[meteorite-list] Re: THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHING Pictures 101

From: Dave Freeman mjwy <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 21 14:39:46 2005
Message-ID: <428F806D.8020705_at_fascination.com>

Dear Tom, List;
Here we go. Get a dark (black felt) non reflective cloth square maybe
a couple of feet in diameter...black or dark old wool blanket, worn old
sheet, old sweatshirt. Set up your card table or picnic table out
of doors where you have plenty of room and light. Get your chair and
set it at the table. One end of the table put your cloth back drop. Set
a rock on it so the wind doesn't blow it away. On the other end of the
 table place your yellow ruler, tiny plastic stand or something to set
your slice up against. If you have a small tripod for your camera get it
out. If you don't have the little $5 walmart tripod, find a 3" square
box to use to steady your camera on. Get an old flower pot to put under
the back side of the drop cloth so you have a back drop wall to shoot
against. ** If you are photographing other than meteorites, also get a
dry wipe cloth and a bowl of water as showing agates wet and dry is a
good idea to show colors wet, and fractures when dry.***
Best light is indirect sunlight that comes from a high thin cloud cover.
 Second best is a white sheet propped up over your table so the direct
sun is slightly filtered-thinned out some. Direct sunlight is ok if
the sun is at a lower angle as around 5 pm (but watch for a yellow cast
that is bad). Inspect your specimen and evaluate for the best angle
and direction to show overall shape. Set your slice of ...mmm...oh what
the heck, set your franconia on the plastic stand, or prop it up
against the black cloth that is held up by hidden flower pot. Be ware
of the the shadow caused by the camera and adjust to the side where
there is no shadow on the specimen. Get your ruler or scale right up
next to the specimen. A classic coin will work and is usually handy. I
like turn of the century coins for that classic interest. Remember to
get one picture of your thumb holding the specimen in at least one
picture if it is important. Use the steady of the tripod or small box
to be sure there is no camera movement when the camera goes off.
 These tips will help you get much better pictures with out even fussing
with the zillion settings on your camera.
On to the camera. Natural light is best. One can get insomnia trying to
figure out what to do with light bulbs of different types. That is for
the advanced among us which does not include me. Lumens are a type of
vegetable if you ask me.
I set my nikon on close up and on cloudy setting (or sunny if it is
bright out, experiment here). There is a light adjustment to over
expose a click or under expose a click (or a total of five if I wish
to go that far.) I prefer never to use flash on my close ups as it is
very unpredictable at best and worst is an over flash white out. No
flash.
Always be sure of looking though the LED monitor if you have one as the
tiny plastic view finder will not properly show you what the lens sees
at less than 2 feet. Center the specimen as close as you can to get
the most of your specimen (and thumb or scale) in the picture. Most
cameras will focus in the 2"-4" range now days. Center specimen, scale
in picture check, no shadow on specimen or scale check, light is right
and the LED monitor view looks nice check, steady camera on the support
box or tripod check, click the shutter button gently check. View the
picture and shoot about 20 more from different angles and vary space an
inch or more in and out. Go to computer and load in the pictures to
desktop. View all pictures and delete any with blur, any with shadows
gone, non attractive angles also go. You should have 2 or maybe a lucky
5 pictures to choose from if you have followed the suggested steps.
 Over all composition, angle of pictures of the specimen, and the
lighting....wow, pick one or two and they should be a great deal more
attractive and representative of the great specimen you are attempting
to capture.
As with all things in life, read the camera directions when totally
confused on the settings. And, take plenty of pictures. With digitalis
being able to click click click ...do just that. Practice make
perfect. Now spring is here, practice your macro skills on flower
blossoms and you will be amazed at the cameras skill IF you watch your
skill with the camera.
Hope this helps the amateur. Please add to this if I have not
discovered some other tricks.
Dave F.

Tom Knudson wrote:

>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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
>>Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 266.11.14 - Release Date: 5/20/2005
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
Received on Sat 21 May 2005 02:39:41 PM PDT