Help with photos for web page

[candles by lisa]

:) Hi All,

On for yet another bit of advice. I have been using a photographer to take pictures of my candles for my website but it has cost me a fortune. I tried to take a couple myself with a friends digital camera (if you look at the seasonal page and look at the Christmas Trees and the wedding page for the mother in law candles you will see what I mean).

What would the best thing be, do I bit the bullet and get a decent digital camera - if so which one? and how do you get the picutres to look good enough for the web (lighting and such).

You are a lovely bunch of people:D

[Cloverst]

Hi Lisa!

I'm no expert but I can give you the limited knowlege I have.

A digital camera in my opinion is a good purchase but you don't need to purchase an expensive one for good results.

I have a cannon one and it wasn't expensive but it's good for what I need.

If you do a lot of close up's then it may be worth looking at one a bit more expensive that you can fit a macro lens to to take close ups but not out of focus.

As far as lighting is concerned you need as much lighting as possible and if the candle is textured then stronger side lighting is better. If you are needing to use the flash then your picures can look washed out. You can avoid this by using the zoom function where you stand further back and zoom into the object. That way the flash won't reflect so much.

I honestly wouldn't have noticed the difference in the two photos if you hadn'tmentioned it but you can so that is what matters. I think the biggest difference to me was the amount of dressing up the photographer had done to his pics. Spend extra time and thought with this and I think you'd be onto a winner there!

Have a good search round for local photography courses. Learn direct may do one but you will have to pay for it. You council should be able to tell you if there are any free courses in you area. I know there are some run in ours.

I hope this help a little!

[candles by lisa]

Hi Vikki,

Thanks for your help. Glad you couldn't notice much difference. I have paid so much on a photographer but you need to keep changing your range to keep people interested but any benefits I get from sales end up going to pay for pictures.

Many thanks for that. :)

[0103media]

Buy a basic book and lighting...

Camera is a must of course...

Oh.. The one thing that will make a massive difference is a tripod...
A tripod will let the camera do a lot more work if you have cheap lighting..

Its worth going to jessops... have a chat.. Have a budget in mind..

I'm a lover of photography..

my photo site (www.allphotogallery.com)

[candles by lisa]

Thanks for that. Your photos are excellent so off to Jessops for me.

Cheers.

Lisa

[0103media]

I have a old version of this

http://www.digitalcameras123.co.uk/_fuji-digital-finepix-s5600

Its half way between an SLR and a compact... and is a amazing
My fav http://www.allphotogallery.com/archives/2 :D



The problem with compacts are that the lenses are crap just because there are small.. Simple as that.. big is good ;)

[michelleC]

As others have already said a good camera is a must , have you also thought about some software so you can alter your pics. I use freeware Picassa which you can download. find this very useful.
Good luck

[candles by lisa]

I bought a Canon Pixma all in one thingy that has Adobe Photoshop with the all singing all dancing printer. Is this any good?

[michelleC]

I bought a Canon Pixma all in one thingy that has Adobe Photoshop with the all singing all dancing printer. Is this any good?


I don't see why you wouldn't be able to achieve some great photo's. Good luck with it

[Aida]

Hello...

i saw your photos...are very nice!
:p I'm italian...did you visit only Rome or also other city?

compliments!

[0103media]

I was in Rome last w/e too..

My Gf is from Rome ..

Are you in the uk now in italy ?

[littlesnuggler]

Yes a dig cam is a must and of course you can use it for everything else, not just your candles. I have a Kodak Easyshare dig cam with a macro option. It comes with very easy and very good software and they are not too expensive.

Also have a look at http://www.shortcourses.com/studio/tabletop/studio.htm
You probably won't need to go to great lengths to make your own home studio (a couple of pieces of card and a couple of desktop spotlights from Argos). If you have 1 spotlight at either side then you shouldn't need to use the flash.

This is also very useful http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/jewelry_photography.htm

It's great fun experimenting. Let us all know how you get on.

[candles by lisa]

:D
Thanks Helen,

Just in the process of wading through all the bumph that goes along with the camera's. I promise I will get one soon and show of my David Bailey skills (not!!!) :pc:

[Swarovski Chick]

Hi Lisa

It may be worth you asking for some advice on DP Review. Have had some great free advice on there in the past from photographers. You will need a tripod to start with and hopefully get some good advice from the forum on how to set up an inexpensive lighting rig for good results. Its also worth going to the right section and doing a search to see if anyone has asked your question in the past.

Good luck

[Ian Beckerton]

If I may join in here as there appears to be a lot of misconception about what you are trying to do.
You can get good images out of most cameras, you just need to understand what the limitations are. To get a camera to produce a good white balanced image really requires white light and this is something that you wont get from a couple of lamps from Argos, they will just give you orange flavoured light. Using the more modern florescent studio lights is more advantages but they have a tendency to be a bit on the green side as all fluorescents are. It is unlikely that you will get the camera to work at it’s optimum lens setting with either of the above. The optimum settings for lenses, very from lens manufacturer to manufacturer but in general start midway through the F stop range. A lens with an aperture of F2.8 will give a high speed response but a poor optical response but the same lens set at F16 or above will give you a good optical response but will infract on the speed. The way round this is to use flash heads which are exactly what you need for the work you intend to do. You can go onto Ebay and look at the flash head sets there. For a couple of hundred pounds you can pick up two variable flash heads, soft boxes and stands. With these you wont have to use a tripod unless you want to be really creative as the flash duration is in the region of 1800th of a second, this makes the camera speed relatively redundant but does enable you, as the light intensity is high, to use small apertures to give you the quality of image, the depth of focus, the white balance, the control and creativity that you require. There really is no other practical way for the inexperienced to achieve the any better result. The camera is a tool the lighting is the facilitator, that is something worth remembering. If you need more information just let me know what you would like to know.

I..

[Tip Top]

This is an old thread and I think that Lisa has her pics sorted now judging by her website..;)

[candles by lisa]

I still think they are duff though but got a lovely dovely all singing all dancing digi camera that I haven't got a clue how to work!!

Hehe.

Lisa

:mf:

[Michael Hemming]

Hi Lisa

Was going to mention my Fuji Finepix F10 camera which I got as a factory refurbished one from Fuji. It only cost around £60 & it's been fantastic.
I also bought an older version of Paint Shop Pro which cost about £8 & does more stuff than I will ever use. Anyway I gather you have got things sorted as your photos look great! The colours come through very clear & vibrant. Love your candles!

All the best,
Mike;)

[Tip Top]

I still think they are duff though but got a lovely dovely all singing all dancing digi camera that I haven't got a clue how to work!!

Hehe.

Lisa

:mf:


What you REALLY need is smelly monitors and then you'd be laughing cos your candles smell divine!!!!!!!:D

[candles by lisa]

What you REALLY need is smelly monitors and then you'd be laughing cos your candles smell divine!!!!!!!:D


Now there's a thought!!

Hehe.

Lisa

:mf: