Photographing Guitars

I am new to this forum and need to narrow down the threads that may have discussion about photographing guitars. I have been trying to come up with a good result and have been failing. I have good lighting, ( my opinion) and am using a tripod. I am having trouble getting the windings on the strings in focus and then the body also. I have tried different f stops 4.0 to 18, I am at iso 640 and shutter speed to match the previous. Cant seem to get good quailty image.

Canon 5D Mark iii and a 24 to 105 L IS lens. I was reading that I should turn off the IS switch when using a tripod. I have not tried this yet, I am at work and should be working!

I have taken some great shots hand held but struggling with the tripod which I thought would yeld a better result.

It might help if you would post the results you are getting, as then we would know your starting point. Plus it would help to know what you consider good lighting (its probably not). Plus perhaps a link to what sort of shot you are hoping to get. There are lots of amazing photographers here that specialize in all sorts of photography but its hard to answer your question without a starting point.

Heya,

Post examples of your shots.

Here's an easy way to get focus:

Tripod mount.
LiveView - Set magnification to 10x - Look at strings, and manually focus.
Set aperture to F4 or F8, your choose, do both and just compare, everything behind the strings will be in focus too.
Drop ISO to minimal, you don't need it.
Expose with shutter speed desired for best histogram. So take an image, look at histogram.

And tell us about your lighting. A speedlite behind an umbrella would be all you need. But it depends on how you want the lighting to look.

Very best,

Speedring wrote in post #16681038
I was reading that I should turn off the IS switch when using a tripod. I have not tried this yet, I am at work and should be working!

Supposedly the newest version of IS can detect if it's on a tripod and therefore not needed, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to turn it off just to be safe.

One other thought, are you using AI Servo or Single shot focusing? For your purpose single shot would be better as the focus will sometimes 'hunt' when you're shooting a still subject in Servo mode.

Other than that post some photos and let the experts see what they think.

^^^ agree with the above about posting examples. I'll also add that, if DoF is a problem, you may want to look in to renting a tilt-shift lens. I have the 90, and it excels at small and medium-sized product photography.

Speedring wrote in post #16681038
I am new to this forum and need to narrow down the threads that may have discussion about photographing guitars. I have been trying to come up with a good result and have been failing. I have good lighting, ( my opinion) and am using a tripod. I am having trouble getting the windings on the strings in focus and then the body also. I have tried different f stops 4.0 to 18, I am at iso 640 and shutter speed to match the previous. Cant seem to get good quailty image.

Canon 5D Mark iii and a 24 to 105 L IS lens. I was reading that I should turn off the IS switch when using a tripod. I have not tried this yet, I am at work and should be working!

I have taken some great shots hand held but struggling with the tripod which I thought would yeld a better result.

You are in dire need of a tilt shift, my friend. Depending on the angle to your subject and how close you're getting to it, it may simply be impossible to capture the entire guitar without the use of tilt...at any aperture. I was going to post this much earlier but I was searching for the image below to illustrate my point. Maybe the 17 TS-e perspective is a bit extreme for your taste but it none-the-less shows how useful TS-e movements can be.

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=10388022&pos​tcount=288

Short of laying out a pretty penny on a new lens, you could try blending exposures with different focus points at f8. I just really get the sense that what you want is a physical impossibility for a single shot from a standard lens but some samples could help us.

I doubt you will get the string detail if shooting the whole guitar. DOF and MTF resolution would seem to be the main obstacles. You can just make out the strings on this partial shot of my Strat, yet the Les Paul copy there isn't enough DOF, the focus being on the volume control.

IMO guitars and pool cues are some what allot a like.
Size, the clear finish over natural wood and with very reflective surfaces.
The book light science and magic will help you allot.

IMAGE LINK: http://s1110.photobuck​et.com …0014_zps96e6589​3.jpg.html

Speedring wrote in post #16681038
I am new to this forum and need to narrow down the threads that may have discussion about photographing guitars. I have been trying to come up with a good result and have been failing. I have good lighting, ( my opinion) and am using a tripod. I am having trouble getting the windings on the strings in focus and then the body also. I have tried different f stops 4.0 to 18, I am at iso 640 and shutter speed to match the previous. Cant seem to get good quailty image.

Canon 5D Mark iii and a 24 to 105 L IS lens. I was reading that I should turn off the IS switch when using a tripod. I have not tried this yet, I am at work and should be working!

I have taken some great shots hand held but struggling with the tripod which I thought would yeld a better result.

along with the other suggestions take a look at focus stacking
http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Focus_stacking

useful if you need more 'depth of field' and if you don't have photoshop there are some free programs

Check out my Flickr account as I have several guitar shots that have been chosen by Getty Images, but in general the few pointers I can offer are:
1. Manual focus, especially if you are using a tripod. I set my camera to liveview, and zoom way in on where I want the focus, and then adjust manually.

2. Use a circular polarizer for some shots, it will help with reflections

3. Watch the angles of the flash bouncing off the guitar and hitting your lens. It can take a lot of patience to find the right shooting and flash angles so as to not get bright reflections, and even when you are careful I often find myself toning down reflections in post

4. Use softboxes and/or umbrellas on your flashes. It will soften the light which makes a big difference when shooting the reflective guitars

5. Embrace shallow DOF. This is preference of course, but I find guitar shots that don't have some portion out of focus to be a bit boring/bland.

Hope that helps