Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures!

[Number Of The Priest]

My photography skills have improved dramatically due to my recent camera tripod acquisition. This set of photos is my first using the new tripod and the Shannon proved to be a great test subject. I am a believer!!

A few details... it was getting dark and snowy outside, so I shot indoors in my bedroom. That meant almost no natural light. This would have been a difficult shoot had it not been for discovering the white balance mode on my camera as well as having the tripod to steady my shots through the whole exposure. I am glad I can now take great indoor shots and not have to wait for sunny afternoons!

I will post before and after pics. The "before" pics are the five Shannon pictures I took last February when I first got the Shannon and before I had the tripod. They were also taken when I knew nothing about proper white balance, contrast, and brightness adjustments based on the use of my software's histogram. Probably getting a little technical here so I'll move on. The "after" pics are from this afternoon and with a better knowledge of proper image editing. Some of you thought my first set of pictures were pretty good. Now compare and see the results!!!!



Before:


After:




Before:


After:





Before:


After:





Before:


After:





Before:


After:





The rest of the photos:















I swear I wiped the damn guitar before I took this pic... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] My picture was sharp enough (thanks to the tripod) to capture even the stupid dust sharply... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]










And my personal favorite of the bunch:

[RR05xx]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures!

Hmmm, so thats how you get decent pics. There may be hope for me yet (but probably not, I am photo-capped!).

Nice pics!

[Rhmsc8]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures!

Hey NOTP.

What do you mean by "white blance" on your camera? I am half way descent w/ PS but know nothing about digital cameras.....

Help save my pictures too - [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Thanks in advance.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Thanks dudes!

My camera has a several white balance modes to compensate for the ambient light conditions.

For example, there's Auto which can adapt to mostly any kind of light conditions.

Next, there's Daylight which works best to give neutral and natural looking pictures in bright white light like an outdoors shot on a sunny day.

Next, there's Cloudy which compensates for the different quality of natural light during overcast or darker days.

Next, there's Tungsten which compensates for the ugly yellow glow cast by incandescent lightbulbs to create a cooler, more neutral and natural look by removing some of those frequencies and boosting the cooler end of the spectrum.

Finally, there's Fluourescent, which compensates for the ugly bluish glow cast by fluorescent lamps to create a warmer, more neutral and natural look by removing some of those frequencies and boosting the warmer end of the spectrum.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Alright, here are four pictures that I took to demonstrate white balance.

This is my monitor in my bedroom illuminated from above by a tungsten incandescent lightbulb. Look at the plastic part of the monitor. Notice how yellow it is? It's not properly white balanced because I used the Auto white balance mode which isn't quite good enough.


Now look at the monitor again. This time, I activated the Tungsten mode which eliminates the off balance created by the warm light bulb. It now looks more natural and neutral, as if the picture were taken in broad daylight with natural white sunlight.


This is a white tube of acne cream. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] It is viewed under my brother's fluorescent desk lamp. Notice the buttons on the lamp and the tube of cream are sort of bluish and not properly white balanced when it's in Auto mode.


Now look at those white areas again. They look a little more white and more natural, indicating proper white balance when my camera has the Fluorescent mode activated to eliminate the excessive blue.

[Rhmsc8]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Hmmmmm...... Wonder if my camera has that. Guess I will have to look at the manual.

Very good demonstration boss.

Thank you for taking the time to explain that.

Oh yeah, nice Shannon btw.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

No problem, it took like two minutes to snap the pictures, upload them, and type up that demonstration. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Do check your camera first because that is the first step in image manipulation - the file that's being saved to the memory card. Botch up the actual photograph and there's no rescuing it. Well, maybe there's a way to make it look better, but I don't have the skills. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] So I start with the first step.

You can always tweak white balance (red/green/blue histogram) in your imaging software but I always have trouble with that and the photos don't turn out looking natural. Look at the "before" Shannon pictures compared to the "after" ones. The "before" ones are a lot more bluish and "cool" than the neutral white-balanced "after" pictures. I guess I added too MUCH blue into the "before" pictures and now I know they're not white balanced properly. If I went back and looked at the histograms for those pictures in my software, I'd probably see improper balance.

[Chuckracer]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Histograms are your friends!
Also, Photoshop is amazing, but it's still better to get it right the first time, like NOTP said, than try to polish a turd.

[xenophobe]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

In a few of the pictures in your first post, the before were actually better pictures. A few of them are washed out because of lighting that didn't appear in the after photos.

1) Full body... Before has brighter lighting, obviously demonstrated by a sharper and secondary shadow that your after picture does not have. The before picture also shows some light reflecting back into the lens producing the haze that you see. "after" is better, mainly because there is no direct lighting haze present.

2) The second set is exactly the opposite. Notice the darkness of the black, and the amount of light. The "before" has direct reflection off the guitar, which will happen ANY time you take a direct photo of the face of a guitar, the color is more correct, but along with the chrome, is overstaturated. The After picture is much sharper, but the color is clearly off. The "after" picture is only marginally better overall, but for clarity is definitely better.

