Need macro photography advice (how to get a white background?)

[phnoob]

I need to take quality photos of small electronics components. I just purchased the following equipment:

Tripod:
Amazon.com: Ravelli APGL4 New Professional 70" Tripod with Adjustable Pistol Grip Head and Heavy Duty Carry Bag: Electronics

Flashes (3x):
Amazon.com: Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikon. GN58.: Electronics

Lens:
Amazon.com: Tamron AF 90mm f/2.8 Di SP AF/MF 1:1 Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras: Camera & Photo

Focusing Rail:
Amazon.com: Adorama Budget Macro Focusing Rail Set with 4 Way, Fine Control, Camera Focusing Rail for Macro Photography.: MP3 Players & Accessories

Light Box:
Amazon.com: CowboyStudio 24in Photo Soft Box Light Tent - 4 Chroma Key Backdrops: Camera & Photo

Wireless Remote:
Amazon.com: Nikon ML-L3 Wireless Remote Control: Camera & Photo

I'm very inexperienced at photography and would really appreciate some advice on what flash and camera settings to use. I took a number of pictures with a Nikon D3000 and the following settings:

Flashes:

• Zoom: 24mm
• Speed: 1/32 sec
• Mode: M

Camera:

• Shutter speed: 1/160 sec
• F-stop: F9
• ISO: 100

I had one flash on either side of the softbox, and one pointing down from the top.

Here is the result of the images being stacked in PS:

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5530/macrotest1.jpg

I am trying to get a pure white background so that the image can be used on the web. I tried making a levels adjustment layer and was able to get the following result:

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5702/macrotest1leveled.jpg

That's far from perfect, though. As you can see, a lot of detail was removed, and the background near the LEDs is very "grainy."

I would welcome any advice you might be able to give!

Thanks

 

[480sparky]

You'll probably need a dedicated light for the background. You can set it up to overexpose a white cloth.

Lacking that, shoot in raw and edit in post.

 

[cgipson1]

Might need one more flash.. place the whitebox on a clear glass table or build a frame to hold it up off the ground / table whatever.. flash the bottom of the lightbox also. (assuming you have the components on the bottom when you shoot?)

you could probably get by with one flash each on the sides (say 3/4 of the way up).. and one underneath / behind the components.

 

[phnoob]

Yes, the components sit on the bottom of the light tent. You think another flash would help significantly? I'm already using three...

 

[scorpion_tyr]

For something so small you shouldn't need anymore flashes. Use two flashes to cover the background, turn them up all the way or close to max, use one flash on very low power on the subject. Then just meter for the subject and if the background was white to begin with it should be way over exposed and all detail lost. For such small components you may even be able to use just one light on the background.

 

[cgipson1]

Yes, the components sit on the bottom of the light tent. You think another flash would help significantly? I'm already using three...

you could probably get by with one flash each on the sides (say 3/4 of the way up).. and one underneath / behind the components. You would have to play with power levels...

 

[phnoob]

For something so small you shouldn't need anymore flashes. Use two flashes to cover the background, turn them up all the way or close to max, use one flash on very low power on the subject. Then just meter for the subject and if the background was white to begin with it should be way over exposed and all detail lost. For such small components you may even be able to use just one light on the background.

So how would you suggest I place the flashes? Right now I have one pointing straight down, and the two others are pointing totally horizontally into the light tent from the sides.

Yes, the components sit on the bottom of the light tent. You think another flash would help significantly? I'm already using three...

you could probably get by with one flash each on the sides (say 3/4 of the way up).. and one underneath / behind the components. You would have to play with power levels...

Why would underneath be better than on top?

 

[Buckster]

Like Charlie said, get them on an elevated piece of glass inside the light tent.

 

[cgipson1]

For something so small you shouldn't need anymore flashes. Use two flashes to cover the background, turn them up all the way or close to max, use one flash on very low power on the subject. Then just meter for the subject and if the background was white to begin with it should be way over exposed and all detail lost. For such small components you may even be able to use just one light on the background.

So how would you suggest I place the flashes? Right now I have one pointing straight down, and the two others are pointing totally horizontally into the light tent from the sides.

Yes, the components sit on the bottom of the light tent. You think another flash would help significantly? I'm already using three...

you could probably get by with one flash each on the sides (say 3/4 of the way up).. and one underneath / behind the components. You would have to play with power levels...

Why would underneath be better than on top?

The ones on the side should be fine for lighting the small items you are shooting, especially if you get them up toward the top of the sides.... lots of soft diffused light. The one underneath will light the base of the lightbox... turning it TOTALLY white. You will have to play with the power... you want enough to make the base cloth slightly overexposed... but you dont want so much that you get major splash on the items. Make sense?

 

[phnoob]

Like Charlie said, get them on an elevated piece of glass inside the light tent.

I thought he was saying to raise the light tent itself?

 

[phnoob]

OK, here are a few test images:

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2672/dsc0001ka.jpg

Flashes top, left, and right. Left & right flashes 2/3rds height of light tent. Flash settings: 1/32 sec, 24mm.


http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/6079/dsc0002qdo.jpg

Flash bottom, left, right. Left & right flashes 2/3rds height of light tent, bottom flash 8" from bottom of tent. Flash settings: 1/32 sec, 24mm.


http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/3674/dsc0003hd.jpg

Flash bottom, left, right. Left & right flashes 2/3rds height of light tent, bottom flash 8" from bottom of tent.
Left & right flash settings: 1/32 sec, 24mm
Bottom flash settings: 1/128 sec, 24mm

Camera settings throughout: 1/160 sec, F9

It's not looking too promising

 

[Buckster]

Like Charlie said, get them on an elevated piece of glass inside the light tent.

I thought he was saying to raise the light tent itself?

nope

 

[phnoob]

Like Charlie said, get them on an elevated piece of glass inside the light tent.

I thought he was saying to raise the light tent itself?

nope

Wouldn't there be reflections off the glass that would make the glass visible?

 

[Buckster]

I thought he was saying to raise the light tent itself?

nope

Wouldn't there be reflections off the glass that would make the glass visible?

There shouldn't be. It's like shooting pool or looking in a mirror. If the light's not in a direct position to be reflected into your eyes off the mirror or glass (or into the camera lens), it simply won't be a reflection. If you can't work that out for some reason, you could also use a polarizer, but it just shouldn't be an issue if your lights are positioned to the sides and possibly front of the tent.

See, most of the stuff you might shoot in a light tent is solid, opaque, not transparent, so it doesn't act the way those LEDs do when they're contaminating the color of the background they're sitting on because the light's shining through them. With stuff like that, it needs to be "up in the air" so that the contamination is going off out of the frame of the shot into a part of the background not in the shot. Since levitating stuff is till WAY in the future, you put it on something transparent, like glass that's elevated up inside the light tent acting like an invisible table to put the stuff on.

Making sense yet?

 

[Buckster]

I think you really should set a custom white balance in your camera before you shoot too. You should be able to remove the LEDs and use the white background to set it, then position the LEDs again for the actual shooting, using the custom white balance setting. Consult your camera manual for how to do that, or watch a video on YouTube - there are usually a bunch of them on there. It's easy to do.

Between that and the glass, you'll be able to get rid of all shadows, color contamination, and get a pure white background straight out of the camera, with maybe only minor tweaking to do in post processing if you want the LEDs a little more saturated or something, and possibly to crop, resize and do a final sharpen.