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

From: Impactika_at_aol.com <Impactika_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 21 15:05:44 2005
Message-ID: <25.5fec1b10.2fc0e082_at_aol.com>

In a message dated 5/21/2005 12:40:37 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,
dfreeman_at_fascination.com writes:
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
<snip>
 
A couple comments.
 
I take all my pictures inside, on a corner of my desk, with a flash balanced
by a couple desk lamps. Waiting for the weather to be just right is too
time-consuming and unreliable.
 
And I never use a black background, it just drowns out the specimens. I
found some file folders in a very soft, neutral shade of gray and I find that it
does not distort the color of whatever pieces you put on it, being a green
Tatahouine, a very dark Kainsaz or a yellow Libyan glass. Then I down-load the
pictures in Macromedia-Fireworks where I can trim the picture, adjust the
size and resolution, without touching the color balance. I want my pictures to
give a true image of the specimens, not improve them.

And I do use a Nikon CoolPix 950. Older, but reliable.

Anne M. Black
www.IMPACTIKA.com
IMPACTIKA_at_aol.com
President, I.M.C.A. Inc.
www.IMCA.cc
 
Received on Sat 21 May 2005 03:05:38 PM PDT