Official Luthiers Forum!

John and John, I have a few questions for you fellas.
I searched the archives and found a bit of information, but no details. I see in a picture that John O has two umbrellas as light reflectors, they appear to be white? What color is best? And do you face the lights AT the umbrellas? It also says halogen lights were used, what exactly am I looking for? Is this it? What watt?



Lastly, I see the camera is mounted on a tripod, do you use flash? I assume not, do you change any settings on the camera for low/high light?

Thanks guys! I really need to improve the photography on my site and hiring a photographer is a bit s'pensive
I know there are other ways of doing this, I am interested in what is working for you..

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Lance, I followed the 2 John's lead and went with a pair of double work lights, four lamps as above only mounted with a stand and tripod. Cheap at Lowes, Home Depot.

Then I went online to a photo place Belgers in Texas and ordered two photo umbrellas and clamped those to the top handle with two SS radiator hose clamps to position the umbrella in front of the lamps. You can also turn it around and use them as reflective instead of direct light.

Here is a pic I too with that setup:

I bet if you search the archives you'll find this on the OLF. Good luck, it's fun taking pictures.

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

took

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Lance,

I'm not how or osthoff, but I am a John :)....

My setup consists of two halogens I got from sears that are on stands
(like $20 each I think) they are dual wattage's so they can be dimmer and
really bright too. I have two different sets of umbrellas, one that is a
black one with silver lining made for photo work, and one that is a "shoot
through" white style. I've used both with success. the black ones you
need a polarizer as the reflection is greater, but the transmitted light is
greater too, and a little more controllable. My backdrop is seamless
photo paper from B&H (great customer service), and I take all the pictures
with no flash and my camera on a tripod set with the timer going. That
way I'm not touching the camera when it does it's thing as the shutter
stays open for a while with no flash and the f-stop where I have it. My
camera is a Olympus E-500 Digital SLR. I have two different lenses, and
use them both quite a bit. Here is a sample pic of what can be achieved
with a home setup like mine (I'm sure it can be better, but I don't know
that much about photography). I think they come out pretty nice.

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Bruce, John, I would be THRILLED if I could get pics 1/2 that good!

Thanks for the tips guys!

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

one more...

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

oops.. I screwed the link up and can't edit it.. here is another try:

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Lance,

My set-up was really cheap, and I get decent results. I only have a 3meg camera and do plan to upgrade someday, maybe to an SLR. I need to sell a couple more guitars first

Anyway, I just got the work lights mounted on stands that are at anyone of the big-box stores. I have 2 differnt ones. The one I like better is, the one with 2-250 watt lights on it. That one also has 2 settings for each light, so there is some flexability. I then bought some kahki umbrella's at a discount store. I use them both ways, shining the lights through, or reflective. I also have a white ceiling where I take the shots so I sometimes bounce the light off that. It is not ideal, but it is ok. I had a pro photographer come by once, and his shots were nice, but his flash was so bright, some of the stuff washed out. I am sure he could do better.

It takes some experimentation but I set my camera on manual and adjust it until I get what I like. I don't use flash and a tripod is a must.

By no means am I an expert on that stuff, but I get ok enough shots for low res stuff for the web.

John, what size does the seamless background paper come in? Also, is B&H an online source or local? Thanks for any info!

Lance, I'm glad you brought this up again. I got a Canon Rebel digital SLR for Christmas and have just been pondering these same questions myself. Now, if I can just figure out how to edit my website......

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

BTW, I don't know what is the best color umbrealla. I assume the "real" photography ones are the best. I use mine as a difusser most of the time, so if you were to use it has a reflector, maybe a white one would be better.

[QUOTE=Dave Rector] John, what size does the seamless background paper
come in? Also, is B&H an online source or local? Thanks for any info!

Lance, I'm glad you brought this up again. I got a Canon Rebel digital SLR
for Christmas and have just been pondering these same questions myself.
Now, if I can just figure out how to edit my website...... [/QUOTE]

They come in all sorts of sizes colors and lengths, for something that is
guitar sized like what I got here one roll would be about $50.

Check out bhphoto.com

_________________
John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Thanks John!

I have what I need now to head out and do some purchasing!

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Thanks John!

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Lance, this article should help. It is geared towards basses, but it shouldn't make a difference.photo

_________________
Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Thanks Matt & Hesh!

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

[QUOTE=LanceK] Bruce, John, I would be THRILLED if I could get pics 1/2 that good![/QUOTE]

Ditto that - I always wondered how some of the pics in this forum came out so nice, and why mine always looked like crap. Should have guessed it took some actual effort. Very helpful thread.

_________________
Thank You and Best To All

[QUOTE=LarryH] Should have guessed it took some actual effort.[/QUOTE]

Now you are starting to sound like me.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Your cameras should also have mirror-lock, which will freeze the mirror
to prevent the shake.

Those of you who prefer the window light, pick up a reflector for under
$30 at a photo store. It will bounce the light back to smooth it out even
more.

Halogen lights, no matter how bright, usually leave a yellow tint because
of how the camera picks it up. Look into a correcting filter for your lens.
Call B&H, or wherever, and tell them you're using halogen lights and
would like a lens filter to correct the light temperature. They should
know exactly which one they carry that you'll need.

Thanks for the advise James, I need all I can get!
That said, I have a cheapo camera, no removable or replaceable lens, just a point and shoot. There are a few adjustments deep in the menu that I've never messed with. I am just looking for a quick and simple (maybe no such thing) way to shoot my guitars. I would be over the top happy if I could get anywhere near as good a pictures as John O or John How.

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

All of the new cheapo cameras are way better than mine I'm sure
they can probably still accomodate you with some sort of a filter. It's just
that extra little touch anyway.

I was throwing what I know out there. I picked something up some new
info regarding the umbrellas from this.       

Nuther thing is to adjust for white balance to give accurate color, if your camera has that feature. Many do in manual mode, not just the high-end ones.

Light sources have varied casts - sun is white, incandescents and halogen work lights are reddish and flourescents are green IIRC. Cameras try to correct for this using an "automatic" mode, but they're not always accurate (how do they know what color the light is?). You can get everything set up, lighting, and all, and use the white balance menu in your camera. You essentially hold up something that's white to fill the screen -- I use printer paper -- and calibrate. You're sort saying, "OK, camera, THIS is white." It then adjusts any lighting cast so that your test subject actually comes out white. Also it's best to have only one type/color of light source in the room (unless you're using flash) so's not to have white in one part of the shot with some green from shop flourescents sneaking in. Balancing this out really helps if you're bouncing off a ceiling or something that's not dead white.

OK, I'll stop now.

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Also, flash is white.

Wikipedia has an article article on this.

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Lance, Frank Ford has a great pictorial on frets.com. You can check it out here.

It seems a little more elaborate, but you might get a few good ideas. I know I have! Thanks Mr. Ford (again!)

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...