Object Pictures

[buckit]

I am for the first time trying to take pictures of objects.

I dont have much in the way of lighting... I just have a couple cheap umbrellas and a couple heatlamp looking things (down to one... the other caught fire). I got Eiko Supreme PhotoFlood bulbs for them. they are 500w 3400K.

attached are the pictures I am getting using a nifty fifty. probably wrong lense to use... only other I have is 18-55 kit.

as you can see in the mossberg pictures its grainy... here is the exif data:
Camera: 30D
F-Stop: f/10
Exp: 1/160
ISO: 100
Focal: 50mm

any idea why it is still so grainy? is it just the colors? I also attached a picture of my setup... should I place the lights differently?

sorry... am still trying to learn.

[jrm27]

Have you thought about making a light box? I've made a few just using a box, some white poster board, some wax paper, and two of those same lights (different bulbs, but same type of thing). I've used bothe nifty fifty and the XSi kit lens with good results. Not sure why the grain, but I find that if I set a custom WB, and overxpose the shot by quite a bit it goes a long way in keeping that background white and smooth. Grain disappears when it it is blown out! Also, some post processing in Photoshop to adjust the curves might help.

I wonder if chroma-noise (is that the correct term) is appearing because your light sources are all of different temperatures.

[buckit]

I just started building a big one... will see how it goes... thanks for the tip on wax paper... will go pick some up now to finish this box up.

[buckit]

I think it turned out well!

[jrm27]

Cool! If you want to get that background nice and blown out, I'd suggest overexposing quite a bit and then working curves in photoshop. Enjoy your lightbox!

[opianstate]

great work on the second photo. I've been meaning to make a light box, solid job

[buckit]

thanks! it was fun to build and pretty easy to do... I just built another one for at home (first was at work)