[meteorite-list] Re: THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHING

From: Tom Knudson <peregrineflier_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 21 13:35:00 2005
Message-ID: <003101c55e2b$6c46a160$2d107918_at_Michelle>

Hi Dave and list, One problem I have is the darn flash! I get everything
set up just right, take the picture and all I get is a big glare where the
flash hit. Of coarse the obvious solution is to turn off the flash, but then
the pics are to dark. So, get some other light source, the sun maybe, well
then your fighting trying to get the right angles, then I get shadows, and
the light shining on the screen so you can't see if your focused or not. I
probably take 20 pics to get one or two good ones, then back out to try
again. I have actually given up on taking pics of some specimens after 40
or more tries, just can't seem to get it.
  Any suggestions?

Thanks, Tom
peregrineflier <><

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Freeman mjwy" <dfreeman_at_fascination.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 10:15 AM
Subject: THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHING


> Dear List;
> For the beginners of photographing meteorites and other rocks, minerals;
> there are some handy tips to get more response to your photos/adds to
sell.
> 1.) throw away the blurry pictures. With digital photos so easy to
> delete and take another, why link to blurry pictures?
> 2.) a view of the overall size of the specimen is critical. a top or
> above angled view, with good lighting, and a scale such as a ruler,
> ones' thumb (which also helps with color scale, and trim your nails and
> wash hands before photographing), or other size defining characteristic
> is very important. Since Ssex sells cars and everything else, I have
> thought of getting a model with nicely done nails to hold a specimen for
> the camera. Close up of the hand only as we still want the focus to be
> on the rock specimen!
> 3. ) background area can help or detract from the specimen. I prefer a
> black soft cloth as a background so the viewer focuses on the specimen,
> not what is in the back ground.
> 4.) Get one good clear correctly lit close up of the specimen to show
> chondrules, visible iron specks, fusion crust...what ever is the best
> trait to show off in the picture.
> 5.) So, in the big picture: one good picture of overall size and
> shape of the specimen with a color and size scale and a darker less
> interesting back ground. A second picture of close up with good
> lighting and maybe a hand or scale/ruler to show good size and define
> colors.
> One can have more pictures of different angles, filters, etc. and even
> just one picture can represent a specimen many times. It is critical
> to delete the blurry pictures, to get some form of scale of the over all
> shape and size of the specimen.
> John G. has helped me to understand lighting in that many cameras do
> better with a partial cloudy day as direct sunlight gives to much light
> to the subject.
> Practice using the camera and teach it to be your friend, good pictures
> will sell items twice as fast as poor quality pictures.
> Hope this helps the amateur photographer. I am sure that many of you
> can add to this one.
> Dave Freeman
> eBay power seller mjwy
> IMCA # 3864
> Rock Springs, WY
>
>
>
>
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>
Received on Sat 21 May 2005 01:35:03 PM PDT