Don Ellis
21st of January 2006 (Sat), 05:12
As most of the world's clued-in population knows, I won the recent POTN G-series Speed Challenges -- Colors -- with the first shot below. But it wasn't really my first shot -- this image was my third attempt.
#1 was with natural light coming in from a single window, which left the right side somewhat dull. I was a little more clever with #2 and created a paper dome over the affair and illuminated it with white-hot incadescent bulbs (which just barely got through the thick paper) -- it turned out dull. By #3 I decided I had to do it right with properly diffused light, so I fixed two rods into the bookshelf and hung pillowcases on the rods and shined the same fiery bulbs through them. The result was much better (you'll have to trust me -- I'm not going to embarrass myself by posting the first two attempts).
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/ballhead_spiky.jpg
I mention all this for a couple of reasons. First, I said something about "still life" photos in the "Personal Pleasures" challenge that I hosted -- my penalty for winning Colors -- giving some people the idea that I disapproved of them. Those people were unaware that Leela regularly refers to me as Mr. Still Life, since I take a lot of static subjects. Second, I figured if I wanted to take better and more frequent still lifes that I'd better get something easier to set up than pillowcases.
So I ordered a light tent and special 5000K daylight-balanced compact-fluorescent bulbs. A trip to IKEA for three lamps that I could bolt to the bookcase and move around and I was ready to give it a try.
This is what I got...
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/ballhead_spiky_tent.jpg
Not terribly different, I'll admit... but so much easier. Although the pose is not exactly the same, you get the idea. I did notice more tip detail on the little guy on the left. Both of these photos went through the same post-processing.
Before I twisted this big tent up into its little carry bag, I decided to shoot my watch using a Pro 1 and the 500D Macro Lens. I was in a hurry, so I didn't bother putting it on a stand -- just plopped it on black velvet and shot; didn't even set it to the time to the usual "10 after 10", so for all you know it's a Bolex. :)
It was taken at full zoom and the lens was about 14 inches away from the watch. I did very little post-processing -- auto-contrast, resizing and sharpening. I did clone out a couple of dust particles that I hadn't wiped off. As you can see, the image turned out quite well for a reflective surface.
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro.jpg
And here are three 100% crops from the image above for those of you thinking about the 500D.
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro_fullsizecrop1.jpg
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro_fullsizecrop2.jpg
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro_fullsizecrop3.jpg
All the shots were taken in RAW at -1/3 exposure compensation and converted to TIF in BreezeBrowser using Daylight white balance. The colors are true.
I'm very pleased with the light tent and would suggest you consider one if you do a fair amount of still life shooting, either for pleasure or to sell your worldly possessions on eBay.
There are many available, but I decided on the 30" EZCube -- www.ezcube.com (http://www.ezcube.com). I have a computer table that would have been perfect for the 20" model, but decided I wanted the extra 10 inches for the money. I am very glad that I bought the 30". By the way, they only ship to the US, Australia and New Zealand, but there's a solution below.
I also purchased four 30W Trumpet-top bulbs that are apparently custom-made for TableTopStudio.com. Fortunately, Stephen wrote just before they were shipped to tell me that the bulbs were for 110V countries and caught the package before it left the building. So I ended up ordering 240V models from their UK agent at http://tabletopstudio.co.uk/
The bulbs were much more expensive from the UK than from the US (perhaps smaller production quantities; I don't know) but they're rated for 10,000 hours so I bought them. At the very least they're cool looking and cool in operation. No more fears of spontaneous combustion.
And that's it, for what it's worth. Any questions, let me know.
Cheers,
Don
P.S. I bought my Bolex in Hong Kong in 1967 -- it will be 39 this year.
#1 was with natural light coming in from a single window, which left the right side somewhat dull. I was a little more clever with #2 and created a paper dome over the affair and illuminated it with white-hot incadescent bulbs (which just barely got through the thick paper) -- it turned out dull. By #3 I decided I had to do it right with properly diffused light, so I fixed two rods into the bookshelf and hung pillowcases on the rods and shined the same fiery bulbs through them. The result was much better (you'll have to trust me -- I'm not going to embarrass myself by posting the first two attempts).
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/ballhead_spiky.jpg
I mention all this for a couple of reasons. First, I said something about "still life" photos in the "Personal Pleasures" challenge that I hosted -- my penalty for winning Colors -- giving some people the idea that I disapproved of them. Those people were unaware that Leela regularly refers to me as Mr. Still Life, since I take a lot of static subjects. Second, I figured if I wanted to take better and more frequent still lifes that I'd better get something easier to set up than pillowcases.
So I ordered a light tent and special 5000K daylight-balanced compact-fluorescent bulbs. A trip to IKEA for three lamps that I could bolt to the bookcase and move around and I was ready to give it a try.
This is what I got...
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/ballhead_spiky_tent.jpg
Not terribly different, I'll admit... but so much easier. Although the pose is not exactly the same, you get the idea. I did notice more tip detail on the little guy on the left. Both of these photos went through the same post-processing.
Before I twisted this big tent up into its little carry bag, I decided to shoot my watch using a Pro 1 and the 500D Macro Lens. I was in a hurry, so I didn't bother putting it on a stand -- just plopped it on black velvet and shot; didn't even set it to the time to the usual "10 after 10", so for all you know it's a Bolex. :)
It was taken at full zoom and the lens was about 14 inches away from the watch. I did very little post-processing -- auto-contrast, resizing and sharpening. I did clone out a couple of dust particles that I hadn't wiped off. As you can see, the image turned out quite well for a reflective surface.
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro.jpg
And here are three 100% crops from the image above for those of you thinking about the 500D.
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro_fullsizecrop1.jpg
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro_fullsizecrop2.jpg
http://www.kleptography.com/dl/pro1/rolex_macro_fullsizecrop3.jpg
All the shots were taken in RAW at -1/3 exposure compensation and converted to TIF in BreezeBrowser using Daylight white balance. The colors are true.
I'm very pleased with the light tent and would suggest you consider one if you do a fair amount of still life shooting, either for pleasure or to sell your worldly possessions on eBay.
There are many available, but I decided on the 30" EZCube -- www.ezcube.com (http://www.ezcube.com). I have a computer table that would have been perfect for the 20" model, but decided I wanted the extra 10 inches for the money. I am very glad that I bought the 30". By the way, they only ship to the US, Australia and New Zealand, but there's a solution below.
I also purchased four 30W Trumpet-top bulbs that are apparently custom-made for TableTopStudio.com. Fortunately, Stephen wrote just before they were shipped to tell me that the bulbs were for 110V countries and caught the package before it left the building. So I ended up ordering 240V models from their UK agent at http://tabletopstudio.co.uk/
The bulbs were much more expensive from the UK than from the US (perhaps smaller production quantities; I don't know) but they're rated for 10,000 hours so I bought them. At the very least they're cool looking and cool in operation. No more fears of spontaneous combustion.
And that's it, for what it's worth. Any questions, let me know.
Cheers,
Don
P.S. I bought my Bolex in Hong Kong in 1967 -- it will be 39 this year.