Photokonnexion

Experiment with table top photography…

A regular reader asked about table-top lighting. It inspired me to think about table-top studios. A subject I really enjoy. I am going to post on various aspects of the subject, including lighting. To start us off here are some ideas.

Clips – essential

In the UK we call the clips in the picture “Bulldog clips”. I am not sure why. Elsewhere they are often called binder clips. They have a very strong spring steel body and “handbag” handles that can be folded back or down flat. They are pretty useful for clipping paper together. No table-top photographer should be without them either. I have three different sizes which I use to hold reflectors. They are clipped onto the edges of white-board. Then they can hold the board in an upright position creating the table top reflector or white back-screen.

Reflectors are very important for table-top photography. As the objects you are photographing don’t move you can use low levels of light. Typically people use window light. However, using white-board reflectors you can spread the light around the back of objects and get a more even light. Controlling light that is reflected is better than adding other artificial lights. It is reflected in proportion to the original light source and therefore does not look out of place.

In the picture I show three clips holding up a white card. For a small board like this one you can get away with only the two side clips. Then you can remove the middle clip allowing the board to be used as a white screen (as I did with the torch shot below). With a bigger board you can add more clips. Alternately, for bigger boards you can use the clips to hold the board to other more substantial supports.

I have used binder clips for positioning many different things for table-top studies. They are easy to use and inexpensive. You can buy them in most stationery stores. I have about 10 of each size. In the shot above I used the large size for demonstration purposes. The smaller ones would have been fine for this particular board and would have been less obtrusive in the photograph.

Flashlights (Torches)

Photographic lights on a table-top can be over-kill. On-camera flash is very bright and harsh too. I tend to use window light or flashlights for supplementary light. Older flashlights with bulbs give off a very yellow colour cast light. Modern LED lights are better, they tend to have a whiter light. Unfortunately single-LED flashlights tend to give off a very hard light. It is harsh and often has rings of light from the shape of the internal reflector.

There are two ways to even out the light from a flashlight. Point it at the card reflector instead of the subject and use the reflected light. The other way is to use a piece of white toilet tissue as a diffuser. Make the tissue into a dome over the light – make it loose and wide so the light is spread. You can fix it in place to the flashlight with sticky tape or an elastic band.

There are a wide variety of different flashlights you can use. The one shown is the ULTRAFIRE WF-501B NOW WITH CREE XM-L U2 LED UPGRADE FROM CREE T6 LED -1000 LUMEN FLASHLIGHT/TORCH . It is a relatively inexpensive purchase. However, the batteries are non-standard size. You will need to purchase the CHARGER for 18650 14500 +2x 18650 3.7V 3000mAh Li Rechargeable Battery  as well. You get two batteries with the charger.

These flashlights are very powerful. I definitely recommend them. I have three of them for table-top lighting. They are also excellent for light painting at night – but that is another story.

For an even more diffused source I use a multi-LED flashlight. The Rolson 61770 72 LED Camping Light   can be purchased at a great price too.

The Rolson 61770 72 LED Camping Light   provides a wider more diffuse light. As with the torches, you can diffuse the light even more using the tissue trick if you want. These are also highly recommended for table-top photography. The light is great for all sorts of photography and it can also be reflected.

Throwing light on the matter…

Table-top lighting is a pretty simple business and inexpensive too. Using white card reflectors helps to spread light around. It is best to work with window light if you can. However, you can also work with low intensity artificial lights. I use hand-held flashlights. They are really flexible and the light is easily manipulated using white card reflectors.

Keep the background bright white!

Bright, high-key shots are very fashionable for portraits. That clean and clinical background is so good at focussing attention on the subject. Without any knowledge of how its done a lot of photographers just get a dark grey background. It seems wrong. If you move the light closer all you do is make the subject brighter and the background darker. Hmm! Odd.

Myths dispelled

I came across this video a few days ago. White backgrounds are a useful technique and getting it right is quite easy with the right approach. In the video Mark Wallace shows you how to light the background properly and the type of lighting that gives a great light for the job.

If you don’t have a light meter it is not a problem. Mark uses a light meter but you can still get a great high-key result by taking a range of test shots applied to the light arrangements you are using. If you also use “Chimping” you can get the bright white result quite quickly. Remember, if you have your histogram on you can see the white background flashing in your camera back screen when you get it right. Then you will know you have a bright background. However, zoom in to make sure you do not get reflections of bright white on your subject. If you do get white halos or reflections then turn down the lighting slightly.

Great graphics, great rip-off… The Adobe Creative Cludge.

For about 15 years I’ve used Photoshop professionally and personally. I have championed its use and taught hundreds of students to use it. The latest version of Photoshop is to be delivered through the “Creative Cloud”. Adobe says this online delivery system will enable regular updates, online storage and faster access.

