Photo Technique Profiles

[shmax]

I thought it might be a good idea for some of the regular photo contributors to post little cookbooks detailing their equipment and methods to help other folks who are just getting started. I'll even go first! Post your profile to this thread, and please direct questions and commentary to the regular shutterbug forum. Thanks much!

Lightbox:
30" tall, 15" deep, 22" wide
Homemade. Back, top and floor are made of foam core
Sides are made of light, reflective cloth.
Top has a large hole cut in it, covered in cloth.
An additional piece of foam core is taped to the back wall for the top light to clip to.

The box. Made from blood, sweat, and foam core. The foam core was on sale.

Lights:
1 x 200W GE "Reveal" bulb (top)
1 x 150W GE "Reveal" bulb (left)
1 x 60W GE "Reveal" bulb (right)

Camera:
HP Photosmart R927



Tripod:
Targus Digital Grypton Tripod TG-GP3010
[thumb small=http://www.shmax.com/img/misc/small/tripod.jpg large=http://www.shmax.com/img/misc/large/tripod.jpg group=shmax_equipment:2dhbulth]Try pod. Shoot good.[/thumb:2dhbulth]

Camera Settings
Flash: Off
Shooting Mode: Auto
Self-Timer: On
Exposure Comp.: +0.7
Adaptive Lighting: Low
Image Quality: Normal
White Balanace: Tungsten
ISO Speed: 100
Saturation: High
Sharpness: High
Contrast: High

Post-Processing Steps (Photoshop)
Auto-Contrast
Slight Contrast/Levels Increase (see tutorial page for explanation of levels)

And here are a few photos taken with this equipment and these settings:






Update: the homemade box is no more. I now use one of these guys:
http://www.skaeser.com/studio-photo-30in-light-tent-with-boom-975-watts-new/

[LongHaul]

Not that I am a regular poster, here is my list because I thought I would let others know that you can do this, and to just work with what you got.

Lightbox
Box is homemade consisting of a cardboard box open on two sides, holes aprox 10 in diameter on the long ends.
White poster board material aprox 1/8" thick forming the floor and backdrop.
Top and sides lined with white tshirt material, use a new one cause pit stains suck!!

Lights
Lites are two 26 watt ge cool natural lites, in silver clamp lite fixtures. One 100w cool natural light in a plain jane gooseneck lite fixture. The two silver fixtures are aprox 1" from the long sides, while the goosneck is on top.

Camera
Camera is a Nikon DSLR 60, factory settings, no flash, with a 18-55mm lens.
[thumb small=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510E-icDlcL._SL75_AA30_.jpg large=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510E-icDlcL._SL500_AA280_.jpg group=longhaul_equipment:25txj2kw]Nikon DSLR 60[/thumb:25txj2kw]

Post-production
Post production I use HP photosmart premiere to adjust for color, contrast, and cropping.

Tripod
I use a targus 5800d tripod. Now i use the large tripod because my photo box sits on a rolling office organizer that is about 3 1/2 ft off the ground.

[Hellscream333]

Lightbox:
14.5" tall, 14.5" deep, 14.5" wide
Homemade. Shell is a white storage crate purchased at Target. The Top and 2 sides have been cut out using a Dremmel and then covered with a standard, white top sheet cut to fit and taped in various places. The background is nothing more than a vinyl poster that I dug out of the garbage at work, cut to fit and taped at the top and bottom.


Lights:
3x 60W GE Reveal bulbs. I actually need to replace these with something like a 75W but that costs money for new lamps so for now I make up for it using 1.0 (most of the time) Exposure Compensation on my camera, pre-shoot.

Also
http://www.skaeser.com/servlet/the-251/lighting-tent%2Clight-tent-lighting%2Clight/Detail

Camera:
Kodak Easy Share M863


Tripod:
Targus Digital Grypton Tripod TG-GP3010
[thumb small=http://www.shmax.com/img/misc/small/tripod.jpg large=http://www.shmax.com/img/misc/large/tripod.jpg group=shmax_equipment:1uslnscm][/thumb:1uslnscm] I have a few other, various Tri-pods of about the same dimensions but they almost never get used. Also, when I need more height I keep about 5 spare, empty CD cases near by.

Camera Settings
Flash: Off
MP/Pic Size: 8.1
Self-Timer: On, 2 seconds
Exposure Comp.: +1.0
White Balance: Auto
Exposure Metering: Multi-Pattern
AF Zone: Multi-Zone
ISO Speed: Auto


Post-Processing Steps (GIMP)
-Colors > Curves: (curve type- Smooth) I usually set the high point right after the largest spike on the grid but I try to not go out of the first square grid. If the curve comes in any lower than the second cube I'd recommend taking a look at your lighting, making some adjustments and reshooting.

-Colors > Brightness-Contrast: I use the following selections here:
Brightness 10 / Contrast 5
Brightness 15 / Contrast 10
Brightness 20 / Contrast 15

Sometimes it may be necessary to add more Brightness which helps bring out some of the darker details. It's okay to do so but just don't go overboard as it will kill your overall color if you do causing your subject to look washed out.

-Fuzzy Select: Set your tools threshhold to 1.0. Click on the whitest part of your background. If you have a solid white area selected that surrounds your figure and shadow you're ready for the next step. If not, deselect and up your Brightness & Contrast levels to the next setting listed above and try again. If you're already maxed (happens with larger objects) up your Brightness/Contrast settings by 2 each and try again. Repeat until you've a good clean white surrounding you subject.

[Hellscream333]

Of note to all you would be pic nerds using my tips- I replaced the sheet that I was using for light diffusion with a simple Large size, white, A shaped undershirt. No cutting, no fuss, just stretched it over the box itself. Perfect fit and the bonus is that it lets in more light. This means reduced pixelation in shadows, a harder edge with shadows, better focus and I get that nice subtle shine on smooth objects.

Also, I upgraded two of my lights to 100W bulbs. The difference is really minimal and actually resulted in a negative yellowing effect on smaller objects. I've since switched back to my 60W bulbs and I am confident that this is my final setting for pics.

[Hellscream333]

Updated again with better post-prod settings. NOW WITH MOAR COLOR!

[shmax]

I think your photo bucket image has expired...

[Hellscream333]

Yeah, I saw/did that some time ago. I trashed or moved it or used it for toilet paper... or something... I dunno. I'll take a new one soon. "Possibly Maybe...."

[tusko]

My set up:

1) creepy dank basement - check
2) bristol board backdrop - check
3) couple of incandscent backdrop lights, one halogen overhead light - check
4) cam on tripod.

Current camera is a:
Camera Make: FUJIFILM  Camera Model: FinePix F300EXR
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 10.5mm (35mm equivalent: 59mm...
CCD Width: 6.38mm
Exposure Time: 0.022 s (1/45)
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO Equiv.: 100
Exposure Bias: 1.33 -> this depends on the whiteness of the figure
Whitebalance: Manual
Metering Mode: pattern
Exposure: program (auto)

I get a pic like this:


I use Windows live photo gallery and play with everything to get this:


However usually I over expose the heck out of the image and get a lot of grain.


Its all still a work in progress.