Pen Photography on a Budget

[Djehuty]

I'd like to start taking some decent photographs of my pens, and perhaps other smallish objects, but I'm not really sure where to begin. The results when I've tried have been less than stellar. Reflections on the metal bits, fuzziness, etc. Nothing looks nearly as good as the fantastic photos I see here.

 

I have a very good camera, a Canon EOS 20D with an assortment of lenses (including a 100 mm macro lens). What I don't have at the moment is money. I've seen some setups for taking reference photos of small objects for $100 - $200, and that's too much for me right now. When I say "budget" I'm not kidding. Pretend I'm both cheap and broke. On second thought, don't pretend.

 

Might anyone have suggestions for a way to cobble together a pen-photography rig with standard household items and perhaps a few very small purchases?

 

[Phthalo]

Your technique is perhaps what needs improvement, not your tools...

 

I use my tripod, natural daylight, a small desk lamp (with a cheap white shade (diffuser) in front of it) and I bounce my flash off the ceiling or wall. Occasionally I eliminate reflections and soften shadows with a strategically placed piece of white board. That's it.

 

I have the Canon EOS 20D and 100mm 2.8 Macro lens also, but I use a remote release as well. I bought it originally for my IR photography, but it's handy because it allows me to use my right hand to bounce the flash and press the trigger, and then use my left hand to hold a white reflector (A3 piece of white cardboard).

 

I could use a light tent and powerful lighting, but I enjoy that my equipment doesn't hamper me, and it still feels creative and spontaneous. I shoot RAW exclusively, and post-process every photo.

[Wizergig]

A couple of other suggestions would be to use a cooler with a white interior to bounce flash. Or to use a white lamp shade. Place the shade on a table, objects in the center, a light on either side, and shoot down from the top. Also sharpen your images just a little on the computer, not in the camera.

[jsonewald]

One of the best ways to get good small object photos is with a light tent. You can buy them ready made, and some Walmart stores even have small ones in the photo department. However, you can do a lot with a plain white bed sheet and clothespins. Drape the sheet and pin it so that there is a slit to poke the lens through. All lights should be outside of the tent. If you buy a sheet, go cheap. It will work better the thinner the fabric is.

[RLTodd]

There are books at the library on this subject, usually having something to do with lighting jewelry for photos. There are probably some DIY articles that you can google on the net.

[wimg]

If you have a lens that can focus up to about 1:5 or 1:6 you're actually fine on that front. Other than that, attach some white printer paper to the insides of a large box, from which you have cut some windows, as large as possible while maintaining some rigidity. Use a few desk lights or other lights scattered around the box, create some nice setup in the box, top of box facing forwards, and off you go.

 

Just experiment a little with the position and distance of lights, and use a focal length between 40 and 100 mm. Less than 40 will give you too much distortion, more than 100 m and you need to step too far away.

 

Have fun!

 

Warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

There are books at the library on this subject, usually having something to do with lighting jewelry for photos. There are probably some DIY articles that you can google on the net.

There actually are a few topics on this subject right here, if you search for them.

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Djehuty]

Thanks... for some reason, my brain has never been much use when it comes to DIY projects. I begin to ponder one, and suddenly I hear my father's voice, repeating the two wise sayings he so often employed when I tried to help him with his projects, or tried to think of better ways to do things: "DON'T HELP!" and "DON'T THINK!"

 

I did poke about this forum a bit, but searching for "photography" failed for obvious reasons, and "light tent" brought up references to $100+ light tents.

 

These are some excellent suggestions, thanks.

 

[dwmatteson]

I've had some good success finding reasonably priced light tents on eBay. I have a pyramidal tent (similar to the ones Ron Zorn sells) as well as a fairly large box-style tent. Neither cost more than about $50. While they're nice, I had good results using a setup similar to what Wim suggested.

 

I cut out the sides of a copy paper box, leaving about an inch on each edge and glued some white tissue paper (like you'd stuff into a gift bag) to the inside. I then glued in some white poster board so that the surface was curved in order to minimize any sharp angles that might create shadows. Another draped piece of tissue paper across the front with a hole cut out for the lens to poke through and I was all set. After that, I just set up a couple of desk lamps I picked up from Target on either side of the box and I was ready to go. Cheap and easy. Worked pretty well, too.

 

Don

[jmkeuning]

Google this:

 

DIY Macro tent

 

you will get started!

