stained glass lamp

[conlo]

How do you photograph a stained glass lamp to show it's beauty as yo see it with the naked eye ?? I tried everything I knew, black background, 45 degree lighting , conversion filter. tried sunlight, tried with lamp bulbs on or off. Some colors were fairly true but others were either washed out or darkened considerably. I can get a fair rendition but nowheres near as what I see with my eyes when the light bulbs are on in the lamp. When the light bulbs are on, everythilng seems to come to life and the colors are just beautiful, but what I see in my pics is like someone turned the lights off and I lose the brilliance of the colors in the glass the the light buls emit.
I sure would like to capture that.

[conlo]

I am using a Cannon pro70 digital camera

[John_B]

conlo,
Just a guess ;) as I have no idea about your camera or lamp.
Try to use tripod or stable surface to hold your camera, and set your camera for a longer shutter to let enough light in to show all the colors (this could be two stops or more then your meter tells you). If your camera has a manual setting it might be a good time to use it. It would be best if there is hardly no other light in the room, just the light from the stained glass lamp.
Post a photo and it might be easier to give a tip.
Good Luck and don't give up :)

[conlo]

Thanks John B. I am using a tripod and 2 reflector floods positioning them at 45 degrees to the subject and moving the floods for best illumination. I let the camera select the exposure. I believe my canon pro 70 digital camera is capable of selecting over exposure. I will try again and post a pic for you. Thanks for your prompt reply.

[PhotosGuy]

2 reflector floods positioning them at 45 degrees to the subject Try pointing the floods at a white wall or card & see how that looks. Direct vs indirect light makes a huge difference? ;)

Look here for some ideas: ** IMPORTANT LINKS: Studio Lighting **" (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=138912)

FAQ - Studio Lighting (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66140)

Browning .22 - 1 light, no "walls" set-up (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66846)

[conlo]

how do I post an image in a REPLY. It says to insert the URL. all I have is the image in my Documents.

[howzitboy]

first u post the picture on one of the many webpages that let you. I use http://www.tinypic.com/ because they are free and pretty fast. just browse your folders to find the shot and upload. then, once its uploaded, just copy the url (the one with the brackets [, ]) into your reply.

[conlo]

here is the pic. the colors were not produced as I see them. the rose should be pink, the ribbon bright cherry red, the leaves forest green, the surrounding white is a wispy opal, the black oval border is cathedral black and in some areas it appears clear due to the way the light of the bulbs hit it. url is http://i196photobucket

[conlo]

don't know if I was successful in posting the pic of my lamp. the Url may be not right.
Can you tell me if you received it?? I got the url next to my pic in MY ALBUM in Photobucket

[conlo]

here is the comlete url
http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa182/conlo1927/

[John_B]

conlo,
In this photo:
printthisoneTITLED.jpg
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa182/conlo1927/printthisoneTITLED.jpg) it looks a bit over exposed. This is probably because you are letting the camera set the exposure (you didn't give any Exif data). Try the same photo with exposure compensation -1 or more. You can also correct it with the adjustment of contrast with software.

[PhotosGuy]

This is probably because you are letting the camera set the exposure (you didn't give any Exif data). When you're shooting in a controlled situation like that, there's absolutely NO reason to not put everything on manual. You're supposed to be in charge, not some programming geek at Canon? ;)

[conlo]

Thanks John B. I did not know if you got the pic of my lamp or not, but I now see that you did. I did try the manual settings and did pick what I thought was the best to send you. Anyway I was happy with the end results, which were much better than previous efforts. I will now experiment more with manual exposures. It does not cost any more than my efforts, so why not.