What do you think?

[anniefogg]

Hi all-I am NOT into photography, but have an online shop that needs to have good photo's to sell my creations. You all helped me before, and so I am hoping you can help me again. I dye wool fiber to sell to handspinners, and so the colors are what I am really selling. I took a color class and they said it is easier to see a true hue with a black background (they were NOT talking about photo's but IRL) so I thought I would just try a black background for my fiber, but I just can't tell-if anyone could let me know their thoughts on this.

The background on my website is white, and so often when I do a white background it looks a bit 'off', but I am not sure if I like how the black looks either. I have a light box, and use 4 100 watt natural bulbs through a white sheet and then 2 100 watt bulbs aimed at the white box ceiling to reflect light, and I do pre set my white balance. Let me what you think, thanks

 

[frisii]

Six, empty boxes Annie. Your photos aren't displaying.

 

[anniefogg]

Fixed;O)

 

[marmots]

like this?

 

[pgriz]

I like the black background better. But I'm also wishing for some more sharpness in the fiber itself. Have you considered shooting the samples in the sun (maybe in a light tent/box to get even lighting? I'm thinking that there's just not enough blue in the lights you're using, but maybe it's just me.

 

[anniefogg]

Well, I really don't know, as I know almost nothing about photography. I just know I wish they were better. I do like the black background also, as I think the white often doesn't show my deep saturated blues and purples well at all, and can 'wash' out the colors sometimes. So, you think I should take my lightbox outside and use the sun for lighting? What if I get real photo lights (like the ones with a light box on them for diffused lighting (maybe it will have better light spectrum)

If I can get really good photos I will be a step ahead of many of my competitors (millions) because we are all fiber artist's and not the best at pics lol!

 

[anniefogg]

Well, I like that, but how did you do it? I am thinking I may not be able to do that with my camera (Nikon coolpix) maybe I need a better camera??

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Frankly, I would not stress about it one bit. Remember that most monitors out there are not calibrated, thus you have no way of controlling what color people are actually seeing. Put a statement on your website about how the colors may be different in real life, etc and be done with it.

As far as the look of your website, I would try a middle gray background. But it is really up to your own taste.

 

[pgriz]

While I agree with cloudwalker that most monitors out there are not calibrated, you can't do anything about that. What you can do, is put up the best images possible of your products, since I expect those (other than prior purchasing history) are the only ways you can convince potential buyers to consider you. What you are doing is small-scale product photography. There are many descriptions of how to do this (google "product photography" or "light tent"), but you will have to invest some time and effort in putting together a process.

The camera doesn't have to be top-of-the-line, in fact almost any Digital SLR would do, but you would need to put a good macro lens on it to get the best resolution possible. You would need a tripod to be sure you're not wasting that resolution by having camera shake. You need a light tent or diffusers to "shape" the light, although since you don't have any shiny objects, your task is easier than pottery or jewellery photography. You need to think about creating some depth and volume by having the light somewhat directional (flat lighting can be very uninteresting). You do need to think about your light sources to ensure you have enough blue (adjusting white balance will help, but if the source light is deficient in certain colours, it's very hard to compensate for this lack). Once the pictures are taken, you need to do some post-processing to bring out the detail in your samples, and to match the resolution to the eventual display mode. If you don't, the various browsers will do their own resizing, and you have no control over how much they will smear the detail that you've worked so hard to put there.

I'm sure you have no intention of becoming a photographer, but in your business, the visual image is a large part of the initial prospect impression on the internet, and you have to be able to control that. It is, unfortunately, very easy to get side-lined by equipment in photography, but I think your investment will not need to be very great (probably less than $1,000 for camera, macro lens, tripod, light tent. If you shoot in daylight (think shooting in the light cast by a large north-facing window), you won't have to invest in light gear.

 

[The_Traveler]

Invest in a copy (even an older version ) of PS elements (~$49 on sale) and learn to sharpen your pictures.
They will have immensely more POP when they are sharpened. (note how the right hand one looks different)
Once you have something to work with, just come back and anyone can walk you through the process or direct you to tutorials.

 

[anniefogg]

Okay, I do have a homemade light tent with 5 lights, the bulbs are 100 watt Reveal (think they are full spectrum) So, and this is an embarrassing question, but the Nikon coolpix is not a DSLR? I don't mind investing in good equipment (as you are correct-I NEED good photos) but I just don't know what to get-there are so many choices!! Also, I do have a tripod, just have not used it but once-but I now see the 'reasoning' behind it. If someone could tell me what to buy, I would do that and then post questions about all my 'new' problems lol!! I would like good lights, tent (if you all think this one won't work) and even a camera if I need it
Here are pics of my light box

 

[pgriz]

The Nikon Coolpix is a "point-and-shoot" camera with a very small sensor, and (I think) limited amount of control over the exposure and the format in which the camera stores the image. The Digital SLR's (Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, pentax, etc.) usually have much bigger sensors, and interchangeable lenses. The DSLR's have a lot of settable options (control over exposure, recording format, etc.), and therefore have a steep learning curve. You don't need all the bells and whistles - just basic performance. So, for your situation, go with either the Canon Rebel series or with the equivalent Nikons (I don't know the Nikon camera range, so someone else will need to step in). Again, you don't need a fancy camera, so even a Rebel XSi (used) will give you the ability to take much better photos. I do suggest you invest in a good macro lens, as dedicated macro lenses have excellent resolution. Canon, Nikon have their own macro lenses (usually expensive), while Sigma and Tamron are third party brands which are almost as good, but much cheaper.

As for light, your home-made tent is fine, but I'd throw open those shutters and let the natural light come in through the window. See what kind of light you get with that. If necessary, put a mirror, or reflective foil, or even white cardboard on the other side of your sample to reflect some light into the shadows. You may also want to experiment with shooting from the side (ie, the window will be either at your right or left), so that the camera will see both the lit part and the shadow part - that will give you some volume. Shadows are useful in that they tell the viewer's brain what the texture and shape is of the object they are looking at - otherwise we use "flat" as an appropriate descriptor for shadowless lighting.

Take it one step at a time. Figure out how much money you can afford to spend, and with that budget in mind I'm sure other posters can suggest suitable cameras (and related equipment) to purchase. If you have access to a rental place, you may want to rent a camera with a macro lens and see how that works. Always better to try before you buy.

 

[KmH]

DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex. Digital single-lens reflex camera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Nikon Coolpix series of cameras are not of the SLR design.

An SLR camera lets the photographer look in a viewfinder so they can look through the lens. An angled mirror in the camera sits in the light path and reflects the light up into the viewfinder. The Coolpix series doesn't have that mirror, or a viewfinder to look through.

In all honesty, your lighting is not very effective for shooting your product.

 

[The_Traveler]

Whoa, wait a minute.
I looked at her site and the pictures are a small as she shows here.
If she learns how to manage her exposure and learns how to sharpen the images to get more pop, IMO, that she doesn't need to go any further than that.

Spending money and learning to run a dslr and a macro lens to take pictures of hanks of wool - which are low res targets, is way, way, way overkill and almost a total waste of money.

ANY decent point and shoot, perhaps even the one she has, would be perfectly adequate to do the job.

If AnnieFogg wants to send me one of her original full-size images I'd be happy to try some very simple post-processing to show her how it can look much better.

Lew

 

[pgriz]

That is kind of you, Lew. Probably an excellent step before spending money and effort. I've done some product photography for my own stuff, and I also started with a P&S. The DSLR gave me much better results. But you are right - it may be overkill for Annie.