Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy pics!

[illumina]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

a more extreme example. jacked up radius setting, amount the same.

Again, top half sharpened; bottom half not.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

I tried it out, following your suggestions for unsharp masking. It made my picture turn out way too grainy without bringing out the subtle flame grain in the wood. Here's the photo I was playing around with just in case you want to try your hand at it.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

You can also adjust the amount of unsharp mask... too much get real pixelly.

Pete

[illumina]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

i have the luxury of a high megapixel camera; i reduce the image size after sharpening to soften the edges.

I'll take a crack at the taylor.
..is that the infamous hair/face reflection on the body? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[illumina]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p



After sharpening, I reduced the image size a little just to soften the edges. it doesnt look TOO bad. Granted, I've never really played with acoustic 'shoping, but i think it accented the figuring rather well.

Original on bottom, retouched on top. subtle differences, but its there.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

There's a good tip... don't resize until AFTER the editing is done. I always resize FIRST for some strange reason. I shouldn't. Good reminder. [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Very subtle but I like it! It brings out the flames and grain a little bit more. I'll try and replicate that on my end.

The reflection in the cutaway was from the top of the stand (the C-shaped part that holds the neck). I should have seen it BEFORE I snapped the photo. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[illumina]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

Also, if you have Photoshop CS... when using imageready, play with the quality settings a bit to find the perfect blend of quality/size as well..

[toejam]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

[ QUOTE ]
is that the infamous hair/face reflection on the body? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]
It's Jesus!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

I have Photoshop 7.0 and ImageReady 7.0... does this still apply? I've never tried playing around with ImageReady before.

It DOES look like Jesus!!! [img]/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[crowley_67]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

Guitars_N_Hockey: A quick bump in the gamma and small saturation adjustment is my recommendation for your picture. It's subtle but makes a difference. Try it and post the "before and after" results. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[crowley_67]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

kewl.Ill give it a shot.I was wondering how i could make my guitar pics come out better.I hate the flash so i bought a large halogen light.Still cant get it right...

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

There's a large halogen light up in the sky that is free. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I've heard of a problem where it's SO bright in a room when you snap a picture that the camera's exposure compensation senses that they're too much light and so the photo turns out darker than expected. In this case, bump up the EV on your camera to compensate. Brightness and darkness issues can usually be solved by taking several shots of something at different EV settings and then picking the best one on your computer. Remember to set the camera on a sturdy surface, or use a tripod, or tuck your elbows in, when using higher EV settings, or else subtle hand shaking movements will be captured.

There's very rarely any hand shaking captured in daylight. There's just THAT much light everywhere.

[illumina]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

another note: your house light bulbs can make a difference! If you're like me, you may be using yellowish tint bulbs to give a more 'warm' feeling to yer home. BUT, that yellowish light can tint your guitar! So... try to avoid putting yer guitar in direct yellowish light.

ps. NOTP - what tripod is that? how do you like it? I have a rookie one, and it sucks beyond belief.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Guitar photography thread - Post your crappy p

Mine is a rookie tripod as well. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] It's a Nexxtech brand (Radio Shack brand) that I bought at Radio Shack for $29.99 Canadian last Christmas and now the Radio Shacks here are all called THE SOURCE By Circuit City. It's surprisingly sturdy with telescopic extendable legs and an extendable neck. It also has one of those green bubble-level things so that you know your floor is perfectly level, although I rarely use it. But it's nice to have. I get the sharpest pictures when I put the camera on the tripod and use the self-timer mode and stand away from the setup. No hand shake!!! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

The yellowish tint that Illumina is talking about is something that I want to discuss. It's how to compensate color balance when the lighting is not pure white light (like the sun). I had to do it with Drsracing's photo where there were dozens of little colored Christmas lights throwing off the Auto Level adjust so I had to do it manually in Photoshop and redefine the black/whitepoints.

Believe it or not, every light source gives off a color temperature that throws off cameras. During a gorgeous red/orange sunset, our brain KNOWS that a white car is pure white, even though it appears slightly orange. But a camera doesn't realize this, and high end cameras have a manual mode where you can gauge the color temperature and compensate for it electronically on the camera or whatever so that the white car actually looks white. It's like setting your own guitar EQ to get your personal sound. However, this isn't always the case, as you may have noticed that formal portrait shots are usually taken with an enhanced warmth so that you look radiant and glowing. It really depends on what you're taking pictures of.

Midrange digital cameras usually have a few preset white/color balance modes, like most boomboxes or CD players have a few preset EQ settings to compensate for what you like in a sound. My particular camera has Sunlight, Cloudy, Tungsten (incandescent bulbs), and Fluorescent. The problem comes when you have a room lit with both tungsten bulbs and fluorescent tubes... that gets tricky. Stick to one type of light source, or better yet, just go the hell outside and set your camera on Sunlight balance mode and save yourselves the hassles. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Use the Sunlight mode in sunlight to make the sun's light look as pure white as possible.

Use the Cloudy mode during overcast days because the Cloudy mode will add warmth that the clouds usually filter out. Otherwise, the picture comes out looking a little dull, unless that's the effect you're going for.

Use the Tungsten mode when your room is lit with classic incandescent bulbs, which compensates for the ugly warm hues that they add. Otherwise, your picture turns out yellowish to reddish like Travis' non-flash picture in my original post, and I had to compensate for it using Photoshop.

Use the Fluorescent mode when your room is lit with fluorescent tube lighting. The light is bluish, so the camera EQs the light to add more warmth (or take away the blues, depending on how you look at it).

Remember, whites have to look pure white, and blacks have to look pitch black, unless there's an effect that you want to go for in your shot.