Help with picture taking

[beadandi]

I made a necklace with white & clear lampwork beads with some dichroic, silver bead accents and strung on white satin cord....I love the necklace but can not for the life of me get a decent picture. I have photographed it outside in natural light, on black, blue, white and gray background and nothing is working. I am using PSE6 for editing but that hasn't helped either. I have had the necklace made for weeks and haven't listed it for sale because I can't get a decent picture. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Sandi

[beadandi]

I guess no one can help!

[GinnyHampton]

It would probably help if you posted a picture of what you took .. . .. that way everybody could see what's going on. When you say your picture "isn't decent" that could be for lots of reasons but if we could see it, that would help narrow down what the problem is

[beadandi]

Thanks Ginny...DUH! that does make sense. Maybe this will help with suggestions. The dichroic is actually silver but looks gold in a couple of the pictures. I know it needs to be placed better but I was just trying backgrounds; I tried outside also but it was just as bad as these.





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Thanks,
Sandi

[GinnyHampton]

I don't think those pictures are that bad . .. . I think you need to "pose" it differently and shoot it from a different angle.

For your background, do you have a darker gray? Definitely rule out the white background, but do you have something in between the light gray and the black?

Try positioning your necklace and then shooting it from more above so that you can see the whole thing. Right now it's hard to imagine what the entire piece looks like, or what it would look like on, because you can't get the full image of it. Is there a clasp?

[sandbarr]

I'm probably repeating Ginny but anyway ... try taking a shot straight down against the black background or experiment with different angles.
Do use a tripod and no flash ? What kind of editing program do you use ?

hope that helps!
Sandra

[beadandi]

I have a photo tent with 3 lights...I use a tripod...my camera is a Fuji and I am always pleased with my other pictures but this white is really challenging me. I have been thinking about turning my tent on it's backside and lay my beads at the bottom so I am looking straight down on them...I just need to find a place that is low enough so I can use my tripod. Yes, I use my flash. I actually hung it on a necklace form, black & white but didn't like that either.

The necklace is finished with a sterling clasp...right, you do not see it in the picture.

I just bought Photoshop Elements 6 and so far I love it but I couldn't seem to tweak this picture enough.

Back to the drawing board...I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks to all of you!
____________________
Sandi

[AnnieQ]

Dichro is always hard for me to photograph. I use natural morning light on a white matte tile. What I see is what I get. I take a sheet of copy paper and hold it between the window and the piece and move it around until I see what I like, with no shadow or glare as much as possible. I move the paper until the background shows white which it is. I go by what the lens shows and get what I see...usually. No flash. I use auto white balance...400...and 5 mp instead of the 7...why I don't know. That's just the settings that work for me.
Not in direct sun either...that washes out the piece and dichro.

Usually where the sun directly hits the counter, I put the piece right out beside that, right where the shadow of the window begins...gee I hope that makes sense.

I'm not very good at giving directions but I hope this helps. This is what I get.






Same on this white, except I put it in a bowl of clear frit.

[beadandi]

Wow...your pictures are great...thank you for the information...I'll have to give that a try also. I can always improve on my pictures.

Thanks,
Sandi

[sandbarr]

try using just natural light, no flash.
good luck!
Sandra

[AnnieQ]

Originally Posted by beadandi

Wow...your pictures are great...thank you for the information...I'll have to give that a try also. I can always improve on my pictures.

Thanks,
Sandi

Ooooooooh I loved at your other stuff...wowser....awesome. And great pics, too.

Dichro can be the devil...

[AnnieQ]

Originally Posted by sandbarr

try using just natural light, no flash.
good luck!
Sandra

Your etsy stuff is awesome, too.

[AnnieQ]

Originally Posted by beadandi

Wow...your pictures are great...thank you for the information...I'll have to give that a try also. I can always improve on my pictures.

Thanks,
Sandi

This might help a little too. I've tried photoshop and it works ok. But I do better with simpler programs.

ACD to crop, auto adj. despeckle, then resize.
Then I send it to Irfanview and sharpen...and sometimes fiddle with the colors.

I pulled one of your pics off your itsy and played around with it using those two programs. Not sure of what the beads look like in real life.
Your pictures are fine, dichro is hard to capture.
Hope you don't think I'm trying to mind your beeswax...LOL

Irfanview...free
http://www.softspecialist.com/IrfanV.../IrfanView.htm

[beadandi]

AnnieQ...thanks for the kudos and the information. The picture you pulled off and played with makes the glass really clear & sharp but the beads aren't that dark...they are transparent aqua with raindance frit which is pretty light. Fun to see what can be done with different programs and very much appreciated.

In one of the other threads, someone (Ginny I think) said they use the GE Photoflood lights which are very bright. I purchased a couple and I am going to mess around with my set-up and see if I can make a difference. On the whole I am pretty satisfied with my pictures but this white on white on white really proved to be difficult.

I'll let you know how the changes go...thanks a bunch!
___________________
Sandi

[AnnieQ]

Originally Posted by beadandi

AnnieQ...thanks for the kudos and the information. The picture you pulled off and played with makes the glass really clear & sharp but the beads aren't that dark...they are transparent aqua with raindance frit which is pretty light. Fun to see what can be done with different programs and very much appreciated.

In one of the other threads, someone (Ginny I think) said they use the GE Photoflood lights which are very bright. I purchased a couple and I am going to mess around with my set-up and see if I can make a difference. On the whole I am pretty satisfied with my pictures but this white on white on white really proved to be difficult.

I'll let you know how the changes go...thanks a bunch!
___________________
Sandi

Yeah I'd be interested in how the lights work for sure.
Some things can just be so aggrivating and then some go smooth.

Annie

[GinnyHampton]

Originally Posted by beadandi

In one of the other threads, someone (Ginny I think) said they use the GE Photoflood lights which are very bright. I purchased a couple and I am going to mess around with my set-up and see if I can make a difference. On the whole I am pretty satisfied with my pictures but this white on white on white really proved to be difficult.

Oh yes, I love those lights!! Try a gray background with your new lights and no flash

[Hayley]

I cleaned up your image in Photoshop . . . of-course since I don't have the actual piece, I am just making the white "white" and not matching the colors of the real thing. This gives you an idea of what can be achieved.

Digital photography is softer than film photography and needs to be sharpened digitally. It may be worthwhile purchasing Photoshop Element for $100.

Hope this helps.