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#1
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
This is a thread that was started earlier. I said I would share my
results when I got them. Here is what I've got so far. I definitely need a better background as it's reflecting the light way too much. It's a dark towel but the fibers are really messing it up. The engraving is somewhat visable but kind of washed out and the metal looks way more rusty than in real life. Anyway, here is a url to view the picture. http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/...ture_00000.jpg Here is a digital of the whole cane, not real good either.... http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/.../Mayo_full.jpg Please feel free to offer and suggestions, comments, etc. I could use any and all help, especially on what to use for a background material. |
#2
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
"...
I definitely need a better background as it's reflecting the light way too much. It's a dark towel but the fibers are really messing it up. ...." That's because the fabric includes some "female elements." You know ... those things (compounds) with names like "Ploy" and "Ester" ... [S-CNR]. Synthetic cloth such as wool's or velvets will "sparkle" ... You should try the following: (1) For a background, use a high-quality NATURAL (wool or cotton) felt or velvet of whatever color you like. Synthetic wool's or velvets will "sparkle" ... and give you poor results (as you have implied). (2) For lighting, use a tent lighting setup. This is commonly used for reflective items such as jewelry, silverware, and so forth. Describing this would be a bit much for a USENET posting, but there are several web pages that can give you additional information. Ganoskin has a series on how to photograph Jewelry that is fairly good ... see http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/dire...ry/subject/9/1 Go through the whole series ... you'll get a better idea of how a "pro" would approach the subject. Adorama has a fairly nice article on this http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=article_080403 CreativePro has an article http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19002.html PhotoNet has several offerings, including http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-...?msg_id=000RqB http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-...?msg_id=0000K0 Using some of these simple techniques will probably dramatically improve your results. "William J. Slater" wrote in message m... This is a thread that was started earlier. I said I would share my results when I got them. Here is what I've got so far. I definitely need a better background as it's reflecting the light way too much. It's a dark towel but the fibers are really messing it up. The engraving is somewhat visable but kind of washed out and the metal looks way more rusty than in real life. Anyway, here is a url to view the picture. http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/...ture_00000.jpg Here is a digital of the whole cane, not real good either.... http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/.../Mayo_full.jpg Please feel free to offer and suggestions, comments, etc. I could use any and all help, especially on what to use for a background material. |
#3
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
Oh ... and DON'T lay the subject matter directly on the background. It should be a couple
of feet in *front* of it. |
#4
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
"RSD99" wrote in message ... Oh ... and DON'T lay the subject matter directly on the background. It should be a couple of feet in *front* of it. Good suggestion! I would also try more oblique lighting to bring out the detail in the etching. Not sure if this would help, but I would consider wetting the metal surface or giving it a very light coating of fine oil to see if it brought out the detail in the etching. Of course, if the article is a valuable antique, then this might not be the thing to do. Dennis |
#5
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
Thanks for the response. Great information on the "background
material". I didn't know anything about that. I will try your suggestion on material and keeping it farther away from it. If I try to fashion a light tent should I also continue to use "glancing" lights down the length of the cane to pick up the engraving? It did seem to help some in making it stand out. How about a ring flash? Would that help or hurt? "RSD99" wrote in message ... Oh ... and DON'T lay the subject matter directly on the background. It should be a couple of feet in *front* of it. |
#6
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
Regarding the lighting ...
