Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys,
I'm having one heck of a time getting good photos. I'm using an Olympus digital camera but for the life of me can't find the correct setting to get rid of the darn glare. What kind of lighting do you all use? Any, and I mean any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

Hi Steve. Long time no talk!
I was struggling with my photos too, and still do, but I decided to go to a camera store to see what they had to say. I was also thinking of buying some elaborate lighting system. But the guy that I spoke to was a luthier named Frank Bulger, and he turned me onto these blue bulbs named Eiko Supreme Photofloods. They only last about 6 hours, but they made a difference in my recent shots. I filter them through an old white sheet. I can double or triple the sheet up for more or less light. I just put the bulbs in one of those metal portable lamp housings you can get at the hardware store. The ones that clamp onto anything. Set up the sheet and fire away.
Hope this helps, Steve.

I wonder how this would work on finished guitars? Sounds like a great idea!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Lance,
I haven't tried it on a finished one yet, but the sheet would damper the glare. You could also bounce the light off of the sheet, or off a white wall.

I use a couple of those bulbs to take my pictures with. I rig up a couple to illumiante (sp)the guitar form the side at about 30-45 deg off of my camera angle. One at say +30 degrees and the other at -30 degrees or whatever the angle is (play with it)and it pretty much eliminates the glare problem.
You can see some pictures using this technique an my web site.
www.jameswattsguitars.com
oh, I don't use any sheets as filters, but it couldn't hurt. Jim_W38786.0056712963

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com