four color balanced hot lights in front and over the pipe and using rear-facing flashes to blow the background out. This takes awhile to set up, but it can be done quickly this way (however the equipment expense to do it isn't cheap.)
With all due respect, there isn't a cheap or easy way to make great product photography, especially of pipes. Great photos are time-consuming. You can do good workmanlike images fairly quickly, but they're not going to be killer unless you spend some serious coin on equipment and set-up, and you become very facile at lighting and post-processing.
That's my experience anyway.
Neill, A Passion for Pipes
One of the things I would advise is shooting at the same elevation as the pipe with it resting naturally. Don't shoot down at an angle; it creates lens distortion plus the composition isn't as pleasing.
There will almost always be tone in the background, even if you're shooting against a white background The only way to eliminate withing post processing is to use flashes to blow the background out. That means firing flashes behind the pipe. What this requires is using three to four color balanced hot lights in front and over the pipe and using rear-facing flashes to blow the background out. This takes awhile to set up, but it can be done quickly this way (however the equipment expense to do it isn't cheap.)
With all due respect, there isn't a cheap or easy way to make great product photography, especially of pipes. Great photos are time-consuming. You can do good workmanlike images fairly quickly, but they're not going to be killer unless you spend some serious coin on equipment and set-up, and you become very facile at lighting and post-processing.
That's my experience anyway.
Neill, A Passion for Pipes
This little piece of advise will irritate some: "Get it right in the camera!" The more you perfect your set-up the less time you will spend making adjustments. As you have the software to preview the shot you should not have to correct focus and color temp post shot, you should be using the in-camera settings so as to minimize time salvaging a less than perfect shot.
I really hate having to spend time in front of the computer correcting photos. I much prefer being behind the camera. That said, there are situations where being able to tweak a shot is a god-send. It's much easier to manipulate the image on the computer than in the old darkroom. Always strive for a perfect shot. If you have to salvage a shot through a computer program, you are not being critical enough with your set-up.
Further, computer manipulation can quickly make an image look "forced" and unrealistic. All of which is fine if that is the look you are going for.
I really hate having to spend time in front of the computer correcting photos. I much prefer being behind the camera. That said, there are situations where being able to tweak a shot is a god-send. It's much easier to manipulate the image on the computer than in the old darkroom. Always strive for a perfect shot. If you have to salvage a shot through a computer program, you are not being critical enough with your set-up.
Further, computer manipulation can quickly make an image look "forced" and unrealistic. All of which is fine if that is the look you are going for.
This little piece of advise will irritate some: "Get it right in the camera!" The more you perfect your set-up the less time you will spend making adjustments. As you have the software to preview the shot you should not have to correct focus and color temp post shot, you should be using the in-camera settings so as to minimize time salvaging a less than perfect shot.
I really hate having to spend time in front of the computer correcting photos. I much prefer being behind the camera. That said, there are situations where being able to tweak a shot is a god-send. It's much easier to manipulate the image on the computer than in the old darkroom. Always strive for a perfect shot. If you have to salvage a shot through a computer program, you are not being critical enough with your set-up.
Further, computer manipulation can quickly make an image look "forced" and unrealistic. All of which is fine if that is the look you are going for. If you like to do photo manipulation have a third party check your work now and then as it is really easy to start over doing, especially in the area of color correction.,
I really hate having to spend time in front of the computer correcting photos. I much prefer being behind the camera. That said, there are situations where being able to tweak a shot is a god-send. It's much easier to manipulate the image on the computer than in the old darkroom. Always strive for a perfect shot. If you have to salvage a shot through a computer program, you are not being critical enough with your set-up.
Further, computer manipulation can quickly make an image look "forced" and unrealistic. All of which is fine if that is the look you are going for. If you like to do photo manipulation have a third party check your work now and then as it is really easy to start over doing, especially in the area of color correction.,
Excellent post. It all seemed so simple, all I wanted to do was photograph about 30 pipes. I've been all over Neil's site and watched the Smokingpipes.com video more times than I should and it has done nothing but made me re-examine everything I ever thought I knew about amateur photography. One thing it did do was force me to finally read my camera manual. There are so many variables including camera set up, and even the flippin computer screen.
Anyway, maybe by this time next year I'll be happy with my shots.lol
After trying many of the suggestions above, here are the before and after results...
First shot- manual focus, fully automated on software correction- Time 2 minutes to set up and shoot
Second shot- took the original shot, opened it in Photoshop, created a mask, used curves to minimize the background. an additional 16 minutes.
Thanks for the suggestions!
First shot- manual focus, fully automated on software correction- Time 2 minutes to set up and shoot
Second shot- took the original shot, opened it in Photoshop, created a mask, used curves to minimize the background. an additional 16 minutes.
Thanks for the suggestions!
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