new pictures (opinions wanted)

I don't really have special lighting - it's sooooooo mickey mouse. LOL I use cheap table lamps - one has a full spectrum bulb and the other has a regular incandescent bulb. I shine them both on the subject. The subject (beads, most of the time) sits in a box that is made from a frame of wood with white fabric stretched over three sides. The lights shine in from the top, and on top of that I draped a piece of tinfoil to keep the light in and even it up a bit. The front of the box is open so I can take pictures. The back of the box has a sheet of light blue paperboard and the bottom of the box has a piece of felt fabric with a piece of plain white paper on top of it. Here's a pic of the whole deal so you can see.

After I take the pics, I touch them up in Paint Shop Pro to make sure the colors are true and the pics are crisp and clear. Hope this helps!

That encase millefiore is cool.

And those lavendar beads are very nice, but the pink spacers seem not to quite go with the set. I like the lavish sets you've made, but these with more clear glass are even nicer. If this is the lavendar that changes color, I think it would be good to put pieces of paper (or something which will stay color true) in the picture to show what colors to expect.

And the flowers and bunny are pretty, but I wouldn't put all those colors together. If I had the set, I'd only use those beads in pairs with matched base colors. Or maybe I'd use them all if there were co-ordinatingspacers that picked up the dominant color in the flowers. Probably that darker mauve-y pink.

Nice work. I like that you do many different things.

Tina

I WANT THE BUNNY!!!!!

Mj

ooooooh, now that i can do...hmmm...i'll have dh rig up something for me. Thanks! I still want to use different coloured papers in addition to the lights, though....but this will help with shadows, etc.

ROFL, i know what you mean. Being a scrapbooker, i have a huge palette of different coloured papers. I think the combo of that with Kandice's suggestions...i'll get some good pix finally, and i'll replace the cruddy ones on my website, so you can see what my stuff REALLY looks like.

Thanks Aula! I really appreciate your feedback. You gave me a lot to think about. I kind of felt like the floral set, that's with the bunny, was too harsh too. Maybe I'll try some clear crystals between the beads to give them some space. I also want to try a little color behind the bunny. I wanted to show him with the set, but white on white is a little too much.

Thanks Tina! I tend to like a matched base color, so maybe I'll look at that bunny set again. I also didn't notice that the pixied spacers with the lavender look more pink. I had to go and take another look at them and you're right!

Yes! Amethyst is bar none THE hardest color for me to photograph. The trick is high lighting and then a higher adjustment on the EV section of your camera. Then a manual touch up using software afterward, to add more blue to the color. It's a total pain, but if the color looks icky in the photo, people won't know how great the color is in person. People have asked me if my color is true or if I "exaggerate" the color. I don't - I make it as true to life as I possibly can. And I tend to mix glass colors to get a good shade of amethyst, and people don't know that and assume I am just making the color nicer in the photo.

Yes - it does help with shadows. Just keep in mind that if your beads have any transparency at all, the colors will distort if you place them on a colored background. And some colored backgrounds will wash out the colors of your beads. This is why I use only white, light grey or pale blue.

Ok, dumb me. What is EV? Or is this one of those things that will hit me as soon as I hit "send". Lol.

Nah - I don't know what it stands for either, but I know it's there on my manual set-up for my digital camera. The other factor is white balance. The white balance is a measure of how much blue and how much yellow goes into the picture. The EV is a measure of how light the picture is. This is, of course, a layman's totally un-technical view. I know what works, but I have no idea why. :D

Ok, thanks! I think I'd better find the manual to this thing!

Jerri

To subscribe to the Beadbimbo mailing list, send a blank email to: snipped-for-privacy@topica.com

My two favorites are a tanish color and a very pale pink. For some reason, digital cameras do not do well with white backgrounds.>>

HMMMM maybe this would solve my "greenish gray" problem I've been having -- I keep trying white -- maybe I should try a neutral tan color???? I thought of black - but with many of my beads - that would be a bad choice...

thanks for the tip - will try .... and see if that is the solution.

Cheryl last semester of lawschool! yipee! DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

Jerri, Love the bunny set. I like all the pastels together, reminds me of those wonderful Easter colored M and M's. I also like the lavender set. The millifliori set does photograph a little harshly.Sometimes you can lessen that effect by photographing it on a color which is the dominant one in the set. You could use fabric (even a blouse or a sleeve) if you don't have colored paper. Patti

Thanks again. Talked with DH tonight, and we'll be experimenting with this stuff after we get our tax return money this week.

Hi,

I love the bunny set as it is...really, really, nice! (Ilike the others, too, but that bunny is just too sweet!) As for the photographs, I think a white or grey ground works best for beads and jewelry. I noticed a big difference in the quality of my photos when I switched to cardstock or posterboard, rather than regular paper.You might want to try those and see if you notice a difference. The reason I switched is that I noticed that the camera picks up all the texture/fibers/fuzzies in plain paper and it shows on the monitor. It alters the color in odd ways, too. (both the color of the paper and the beads...)

Also, have you tried taking the shot from over the beads rather than a front view?

I love your beads...beautiful!

Best, Deborah

Hi Deborah! Thanks for the tip on using cardstock or posterboard. I'll give that a try. In the bunny set, I was taking the picture from where I did to show the bunny. I guess what I would probably do is take a picture from that angle, then one straight down on the beads, and a separate one of the bunny.