My table top studio SUCKS :(:(:(

cdi-ink....thank you so much for that piece of advice about the glass...ill go try a solid subject and get back to you!!!!

What I see is a mix of light types. Some appear to be incandescent (like household bulbs) and others (at least the shop lighting) quartz halogen. This is likely to give you a white balance that's hard to control as you change the lighting positions (and thus the ratio of one type of light to another). Your walls are also going to introduce some yellowish color into any light that reflects off them and back onto the tabletop.

My first suggestion would be to have all the light be from the same type of source (and definitely NOT flourescent). This would make it easier to correct for the white balance of the light.

A second suggestion would be to hang either white or black fabric on the nearby walls to control the reflections. White would let you reflect light - of the same color as the sources - back into the tabletop. Black (particularly something like a black velvet) would prevent the reflections from interfering with your setup, and might be the best choice.

Third, though this may not have much to do with the color of the light, the radically different light intensities from the different sources will likely be troublesome in doing the setups. You might try using clip-on halogen work lights to balance the floor-mounted work light.

In the end, once you have a manageable lighting setup, you will likely have to do custom white balance settings. Another way, though, is to shoot a known neutral (neutral gray or white) object in the scene for a test shot. Shoot all the shots in RAW. Then, when converting from RAW to .PSC or .TIF for processing, you can figure out what the color temperature correction is needed to get the gray/white object right and then apply that to all the rest of the shots.

Using the Photoshop CS2 RAW conversion tools, there is an eyedropper tool that I click on a white or gray object in the scene. I then transfer the white balance numbers to the rest of the series of shots and they all turn out right.

No problem. You may want to get some 60 watt bulbs if those lamps can handle it. I can see where 15W wouldn't be enough! You could also move your tent more centered to get it closer to that left lamp, and get another lamp of the same kind with the same bulb for the right side.


As for the darker products, I usually use the overexposure cheating method, and I have a hotlight w/24" softbox on a boom stand that I can position around or above my subject as necessary. I set my WB on tungsten because it has a tungsten bulb and about 10 seconds worth of photoshop later I have my product photo.

The big softbox provides a broad and enough light source that I don't need any further lighting. I do this all over a product table that I shamelessly bought on eBay, which has a semi-transluscent white surface to let light through so as to not be reflective, and allow minimal shadowing.

If I have a product like your glass or something that's really light in color, I put down a blue or black or other dark sheet to give the product something to stand out against.

Here's an example of one I did. I posted it before in Marketplace when I put it up for sale. Pics like this work wonders.

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Another thought for simple lighting. Try getting some clip-on shop lights (the aluminum reflectors with a conventional socket) from Home Depot or wherever. Put the brightest bulbs that they will safely take (they will be marked for the max bulb size). Use several of those for lighting, and you will then have all the lighting at the same color temperature.

OK Skip...good advice...ill take that on during the week, but i think im just about done for tonight lol...i have one more photo to post soon though...

I forgot that even though it's 7:30 AM here, it is a bit different "down under"....

Yeah she's up in the wee hours of Wednesday morning down there.

Thanks CDI, all great tips for me to use...

Unfortunately (i guess) i am an Aussie...
So your American language is kind of like a barrier for me, coz some things you have been saying i don't get LOL...and im putting it down to that...either that or it's just because i have info overload lol

It's all been great advice though so im really greatful

Im just frustrated right now because my computer is a piece of garbage and its slowing my whole processing down!

OK here's a shot i took just before, i used all the lights that i had (Including the floodlight) and i just used a slower shutter speed...i spent about a minute in photoshop....what do u guys think? Does it look tacky??

OK problem with internet ill post in a sec

still not the effect i want really...so ill take on board the advice i just got...will all have to wait though until i go to the city because ym town sells NOTHING that i need, the globes were all they had for those smaller lamps.....i hate my town....it's so stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You seem to have a dirty sensor there!

Oh, and change the carpet*.

Graham

*It won't help the photography, but is giving me a headache

I'm not sure what language/words you don't understand but if you point them out I'll try to clarify what I said.

Your white balance is a little blue on the background but the apple is about right as far as I can tell. It has some shadowing on the left side but that's because your clip on light is weaker on that side.

Part of the reason your background looks the way it does is because it's wrinkled and the light is bouncing off of it in different directions. If you can smooth that out somehow you'd be a lot further ahead of the game. The table I use is a somewhat hard plastic with a curve in it. Looks like your background is fabric and bunched up.

I still think you need to get to the good town (lol) and get some light bulbs of the same wattage (preferable higher than what you have) and color temperature. It doesn't really matter what color temperature they are (it can be tungsten, daylight, whatever) as long as they're all the same because you can make a white balance correction to compensate for it.

Good day!

Just a thought, have you tried any natural lighting. Is there a window you can use?

This i s what I did with just a white paper background and the 580 flash on a 20d.

Bruce

opps edit these were with the 1ds

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As Skip said gets some shop reflectors. I have two with two GE Reveal bulbs in mine. Here's my setup;

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