[RLTodd]

$100 + !!!!!!!!

 

I was thinking more along the lines of coat hanger wire, duct tape, old cloth hankerchiefs, tinfoil and cardboard, and daylight flouresecent bulbs...................

[jmkeuning]

$10 Macro Studio

 

This is what I used until I got my tent from eBay for $5. The rarely get this cheap... but I just kept looking. It's a lot easier than the cardboard box!

[RLTodd]

$10 Macro Studio

 

This is what I used until I got my tent from eBay for $5. The rarely get this cheap... but I just kept looking. It's a lot easier than the cardboard box!

 

I like that better than the coat hangers...........

[SMG]

Look up strobist in Google and there is a whole bunch of ideas on this very topic.

 

Personally I used to use a light tent, but I have graduated to umbrella's and brolly boxes with off camera flash. I use a Nikon SB-600, Vivitar 285HV and a Nikon SB-50DX all fired with optical slaves.

 

Here is my old setup,

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b319/Ragnarok69/lighttent.jpg

and here is an old photo from it,

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b319/Ragnarok69/IMG_3587.jpg

 

Here is one from my new setup.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b319/Ragnarok69/blackjuniorpen-1.jpg

 

The Pelikans were taken with an S2 IS and the Vac was taken with my Nikon D80 and a Sigma lens, 28-135 I think. I have a Sigma 105mm macro lens which is stunning and should give similar results to your setup.

 

Lighting is the hardest part, the rest is easy. Good camera (20D check) tripod, remote or timed release of shutter and a small aperture will give you good results.

 

Cheers,

Sean

[ArPharazon]

I followed some of the links shown in this thread, and ended up making myself a DIY Lightbox as described by The Strobist. I started with a medium packing box (about 18" cube), and used thin white cotton cloth, white poster board, and some tape and glue. Total cost of the lightbox was about $4 and took me about two hours (spread over two evenings to allow the glue to dry). I added a few pieces of colored poster board to use as backdrops (white, black, dark and light blue, and light green) so the total cost came up to about $8.

 

I didn't take any pics of the actual box . . . maybe I'll post some later.

 

Here are some examples of a parker 51 pen and box taken this afternoon. Camera is just a Canon Powershot A710IS on a tripod. The box was lit from the sides with a couple of desk lamps with 75 watt bulbs.

 

I also threw in a few initial shots of Dr. Evil and Gandalf that I made while constructing the box. I customize action figures as a hobby (neither of these, though), so this will be an excellent tool for that as well!

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2208/1956936362_d2cd76467b_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2065/1956109387_cfd3177168_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2232/1956937898_7d6f9a05b5_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2106/1956110923_f1e1023315_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/1956940324_b7426fc8fd_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/1956941316_1274e4e8d3_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2351/1956111799_631b8818ff_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2165/1957135143_1e87b317bd_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2071/1957961656_5294b63ced_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/1957960248_36f2ab2320_b.jpg

[donwinn]

I'd like to start taking some decent photographs of my pens, and perhaps other smallish objects, but I'm not really sure where to begin. The results when I've tried have been less than stellar. Reflections on the metal bits, fuzziness, etc. Nothing looks nearly as good as the fantastic photos I see here.

 

I have a very good camera, a Canon EOS 20D with an assortment of lenses (including a 100 mm macro lens). What I don't have at the moment is money. I've seen some setups for taking reference photos of small objects for $100 - $200, and that's too much for me right now. When I say "budget" I'm not kidding. Pretend I'm both cheap and broke. On second thought, don't pretend.

 

Might anyone have suggestions for a way to cobble together a pen-photography rig with standard household items and perhaps a few very small purchases?

 

There was a post in Marketplace sometime back offering a light tent for around $30 USD. My oldest son has a Canon Digital Rebel (I think that's the model, he's had it for a short while, and it's an upgrade from his previous Canon. I showed him the light tent post, and he wants to make his own, starting small, so he can make a larger one later. But if you don't want ot make your own, there is the inexpensive light tent from marketplace.

 

Donnie

[Djehuty]

$10 Macro Studio

 

This is what I used until I got my tent from eBay for $5. The rarely get this cheap... but I just kept looking. It's a lot easier than the cardboard box!

 

Fantastic! Thank you!

 

I will spend some time browsing that site. That's precisely the sort of thing I need, but I've never been sufficiently handy or sufficiently knowledgeable about photography gizmos to devise such a contraption.