Hand turned ebony pen body with and without light tent

[Don Kondra]

Greetings,

I recently purchased a hand turned ebony pen and decided to use it in a comparison shot.

In hindsight, it wasn't a fair comparison as I didn't remove my softboxes when shooting with the light tent... gaboon ebony is a very dark wood and even in bright daylight it is difficult to see any color.

In both shots I removed the ink cartridge and mounted the pen on a piece of wire stuck in a block of wood.

Anywho, this is the pen in a light tent on a gray backdrop, Alien Bee B1600's with 2' x 3' softboxes from the sides.



And this is the pen on a black paper backdrop and 2 ~ 2' x 2' black paper reflectors on the sides. Strobes with stock reflectors.



Which do you like best ?

Cheers, Don

[caleb]

The first looks so much more elegant that I don't think the missing detail in the wood is a big deal. You could try some photoshopping to merge files and get some detail in the wood without losing the sleek shine. That first shot is beautiful though

[Don Kondra]

Thanks, the light tent shot definitely was the "easier" of the two

This is the set up for the second shot. Black paper backdrop, black paper home made reflectors, strobes with stock 7" reflectors at ~ 1/8 power.

Tried many angles with lights and reflectors. Even had to cover the tripod cuz it was reflecting in the bottom of the pen...



Cheers, Don

PS > I shot with and without a black back, ie. three sides and did not notice any difference other than the image was a tiny bit brighter....

[livin4lax09]

#1. I like the colors in the top and bottom sections more.

What's the point of the black bounce, if I may ask? Does it do something specific, or just allow less light to reflect onto the pen than a white board?

[Don Kondra]

The point of the bounce cards is to control what is reflected in the surface of the pen including the hot spot from the strobe.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words

These are straight out of camera all at the same f value and light power.

First is the pen simply on a black background....



This is with black reflectors 90 degrees to the pen and the lights in the middle of the cards.



And finally the cards are turned about 20 degrees to the front and the lights are at the back of the cards at about 45 degrees to the camera.



And just for the heck of it, here's the same shot with white side reflectors..



Cheers, Don

[Photo-John]

Great post, Don. The example photos are excellent. I would like to see more posts like this in this forum!

I just want to point out that you don't have to get it perfect in-camera. I agree the wood in the pen needs some more detail. But I wouldn't expect to get it all in one shot, with no post-processing. I would set up my shot to minimize reflections and hold highlight and shadow detail. Then I'd simply adjust the pen/wood as needed using Photoshop masked adjustment layers.

[Don Kondra]

Thanks John,

I'm still debating with myself about the "color" of the wood. As I said, in daylight it is barely detectable. But in the photo it is gorgeous

So is that good technique or false advertising?

I should also mention at this point I enjoy fooling with the lights and reflectors much more than post processing. It is also likely going to be a while, if ever, before I upgrade from Elements 7...

You see, there is this 7-14 I've been lusting after, he, he...

Cheers, Don

[Photo-John]

I'm still debating with myself about the "color" of the wood. As I said, in daylight it is barely detectable. But in the photo it is gorgeous

So is that good technique or false advertising?

That is an interesting consideration. You can adjust it as much as you want. What the camera sees and what our eye/brain perceives are two very different things. Conveying that in the final image often requires some selective adjustment.

I should also mention at this point I enjoy fooling with the lights and reflectors much more than post processing. It is also likely going to be a while, if ever, before I upgrade from Elements 7...

Fair enough if you like playing with the lights. But if you're after the best final product you need to use all the tools at your disposal. With Elements I think you can copy the original layer, lighten it and then delete all but the wood section. That's not as elegant a solution as masked adjustment layers. But it will get the job done

[caleb]

Thanks for the setup picture and the pictures of different lighting methods. That is usually more interesting to me than the final outcome!

Regarding the debate of camera vs eyes... I think it's a fine line and depends on the usage of the photo. For selling the pen, I believe it is false advertising. For selling the artist or an online gallery displaying the art, I believe it's good technique. There is a fine line, but, imo, it falls where a buyer would be disappointed when opening the package.