hey guys, i am looking to get a newer camera for pics. i have a light box now which i think the pics are ok.. what do i really need to have a good picture!! i have a nikon 7600 coolpix right now.
thanks for the help
taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
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timothy thorpe
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Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
Your camera is fine, honestly. What makes the difference between a "meh" pic and a "woah" pic has much to do with proper lighting, angle, and subject.
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timothy thorpe
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Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
thanks..yes i know. i thought i had the right lighting...sometimes they look good and sometimes not
Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
Are you using a tripod?
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timothy thorpe
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Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
no.. i have a couple of lights now...i am impatient with pics 
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baweaverpipes
- The Awesomer
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Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
Pipe photography is difficult.
I have experimented with this for years and it's always hard.
What I have found that helps is to have four lights, the light box raised in order to have lighting beneath and practice, practice, practice.
Maybe, just maybe, you'll become the Ansel Adams of pipe photography.
Check Neill Roan's blog and his photography. This might help.
I have experimented with this for years and it's always hard.
What I have found that helps is to have four lights, the light box raised in order to have lighting beneath and practice, practice, practice.
Maybe, just maybe, you'll become the Ansel Adams of pipe photography.
Check Neill Roan's blog and his photography. This might help.
Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
I have a basic Canon camera, and a very basic "photo booth" with lighting that I bought some time ago. I also have a decent tripod, which helps a ton.
But, I often get lazy and just wing it, and my pictures show the result.
When I take my time, however, I can get excellent results just by using my photo booth and it's supplied lighting.
One thing to remember is that great pictures are very rare when you just slap a pipe on a stand and rely on the flash for lighting. And like any other form of art, it takes patience, proper equipment, and practice, lot's of it too!
Unless you're looking to do some sort of fancy photography tricks, what you have, with the addition of a tripod, is all that's needed, and you can get results that will look very professional. The new cameras of today from Canon, Nikon and a few others have amazing optics and some truly exceptional processing software, and they are capable of taking some incredible pictures. In all truth, you are likely the limiting factor, not the camera, nor the lighting (unless you don't use it!).
Take the advice from baweaver and check some photography sites out, there are plenty of good tips. I can't recall who wrote it, but I read an article from a woodturner who does all his own photos, and it helped me a ton!
But, I often get lazy and just wing it, and my pictures show the result.
When I take my time, however, I can get excellent results just by using my photo booth and it's supplied lighting.
One thing to remember is that great pictures are very rare when you just slap a pipe on a stand and rely on the flash for lighting. And like any other form of art, it takes patience, proper equipment, and practice, lot's of it too!
Unless you're looking to do some sort of fancy photography tricks, what you have, with the addition of a tripod, is all that's needed, and you can get results that will look very professional. The new cameras of today from Canon, Nikon and a few others have amazing optics and some truly exceptional processing software, and they are capable of taking some incredible pictures. In all truth, you are likely the limiting factor, not the camera, nor the lighting (unless you don't use it!).
Take the advice from baweaver and check some photography sites out, there are plenty of good tips. I can't recall who wrote it, but I read an article from a woodturner who does all his own photos, and it helped me a ton!
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oklahoma red
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Re: taking pipe picutres camera and lighting
Ask this question and you'll get a butt load of answers every time. That said, my responses are strictly my personal views. Good pictures won't help sell a sub-standard pipe and bad pictures will certainly hurt a beautiful pipe. I've been a photography buff for a long time (read pre-digital) but I had little experience in product photography.
With a lot of long distance help from my good friend Carsten Fischer in Bangkok I have gotten much better. Again my personal opinion, but I feel that the cube diffusion tents are a pain in the arse. They help a lot for some things such as glassware but I do not use one for pipes. A small table, some white poster board a good tripod and a quality camera and lens are the basics. You can add odds and ends for texture and contrast for what you are shooting.
Nothing about making pipes is inexpensive and the same goes for taking quality pictures of the danged things. Sure, it can be done with inexpensive point and shoot digital cameras but there will be some compromises.
If you don't do anything else, use a tripod and the camera's self timer.
Good lighting is extremely important. Do not expect very good results from the flash on the camera. Everything will look flat.
Here is what I'm using:
Pentax K5 with 40mm lens and 100mm macro lens.
2 Alien Bees 320 watt strobes with 22" white beauty rings and diffusion socks (the latter eliminates the need for a tent). You can use photo floods which are a lot cheaper but do not put out the light that the strobes do.
I normally set these lights about 6 feet away and I shoot at ISO 100, 1/125 sec at F22.
Also important is the ability to edit the image. PhotoShop or something similar is a must in my opinion. This is the digital photographer's darkroom. I save in the RAW format and after editing save as .jpeg. If the pics are going on the web re-size them to about 1000 pixels wide.
Get the best and cry once. I sank the dollars in this equipment because I also use it to help my wife peddle things on eBay. There alone I feel that it has paid for itself. I am no where near being a professional photographer but like anything else, practice makes perfect.
There are a lot of tutorials on the web. Use'em and you will get better.
Chas.
With a lot of long distance help from my good friend Carsten Fischer in Bangkok I have gotten much better. Again my personal opinion, but I feel that the cube diffusion tents are a pain in the arse. They help a lot for some things such as glassware but I do not use one for pipes. A small table, some white poster board a good tripod and a quality camera and lens are the basics. You can add odds and ends for texture and contrast for what you are shooting.
Nothing about making pipes is inexpensive and the same goes for taking quality pictures of the danged things. Sure, it can be done with inexpensive point and shoot digital cameras but there will be some compromises.
If you don't do anything else, use a tripod and the camera's self timer.
Good lighting is extremely important. Do not expect very good results from the flash on the camera. Everything will look flat.
Here is what I'm using:
Pentax K5 with 40mm lens and 100mm macro lens.
2 Alien Bees 320 watt strobes with 22" white beauty rings and diffusion socks (the latter eliminates the need for a tent). You can use photo floods which are a lot cheaper but do not put out the light that the strobes do.
I normally set these lights about 6 feet away and I shoot at ISO 100, 1/125 sec at F22.
Also important is the ability to edit the image. PhotoShop or something similar is a must in my opinion. This is the digital photographer's darkroom. I save in the RAW format and after editing save as .jpeg. If the pics are going on the web re-size them to about 1000 pixels wide.
Get the best and cry once. I sank the dollars in this equipment because I also use it to help my wife peddle things on eBay. There alone I feel that it has paid for itself. I am no where near being a professional photographer but like anything else, practice makes perfect.
There are a lot of tutorials on the web. Use'em and you will get better.
Chas.