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

From: Gerald Flaherty <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 21 20:20:16 2005
Message-ID: <007c01c55e64$02163ec0$2f01a8c0_at_Dell>

This one gets printed and saved for reference!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Freeman mjwy" <dfreeman_at_fascination.com>
To: "Tom Knudson" <peregrineflier_at_npgcable.com>
Cc: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 2:39 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Re: THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHING Pictures 101


> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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Received on Sat 21 May 2005 08:20:06 PM PDT