Best lighting for indoor bead photographs ?

Les · January 14, 2011, 08:55:37 AM

I'm sure this has probably been discussed before. I've tried searching through old threads, but my brain is all fudgy this morning ....

This dull time of year is playing havock with my camera and I NEED to get good photo's whatever the light is like outside....

So my question is ..... what do you guys use as a light source, for taking lovely, clear bead photo's ?

Thanks

Lush! · January 14, 2011, 08:58:53 AM

A window! I only ever take pics on my kitchen table or window sill with natural light. Then brighten them up on the pc if necessary.

Les · January 14, 2011, 09:01:51 AM

And your photo's are always so beautiful and bright too !

That's what I'm doing at the moment... but this house is so dull, some days I can't take any photo's at all ... not good when I need to list stuff for sale

I think it's probably down to having a cheap-o camera tbh ... can't afford a new one atm though ....

Flyingcheesetoastie · January 14, 2011, 09:05:14 AM

Sometimes I use a couple of plug in spotlights with daylight bulbs, one on each side to cast as little shadow as possible. It's not the best, but it's a start before tweaking on the computer, especially if you're a nightowl like me that usually misses the actual daylight!

Les · January 14, 2011, 09:06:57 AM

I wonder if a couple of cheapo desk lamps would do the trick ? I'm sure there are daylight bulbs that fit them ... Might have a poke around in wilko tomorrow and see what I can find.

I'm on a mission to find the cheapest solution possible !

Flyingcheesetoastie · January 14, 2011, 09:16:12 AM

That's preety much what I use, think I got them at BM or something and they clip on the side of a table or wherever there's a free surface! I also have a lightbox, which I have used for beads and things that are mostly or all transparent, which I've had forever and picked up from a seller on Ebay. My best tip though would be to have a really good tripod, even if it's one of those little ones, it really helps the focus without relying on the flash. I've had a cheapy compact fuji for the last 3 years and just got a lovely new one for Xmas, but only because there was a permenant smudge on the lens of the old one that i couldn't get rid of.

Kalorlo · January 14, 2011, 09:18:56 AM

Mine could be better, but I use a daylight lamp (it's one of the craft ones that has a doughnut-shaped bulb with a magnifier bit in the centre so you can use it to magnify things). I also use a diffuser made from a clear plastic mixing bowl that I've sanded to opacify the surface a bit more. That's got a window cut in one side and is lined with aluminium foil on one half to bounce the light back in. It's based on Boo's diffuser tutorial.

Les · January 14, 2011, 09:19:49 AM

I've had this camera for a good 5 or 6 years now and it's getting a bit outdated I think.

I am going to set Dan on at making me a little lightbox I think

I have a brilliant tripod ... I inherited it from my uncle when he died .. he was a 'proper' photographer .. it weighs a ton but I couldn't manage without it

Am deffo going on a light hunt this weekend ... I'm fed up of getting grainy results when I tweak my current photos on the computer, Grr

Les · January 14, 2011, 09:20:26 AM

Ooohh... thanks for that tutorial Heather ... looks really interesting

Steampunkglass · January 14, 2011, 09:30:49 AM

I've spent ages moving around the house, changing lights, trying a big daylight lamp I have, but in the end a couple of desk lamps worked best of all! I bought one of those fold up light tents from Maplin ages ago, it has nylon/muslin sides to diffuse the light, but I don't think it's much better than a box lined with white card or tissue paper $:-\$ I did read on a US forum of people putting coffee filters over the front of their desk lamps to make a quick diffuser (being carefull that they don't overheat and catch fire!!!!)

I do like the look of the 'bucket' idea, I might give that a try!

Les · January 14, 2011, 09:33:36 AM

Oh Glenn, I've tried every accessible window in this house, and there is never a happy medium ... they're either too dark, or the sunlight is straight into the camera, grrr.... it's a pain !

Dickie · January 14, 2011, 10:07:50 AM

You can always just use normal lights and ensure that the white balance is set correctly for tungsten.
If your camera has manual white balance use that by pointing it at a white/grey card.

If you look at the Photography section in the Wiki (http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/wiki/Photography), all the pics in there were taken under tungsten lights (deliberately to make the point)

If you get it right, there should be no need to correct in Photoshop afterwards.

Les · January 14, 2011, 10:11:04 AM

I don't even think this camera has a white balance control, LOL ... I've looked for it before and haven't found one ... maybe I'll google the model number and have another look later .. thanks Dickie

Princess Peggy (Priscilla McGirr) · January 14, 2011, 10:34:26 AM

I'm finding that flash photography is quite reliable, although you need a fairly dark place to do it, or natural light and adjust the white balance on your computer.....I use Microsoft office picture manager....just use the enhance colour option under 'picture', and then place the pointer where the background should be white. (that's if you have a white background), and it restores all the other colours to what they should be..

Billie · January 14, 2011, 10:45:02 AM

Quote from: Lush! on January 14, 2011, 08:58:53 AM
A window! I only ever take pics on my kitchen table or window sill with natural light. Then brighten them up on the pc if necessary.

Same here. Place them on a piece of driftwood under the largest window in the house. I've never had to fiddle around with them using software other than to crop them.