Newbie Critique's please

[winpooh498]

I am learning how to take still shots of the pens & bottle stoppers that we make. I want to get the clearest most accurate pictures I can. We use the pictures for our web site as well as posting to another forum. I am using a Panasonic DMZ-TZ1, with natural light. I know that I need to get a light box, but will that make that much of a difference? I have Paint Shop Pro Photo XI for editing. I would love to get a nicer camera but right now it isn't in the budget, so any help with the one I have would be GREAT!! This is my first time using photo bucket so if I have done it wrong please tell me.
Thank you.
Dawn

 

[Sideburns]

yes, a lightbox would help. I see that for the most part, one area is overexposed in each, and draws your attention that way.

 

[Mike Jordan]

To make a cheap but effective light box, buy some PVC pipe (1" will work) and some of those 3 opening angle connectors and create a frame. Then either use a thick white sheet or buy some sport nylon from JoAnn's and lay it over the frame.

Buy some aluminum reflectors with clamps (Home Depot or Lowe's) and use the floresent bulbs or 100 watt or so tungstun lights. I don't recommend using the halogon shop type lights though. They are too bright, to hot and will blast right through you material and create hot spots on your reflective surfaces.

Clamp the lights onto chairs on both sides, slightly towards the front but don't have any direct light shinging on your objects. You want all of your light to be diffused by the material. You might have to put a piece of material in the front and leave a hole for your lens. Move the lights around until it looks even with no bright highlights to you while looking through your camera. Make sure you use a tripod for your camera.

Set your fstop to f16 (this will give you good depth of field) and set your exposure according to that. If your camera is on a tripod, it doesn't matter if your shutter speed is going to be slow and the exposure long. Take some pictures, shooting a half and full stop over and under your metered exposure.

Something as simple as this will get you some decent pictures for your web site.

Mike