Lampwork Etc.
 
AKDesign

LE Live Chat

Enter Live Chat

No users in chat


The Flow

Beads of Courage


 

Go Back   Lampwork Etc. > Library > The Dark Room

The Dark Room -- Photo Editing and Picture Taking. Advice, tutorials, questions on all things photoshop, photo editing, and taking pictures of beads or glass.

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 2013-10-08, 8:09pm
Mitosis Glass's Avatar
Mitosis Glass Mitosis Glass is offline
Formerly FishBulb
 
Join Date: Dec 05, 2008
Location: Pony Flower Princess Land
Posts: 2,772
Default Doug Baldwin photography lights!

I wrote a post on Hayley's excellent thread, and Doug was wondering if I'd post another thread as well, and of course I am delighted to do so! The more threads and comments about his lighting system, the more people will realize this is what they need for their bead and glass photography.

My AMAZING Doug Baldwin lights arrived in the mail late this afternoon, so I stopped everything to take a quick and dirty snap of one of my ocean beads. This pic was taken with no grey scale balance, or adjustment to the depth of field, no exposure adjustment or F-stop changes, no photo editing other than cropping, just a set-up-the-lights-and-shoot session. The camera is a Canon EOS-5D and the photographer is my 12-year-old son.

Not only are the lights the answer to a prayer, but the customer service that Doug gives is top-notch. Do yourself a favour and buy these lights! What a great investment. I look forward to getting all the camera settings and such correct, then we'll really be rocking!

Here is his site, if you haven't seen it already: http://www.dougbaldwinphoto.com/

Name:  IMG_0776.jpg
Views: 2969
Size:  44.6 KB
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


In Soviet Russia, Google searches you.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 2013-10-08, 8:35pm
Mitosis Glass's Avatar
Mitosis Glass Mitosis Glass is offline
Formerly FishBulb
 
Join Date: Dec 05, 2008
Location: Pony Flower Princess Land
Posts: 2,772
Default

Great googly moogly, these lights make silver glass sing!! This is taken with my point-and-shoot, with no adjustments other than cropping.

Name:  P1070577.jpg
Views: 2995
Size:  73.3 KB
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


In Soviet Russia, Google searches you.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 2013-10-10, 8:26am
gemsinbloom's Avatar
gemsinbloom gemsinbloom is offline
Jacqueline Parkes
 
Join Date: Nov 04, 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 4,497
Default

Well I sucked it up and ordered yesterday. After reading for weeks and weeks and seeing everyone's beautiful pictures, I could not take it anymore! haha

great beads and pics!
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 2013-10-10, 3:10pm
Mitosis Glass's Avatar
Mitosis Glass Mitosis Glass is offline
Formerly FishBulb
 
Join Date: Dec 05, 2008
Location: Pony Flower Princess Land
Posts: 2,772
Default

Fantastic, Jacqueline! You will not regret it. Not like your photography needs any help, but hey, you'll love them anyway.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


In Soviet Russia, Google searches you.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 2013-10-10, 4:32pm
gemsinbloom's Avatar
gemsinbloom gemsinbloom is offline
Jacqueline Parkes
 
Join Date: Nov 04, 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 4,497
Default

I am hoping to get rid of those annoying hot spots. Can't wait for it to get here but Canadian customs will probably play with it for awhile first, grrrrr. Items always get to the border quickly and then sit , and sit and sit.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 2013-10-10, 9:34pm
AZ Joolz's Avatar
AZ Joolz AZ Joolz is offline
Etched Metal Rocks...
 
Join Date: Jun 10, 2005
Location: Ahwatukee, AZ
Posts: 14,685
Default

Gorgeous beads and photos...I love my lights too.
__________________
Lisa

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 2013-11-15, 12:54pm
pittypat's Avatar
pittypat pittypat is offline
Maker of Famous Burn Gel
 
Join Date: Jan 25, 2006
Location: On the Bay in Virginia
Posts: 1,368
Default




These are straight from the camera. The first one is using Doug's lighttents without any reimaging. The second one if in my little light tent with no revisions. I am so excited!!

Thanks Doug!! I may now be able to put something in my Etsy shop.
__________________
Pat, as in PittyPat
Glass Rod Carriers in
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Last edited by pittypat; 2013-11-15 at 12:56pm.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 2013-11-25, 7:43pm
Doug Baldwin Doug Baldwin is offline
Pixel Dude
 
Join Date: Apr 26, 2013
Posts: 49
Default

Pat, your results right out of the box are great! Glad to see the lights are performing up to par. Please post more photos when you have them.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 2013-11-28, 11:36pm
pittypat's Avatar
pittypat pittypat is offline
Maker of Famous Burn Gel
 
Join Date: Jan 25, 2006
Location: On the Bay in Virginia
Posts: 1,368
Default

Thanks Doug. I hope to have more time after this week. I also bought a big fat book on using Elements 10. I am determined to learn more and be better with it all!
__________________
Pat, as in PittyPat
Glass Rod Carriers in
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 2013-11-30, 3:24pm
kansassky kansassky is offline
Dix Harrison
 
Join Date: Mar 31, 2009
Location: KCKS - But my heart is in Scotland
Posts: 525
Default

I would like to stand my beads upright to photograph. With no visible means of support. Anyone have a good suggestion how to do this?
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 2013-11-30, 4:21pm
gemsinbloom's Avatar
gemsinbloom gemsinbloom is offline
Jacqueline Parkes
 
Join Date: Nov 04, 2005
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 4,497
Default

I used a thin stringer of clear glass. I purchased some Styrofoam and put it under the paper I am using. I poked a hole through the paper and pushed the stringer through the paper and into the Styrofoam. The bead sits on the stringer. Does that make sense?
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 2013-12-01, 10:44am
kansassky kansassky is offline
Dix Harrison
 
Join Date: Mar 31, 2009
Location: KCKS - But my heart is in Scotland
Posts: 525
Default

I used to do this same thing to stand my bead upright. Only, I used a needle stuck in styrofoam. My problem is I am now using a nice vinyl backdrop and don't wanna poke a hole in it.

Sometimes I also use a glass surface as a photo base. Museum wax can usually be seen around the edges and leaves a little residue on the bead. So everytime I rotate it, I have to wipe off the smudge. I like to take a shot of all sides. Maybe I'm too picky? HA!
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 2016-01-02, 1:37am
truegem's Avatar
truegem truegem is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 14, 2007
Location: Fullerton, CA
Posts: 4,834
Default

So I went to the site. So, these lights come as separate units? No white box to set your bead into? Just want to make sure and also ask, do any of you have a hard time finding a surface or location in your home to place your bead on? I would think that a box would eliminate the need to find a surface and would also eliminate unwanted background clutter. Hope this makes sense. Sell me on this!
__________________
Patti T.
Fullerton, CA

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 2016-01-02, 7:58am
Angie09 Angie09 is offline
Angie09
 
Join Date: Aug 06, 2009
Posts: 1,788
Default

Patti ... yes, the lights come individually and there is no box to set the bead in. It takes (at least for me and I've had them for a couple of years) a lot of trial and error to figure out the best all around shooting surface and angle. I use a 6 foot table (the lights are big) and a piece of glass mounted on about 1-1/2" legs. Personally, I'd love them if the actual light umbrella was smaller so it would be easier to adjust according to what I'm shooting but .... and I've tried them all ... it's the best system out there that I've found.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 2016-04-07, 6:55pm
Doug Baldwin Doug Baldwin is offline
Pixel Dude
 