The truth is…

To use the new Photoshop Creative Cloud (Ps.CC) you will pay £17.58 on a monthly contract in the UK. It is up to a third cheaper in the USA, three times more expensive in Australia. Currently Photoshop CS6 costs around £600 UK. I have to spread that cost across the life of a computer – say, four years. At £150 per year it’s expensive but bearable for a daily user. If I buy the new ‘deal’ under creative cloud I expect to pay £843.84 over four years.

Why should I take this expensive leap? Adobe say it is so I can get updates more regularly. Actually, I would get them next time anyway. In fact most Photoshop improvements in recent years have only added a marginal improvement – despite the hype. For my everyday work the improvement has always been limited. In more than fifteen years of Photoshop use, no improvement has had an impact on my business that justified a permanent 25% monthly increase in costs!

For me a big issue is cash flow. I make a strategic decision to make a purchase for my business. I do not want to be forced to pay higher prices every month. I can use my money more usefully. I am sure that most home-owners, amateurs, small businesses and teachers will be looking to their monthly bank statements and finding better things to be paying out on.

Adobe are also offering a 20Gb block of storage – pretty pathetic given today’s storage capacities. Not enough for all storage, too much for a few current images-in-progress. I would not trust Adobe to hold my full image library anyway. One accounting error and I would lose the lot as the contract foreclosed! They are also offering something referred to on the website as ‘limited access to services’. There is no clarity on what that means!

Connectivity is another questionable issue. For a substantial period of time each year I work in a place that does not have Internet access. I can get a low grade public connection if I drive five miles. To test out the new photoshop I would have to give up my perfectly good installation to test the connections I would use. If it fails I will be without software for my work. This is without doubt unacceptable. It is also questionable as to whether the average home connection will stand up to the demands of a high-grade graphics application. Let me know what happens if you try it!

So what happens to the little guy

Adobe Lightroom is being kept out of the Creative Cloud concept. They obviously recognise photographers will be seriously affected by the creative cloud. It’s strange they do not recognise that photographers have the same need for Photoshop. I work with a lot of keen amateurs and small-business professionals who use Photoshop. The Creative Cloud business model is going to put a lot of my friends and students off buying the application. It is just one step too far for most individuals and one man businesses. The extra cost, loss of flexibility, poor connectivity, and not being able to use it on my laptop means I will be unable to go with the Creative Cloud concept.

There is also to be an educational version of Ps.CC. Several schools I know are saying they will not be investing. It is a big cost increase for already stretched education budgets. Teachers pay is diminishing against inflation too. I cannot see my colleagues investing in great numbers – especially if they do not need it for work.

Focus on corporates

Adobe is making assumptions about their non-corporate users. Assumptions I don’t think will hold up for individual users and small businesses. They undoubtedly feel that they increase profits from the Creative Cloud. I am equally certain most corporate users will not have a problem. Adobe have focussed attention on the corporate market.

Corporate focus will leave most of us out in the cold. That will eventually damage the Adobe business. There will be a ripple effect from non-corporate users dropping out of the Photoshop experience pool. Teachers, students, club members, small businesses and keen amateurs will all find alternatives. This means less skill to draw on in the corporate field and less reason for spontaneous online support through blogs and support sites.

What are the alternatives?

Adobe seem to think they have the only route to creative photographic processing. Actually, for basic editing there are some great applications out there. One application I use, GIMP, is free. Paintshop Pro is a pretty good application and it handles the Adobe .psd files. So no conversion problems. For more advanced work there are lots of specialist applications too. Photoshop is already very weak on HDR processing and there are lots of quality applications around that do a much better job. The same is true for other advanced processing. I can see a future where competitor applications will be quickly rising to meet the Adobe cast-off users.

One thing is certain. We are going to see a change in the way many photographers do graphic processing in the future. I believe it will not be the future that Adobe are predicting. In fact, if other processing graphics systems raise to the occasion photographers could ultimately be better off.

Petition…

There is an online petition to Adobe about this new business model. A large response may impact on their decision-making. Please sign it now.
Online petition to Adobe regarding the Creative Cloud subscription model.

Understanding what you see through the viewfinder…

In the final image you want to see something beautiful, or at least well composed. That means understanding what is attractive to the eye in the image. Composition of images is all about understanding the visual elements in your scene. I have provided a basic slide show on this before. However, this one is quite well illustrated too. I thought that it would be useful revision for those that know about the “Elements of Art”, and a great introduction for those who have not come across this before.

In essence…

The elements of art are the components that go together when you are drawing, painting, or picking out things in your viewfinder. If they are aligned, balanced, harmonious and co-ordinated then the eye will find them attractive. However, first you need to know what these mysterious elements actually are. So, work through the slides and you will begin to see how to identify them in your pictures. If you have any questions then I would be glad to answer them in the comments boxes at the end of the page. Enjoy the slides…