A Few More Razors In The Box, Attempt II

[thirdeye]

So, after looking into a few suggestions from you folks I attempted to make a couple of changes in my Light Box experiment.
First, I tried to adjust the white balance (I think I did something wrong here).
Then I added more light, I was given (they were being tossed out, and they where new) two 1000 w Lighting cans from our marketing department for photo shots of our products.
Still not what I was hoping for so I have more experimenting to do, Any advise?

 

[Jim]

Ray
I think you are doing more right than wrong here!

The color balance is off yes, but the shots are very nice, well composed and all in focus. The white balance is always tough to get right- ignore the settings and try each one on the same light,same shot. Place a note in the shot to deliniate what setting you are testing. As an option you can always adjust later if you need to, like this-from your post.

 

[kand]

You could, also, go to your local photo shop and get a gray card to help you adjust white balance.

 

[thirdeye]

Use a Gray card to check White balance?

 

[grayraven]

I read a post about digital cameras on Lifehacker suggested keeping a scrap piece of card stock in your bag to adjust white balance. Here is the link and it is towards the bottom.

http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/master-your-dslr-camera-part-1-program-mode-323605.php

Sorry for the link being so long. Great article. I recommend part 2 as well which is also on that site.

Outside of the white balance your shots are amazing. Good luck and I hope the article helps.

 

[thirdeye]

I read a post about digital cameras on Lifehacker suggested keeping a scrap piece of card stock in your bag to adjust white balance. Here is the link and it is towards the bottom.

http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/master-your-dslr-camera-part-1-program-mode-323605.php

Sorry for the link being so long. Great article. I recommend part 2 as well which is also on that site.

Outside of the white balance your shots are amazing. Good luck and I hope the article helps.

Thanks, That sure is a fantastic article. I marked it because there is so much there, my brain can't soak it all in..lol

 

[Johnnya475]

Might I suggest a different bulb? Home Depot was having a sale on compact fluorescent bulbs a few months back, and I picked up some of their "daylight" bulbs. I used a 100 watt equivalent(23w) daylight in my computer room to light it up. This was replacing a standard CFL lightbulb, and the difference was amazing. The light is more towards the blue spectrum, and does give an approximation of real daylight. I have since switched the bulbes over my bathroom mirror to the daylight variety, with the main bulbs being standard CFL's. You might try two standard desklamps w/ the daylight CFL's on either side of the "tent".

Lifehacker also had a good article on making your own ligh tent http://lifehacker.com/359423/diy-photography-light-tent , and in the tutorial, they recommend a CFL light bulb to provide the light away from the yellow end of the spectrum. I am thinking about doing this myself when I start documenting and thinning out my "herd".

 

[AaronX]

In addition to what the last poster said you can also look at Full Spectrum CFLs. These are a little less blue and as the name suggest are full spectrum.

 

[thirdeye]

I have looked into these bulbs as well. I have several other options to work out before I go in that direction. One is to try other settings on my camara and the other is to pick up a set of gel film defusers and eliminate the cotton sheet all together.

This is turning out to be a major production...LOL..I love learning new things...

 

[Maximilian]

Ray,

the white balance can be easily be done with a gray card.
Just do a google search for "white balance - gray card"
The biggest challenge in digital photography in my experience is not blowing your highlights while keeping a perfect uniform lighting. Blown highlights are nearly impossible to recover. On top of that your second biggest challenge with chrome are the reflections. It's really not that hard. Practice, trial and error. That's the advantage of digital. You can erase the picture anytime without it costing you anything except your time.
That's why it's very important to learn the capabilities of your camera.

 

[thevelvet]

awesome razors.