"Either one ... Or the other" "William J. Slater" wrote in message m... |
#7
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
"William J. Slater" wrote
How about a ring flash? That should make the engraving vanish. -- Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. |
#8
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
"William J. Slater" wrote
Anyway, here is a url to view the picture. http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/...ture_00000.jpg Somehow I think you are using electronic flash? If so, open a window and throw that flash unit as far away from you as you can (figuratively of course). Get a couple of tensor or luxo lamps and some white and black 20x24 (or whatever) cards. Move things around and look at what happens, try putting snoots and barn doors on the lamps (cardboard and duct tape work great). Clear shower-curtain liner makes a good diffuser: shine the lights on the curtain and place the object on the other side. A couple of single tube fluorescent might work well as they have the same, er, symmetry as the cane: place one along the top and one along the bottom, out of sight of the camera, of course -- shield the light from the lens. This would give even lighting along the length of the cane, which should be goal no matter what.I have never tried this, so take the advice with a large box of salt. Color correction with flourescents is a can of worms. They do sell 'flourescent' filters, you may want to get one. OTOH, a slight color cast will most likely not be noticed. I don't know if soft or hard light will work best - the trick is to light the barrel and leave the engraving in it's own 'valley of the shadow'. A large area enclosing soft light is best for shiny objects, however this doesn't look shiny at all. If it were shiny then surrounding it with light from the side, and no light from the top, will make the engraving pop-out from the barrel. And last but not least: Go to the fabric store and get some background cloth: plush black velvet, some silky acetate in silver or gold -- any thing but a towel. If you want a black background suspend the cane in the air and place the background in the shadow of the lights, as has been mentioned already. You can also make any background you want with photoshop. -- Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ |
#9
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
Nicholas,
Thanks for the response and suggestions. You are correct that I am using flash. Unfortuantely I do not have access to lots of lighting equipment nor does my budget office (the wife) allow me to purchase a lot of stuff.... ;^D I did just pick up some black velvet cloth and will see what I can kludge together in lighting to try again. Sorry to be clueless but what is a Snoot and Barn Door? Seems like it's time for a trip to the office supply and hardware store! As far as the floresent lights, do you mean that I should do this inside a light tent or try it first without the tent and just the black velvet background (keeping it some distance away from it)? I am getting hooked on this photography stuff. It's quite interesting trying to solve this problem. Thanks again to all of you for your help! Bill Slater Somehow I think you are using electronic flash? If so, open a window and throw that flash unit as far away from you as you can (figuratively of course). Get a couple of tensor or luxo lamps and some white and black 20x24 (or whatever) cards. Move things around and look at what happens, try putting snoots and barn doors on the lamps (cardboard and duct tape work great). Clear shower-curtain liner makes a good diffuser: shine the lights on the curtain and place the object on the other side. A couple of single tube fluorescent might work well as they have the same, er, symmetry as the cane: place one along the top and one along the bottom, out of sight of the camera, of course -- shield the light from the lens. This would give even lighting along the length of the cane, which should be goal no matter what.I have never tried this, so take the advice with a large box of salt. Color correction with flourescents is a can of worms. They do sell 'flourescent' filters, you may want to get one. OTOH, a slight color cast will most likely not be noticed. I don't know if soft or hard light will work best - the trick is to light the barrel and leave the engraving in it's own 'valley of the shadow'. A large area enclosing soft light is best for shiny objects, however this doesn't look shiny at all. If it were shiny then surrounding it with light from the side, and no light from the top, will make the engraving pop-out from the barrel. And last but not least: Go to the fabric store and get some background cloth: plush black velvet, some silky acetate in silver or gold -- any thing but a towel. If you want a black background suspend the cane in the air and place the background in the shadow of the lights, as has been mentioned already. You can also make any background you want with photoshop. |
#10
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Lighting of engraving on cylinder?
"William J. Slater" wrote
Unfortuantely I do not have access to lots of lighting equipment nor does my budget office (the wife) allow me to purchase a lot of stuff.... ;^D You don't have to buy anything. Most houses have enough lights. I'll bet the stove in the kitchen can be rendered to yield a fluorescent or two. If your wife insists on guarding the stove, a pair of undercounter fixtures from K-Mart @ $3.95 ea. will work. Sorry to be clueless but what is a Snoot and Barn Door? Just what they sound like: a snoot is a long nose type thingy with a hole in the end for the light to come out -- roll a paper cone and put the wide end over the light source; a barn door is a flap that is used to limit the spread of light or to shield the lens from the light. Either can be made from a piece of cardboard, duct tape, buffalo clip... A hole in a sheet of cardboard will serve as a cheapo snoot, which is itself a cheapo way of making a spot light. -- Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics. psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/ |
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