Join Date: Apr 26, 2013
Posts: 49
Default

Hello Patti, the reason there isn't a light tent or box to set the beads into is that it severely restricts the ability of the artist to light and shoot the bead in more than one way which means the box's back wall is always in the photo. By having two separate light boxes on either side of the bead, you can use a variety of surfaces to shoot on and have any number of types of background, such as all white, gradient, shades of gray, black or even reflective. There's far more versatility with my system than with a tent with fixed walls. Please check out my photo website: dougbaldwinphoto.com and the new dedicated website for the light boxes for a range of examples of photography you can shoot with these light boxes: photolightboxes.com. The photos below show both gradient and reflective backgrounds.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Last edited by Doug Baldwin; 2016-04-08 at 11:49am.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 2016-08-11, 10:14pm
yeepers's Avatar
yeepers yeepers is offline
Certified Glassaholic!
 
Join Date: Jun 17, 2005
Location: In my own little world.....
Posts: 1,792
Default First shots out of the box

Well, I finally bit the bullet and got the lightboxes. I'm still going to have to figure out the best way to get the most out of my pics but I think we're 80% of the way there just with the shades!! Tweaked for size. Hopefully will figure this out soon......







Thanks Doug
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 2016-08-13, 5:55pm
Doug Baldwin Doug Baldwin is offline
Pixel Dude
 
Join Date: Apr 26, 2013
Posts: 49
Default

Thanks Yeepers for the mention and glad you're already getting 80% of where you want to be after a couple of days with the light boxes. Question: Are the jewelry pieces in the middle that lightly colored? The overall photos look close to a good exposure, but maybe a little bright. Hopefully you're using manual exposure and you can darken the shot by raising the shutter speed a click or two. Don't darken by using the aperture as that would affect the depth-of-field. Any automatic exposure method relies on the camera to make the exposure decisions and the cameras aren't that smart, so the resulting exposures will be all over the place and you'll be chasing them in Photoshop trying to make them right. Better to use manual exposure and dial it in at the camera.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 2016-08-14, 10:17pm
yeepers's Avatar
yeepers yeepers is offline
Certified Glassaholic!
 
Join Date: Jun 17, 2005
Location: In my own little world.....
Posts: 1,792
Default

Thanks Doug! It's pretty close. I'm still working with playing around with the settings. I really need to take a good course to learn how to use my camera to its full potential. Still tweaking the settings. Hoping to get it figured out soon!
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 2016-08-15, 10:04pm
Doug Baldwin Doug Baldwin is offline
Pixel Dude
 
Join Date: Apr 26, 2013
Posts: 49
Default

You should take one of my Photography classes, it will explain how to set the camera, use the lights in different ways to make each object look great and get good consistent photos every time. The schedule is here: DougBaldwinPhoto.com/classes.html.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 2016-08-16, 11:34am
yeepers's Avatar
yeepers yeepers is offline
Certified Glassaholic!
 
Join Date: Jun 17, 2005
Location: In my own little world.....
Posts: 1,792
Default

I wish I woulda known the dates you are teaching at Tucson. Unfortunately I'm already signed up for classes on all those days
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 2016-08-23, 5:45pm
Doug Baldwin Doug Baldwin is offline
Pixel Dude
 
Join Date: Apr 26, 2013
Posts: 49
Default

Which dates are you talking about for teaching in Tucson? The August 20 & 21 dates at Sonoran Glass this last weekend were cancelled. Or are you referring to the Tucson Bead Show in Feb 2017?
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 2016-08-25, 11:35pm
yeepers's Avatar
yeepers yeepers is offline
Certified Glassaholic!
 
Join Date: Jun 17, 2005
Location: In my own little world.....
Posts: 1,792
Default

Yeah...Will be in Tucson Jan 30-Feb 5th but committed to other classes.
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 2017-12-26, 9:46am
TaraHudson's Avatar
TaraHudson TaraHudson is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 24, 2017
Posts: 4
Default

You are so talented! Tell me, have you used Photoshop? Maybe you will also like these ideas http://highendbeautyretouching.com/b...etouching.html
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 9:53pm.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Your IP: 44.206.248.122