Studio/Specimen Photography Options

[swizz]

I'm trying to get dialed-in with my indoor photography for mineral specimens and also my leather and knifeworks.
I'll be using a Nikon D3000 and my first attempts will be ISO-100, f-3.5, and slow shutter speed... maybe 1/60 sec.
Still need to get a background that's fairly neutral like gray for the bottom of the box which I don't have. I bought a large pad of misc-colors construction paper and I think I can find something drab in there to set in the box.
I should theoretically have three lights above but my box isn't very big. I can raise or lower those.... also adjust position universally. The three vertical white panels of the box are translucent. I draped a white plastic trash bag over the top to diffuse the lights which would otherwise create hot spots in the images. The light sources should theoretically be 5000K temp Daylight Fluorescent.... I'm using Daylight Floods which are a little more powerful than 5000K so I'm sure I'll be moving them higher or compensating with the camera settings.
Anyway... here's my setup thus far. If any of you are skilled at this please chine in!! I'm experimenting and learning.

[swizz]

Most of the day experimenting with settings and light angles but starting to have some success.
Here's what my setup looks like now. Sorry about all the clutter... it's on my workbench.


Here's my best result so far using my Mom's birthday knife (shhhhh!) as a subject.
f-3.5, ISO100, and 1/25 sec shutter speed (10 sec timer on tripod)
Mom's Knife Test Image by ghostcreekmine, on Flickr

[swizz]

Experimenting with some minerals now and managing the shadows pretty well with this setup.
This is a piece of Amazonite that Woody gave to me. It has an odd hexagonal quartz inclusion at the top which I hadn't noticed until this image.
f-3.5, ISO100, 1/20 sec shutter speed
Amazonite test image by ghostcreekmine, on Flickr

[Denise]

Looks like your on the right track! Fantastic picture of the knife!!

BTW........She is going to love that knife, you did an outstanding job on it Chris!! Fantastic detail on the sheath.

[Crusty]

Looks like you've about got it dialed in!

[swizz]

Thanks!
I'm not quite dialed in yet but getting in the range. I'd like to add a third overhead light and I also badly need a macro lens or extension tube... this lens is nice but too limiting for close work.
I think I need to experiment more with backgrounds for the minerals too which always influence the settings.
Thanks on the knife Denise! I'll have to take some pics and add them to the knifemaking thread.... maybe today cuz it's still snowing.

[swizz]

Just to see... I shot the same piece with the same settings and light... but with a black background.
not good, colors not true

[swizz]

I can't wait to try shooting that Lapis Brandon!

[Denise]

Test seem to be coming along good Chris! Amazonite is definitely a hard specimen to photograph, especially keeping it's true color. I'm most fond of it on black but it's tricky! Lapis Lazuli has also been tricky!! Good luck!

[swizz]

Yup, true color is tricky.... and "color temp" is a big deal. It's measured in Lumens.
I want to get true colors through my camera rather than compensating when processing.
The lower spectrum of Lumens naturally produce a yellowish hue.
The higher spectrum of Lumens naturally produce a blue hue.
Natural sunlight is about 5000K Lumens. There is basically no color pollution at 5000K.... over 5000K starts getting into the blues I believe.
My lighting system is 1300K which is very low on the spectrum.
My camera has settings (manual mode, 10 Lumen settings and infinite adjust!) for low-Lumen indoor lighting which compensates for this. Most cameras have basic settings for this. That helps dialing in... eliminates yellow pollution if low Lumen lighting is the source.
Amount, position, distance, and diffusion of lighting are the other challenges when doing this but color temp is the first priority.
Also aperture in relation to focus. Shooting at f-3.5 (wide open shutter) didn't focus to my satisfaction. Closing the shutter aperture to about f-6 really made everything more crispy. Had to let more light into the camera by extending the shutter time to 1/8 sec.
I'm really close to being dialed in with the 1300K Lumen lighting I have. The bowie pics in the other thread are untouched and the colors are very close to true... BUT... I could have allowed a hair more shutter time for slightly brighter images on those. I should have lightened them up in photoshop just a little before posting them but they're ok raw.
Think about Lumens and see what the Lumens are on the lighting that you're using. It usually is stamped on the collar of the bulb. I'm using spiral bulbs. Then check the settings in your camera (could be in the White Balance Menu). .
I'd like to buy some 5000K Daylight Fluorescent spirals but nothing available up here. Home Depot and Lowes carry those and they're not too expensive but they are many miles away. I'll manually compensate for the 1300K setup now, it's fine.
Beat the Lumen demon and half (well, at least 1/3) of the studio imaging challenges are licked.

[Scratch60]

Just a teaser. Yes that's a gold chunk at 800 magnifications.


 gold_x800.bmp ( 506.3K ) Number of downloads: 158

[Scratch60]

Rough shapes, taken at 800x

and one more at 800x
 unusual_shape00.bmp ( 682.51K ) Number of downloads: 168