3) The before picture clearly shows that there is a window sill with direct natural light coming in and washing out the top corners of the shot. The after picture does not have this direct light and thus is not affected by this. The before picture also shows barrel distortion that isn't as apparent with the after picture. "after" picture is better.

4) If you had both shots with the ball ends, you would be able to better tell which photo is most color-correct. The after shot clearly shows some slight yellowing to the chrome tuners. The before picture shows better color, and is more crisp. "before" picture is better.

5) Again there is a direct natural light source reflecting off the headstock in the before picture that is not present in the after picture. Even with the glare, the before picture does not show the dropout that the after picture has. Despite this, the "after" picture is better.

The main reason your "after" pictures look so much better is because in 4 out of 5 shots, the lighting and framing of the shot are better.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Xeno!!! Valuable info there. [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] Thanks for the detailed critique!

Most of the differences in lighting are probably due to the fact that I shot the February "before" pictures in the middle of a sunny afternoon with the bedroom curtains open and sunlight pouring in, while the "after" pictures were taken when it was starting to get dark outside so I had to turn on the lights in my room. That, and I also used the tripod. That could be why the pictures are dramatically different regardless of whether or not I used a tripod, maybe.

I don't understand how the chrome in all my "after" pictures looks like brushed aluminum rather than shiny smooth silvery chrome that it's supposed to. Particularly in the pictures showing the frets, the frets look tarnished and old, which is not the case in real life considering the guitar is practically mint. And the damn MOP inlays are impossible to capture beautifully. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I suppose I should take my guitars outside for future photoshoots... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Just curious, are you (or were you) a professional photographer? It's great to have people recognize the value of great photos, especially of musical instruments. Too many people on various message boards I visit have such beautiful guitars that aren't being shown off properly to the world. Then again, maybe they're not as obsessed with detail like I am... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Input GREATLY appreaciated. I could really use your future input and reviews for other big guitar shoots. My brother's got a new Warmoth bass being assembled so I will remember your advice when it comes time to snap pics of that.

And yes Chuck, I never realized the value of the damn histogram until recently!

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures!

I wish I could see all teh pics you posted!
Since I lost my DSL connection at home almost 4weeks ago, I am not able to view tons of pics because of dial up....
Hopefully soon it comes back!

I am buying a new digital camera soon so I will learn something new too!
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[xenophobe]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Thanks! I just saw the before and after pictures, and saw that you attribute better looking photos to your tripod and photoshopping abilities. I'd just say that the conditions and angles you shot from the second time is better.

No, I was never a professional photographer, even though a few of my friends have told me to put together a portfolio. I just have read way too many reviews at www.imaging-resource.com and in doing so, I can see a lot of what's going wrong technically from the camera standpoint.

All the improvements I see are from you taking better shots than you did previously. I don't think the tripod really played any noticable role in the quality of your pictures. The one thing it may have done is helped you find a better angle.

Anytime a direct light can touch the lens, you'll often get a hazy effect or color washout. That's why pro photographers have huge sun shades sometimes.

You can captuer MOP really well, you just need to experiment with different lighting, and different angles.

I generally like to take guitar pictures outdoors with the sun to the side or to my back, or in the shade, and avoid any or as much reflection from the guitar as possible.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

I have noticed that my pictures are shaky in less-than-optimal light conditions unless I set the camera down on something steady, which is why I bought the tripod. If you look at the second "before" picture compared to the corresponding "after" picture, you can tell there's a bit of camera shake because I wasn't shooting in the most optimal light conditions, just a small bedroom window to let some sunlight in, so the exposure was longer and captured my slight hand movements. That's why I attributed my "improved" pictures to the tripod.

That website you listed looks informative! I'll be spending some time reading through everything. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

One thing I forgot to mention is that I haven't used my camera's flash in ages. I simply cannot capture anything well when engaging the flash. Maybe I'd use it if I were on vacation and were touring an underground cave or something, but not when there's already decent light levels around. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[xenophobe]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

Yeah, but that one picture is the only one where you don't appear to hold the camera still. Either that or you were just a little too close to the guitar.

Are you manually setting the ISO?

Yeah, that's a great site. They do pretty throurogh reviews of every camera they can get their hands on.

A flash can be a good thing, but not when shooting guitars or anything with a relativley reflective finish.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Tripod test - Lots of SHANNON SOLOIST pictures

I leave the ISO setting on Auto. Haven't quite figured out when to use each particular setting. I know that the higher numbers are more geared towards shooting in low light conditions, and consequently the pictures appear grainier. I'm still not fully exploting everything my camera has to offer yet, but I hope to slowly get there, understanding more manual-style modes as time goes by.

The tutorial section on the site looks good. I shall have a read. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]