I Step Up My Pen Photography

[WaskiSquirrel]

Some of you may know that I do video reviews of fountain pens. Not too long ago, I added a blog to my video offerings. Since my videos aim at the 4-6 minute mark (except for rodeos and special pens) I thought my blog should include more photos and more of the detail that was edited out of the videos. I actually own an awesome camera, paid for by doing high school sports photography: a Canon 5D Mark ii. Unfortunately, my lenses are geared toward sports photography. I don't have a good close up lens.

 

Recently, I was sitting in my living room watching the early morning sun creep across the floor when inspiration struck. I had been doing close-up pictures with my iPad camera, and not one of the new iPads. The photos lack any visual interest. The sunlight sparked my creativity. I photographed a Hero 616 (which is the pen I'm reviewing this week, so I'm going to withhold those photos). I also photographed the used Visconti Homo Sapiens I purchased. But, the most exciting pen was thanks to a loaner. One of my fans loaned me her Omas Ogiva for a review. Wow! I actually liked it so much that I purchased one of my own. Not my favorite color, but I wanted the nib like hers, and it turned out the only way to get it was in the same finish. So, the video will be her pen, but the photos will be mine because that sunlight inspired creativity. The photos I took of hers were flat and uninteresting by comparison.

 

I still have a lot to learn. But, I was thrilled by what I could do with a simple iPad camera. One thing I want to do better is get the brightly lit pen with the ultra-black background. The strong shadows also really bring out the texture in the Visconti, and the light also works well with the demonstrator. This was FUN!

 

This photo of the Omas Ogiva shows how the low morning light shines through the pen and makes an interesting effect.

 

I like lens flare. This is a photo of the pen, but I managed to get lens flare on the pen.

 

The clip on the pen has a little wheel that is supposed to make it easier to pocket. I haven't noticed that it helps much. But, once again, the light shows off the fun of the demonstrator.

 

The reason I liked the Omas Ogiva and purchased a finish that wasn't my favorite was that it has an extra flessibile nib. It writes beautifully. I wanted the same nib as I had on the loaner pen.

 

 

Those of you who watch my YouTube channel know that I purchased a used Visconti Homo Sapiens. The review will go up next week. But, I couldn't resist some photos. I think they show off its texture.

 

This photo shows off the body. Again, I like the black shadows, but it may be too much shadow for a pen photograph?

 

A closeup of the fun clip and one of the bands.

 

This photo looks down the length of the pen and shows that nice dark background.

[ArchiMark]

Very nice pics of a fun looking pen.....

 

Overall, think you're going in the right direction, photo-wise.....

 

I'd advise cropping a bit more on some of the pics, will make them stronger visually and put your attention more on the pen.

 

First pic, crop some of the top off, just a bit below where the shadow comes to a point.

 

Third pic, you don't realize it, but the focus is as much on the table scratch next to the pen as the pen itself. Always watch out for what's in the background of a photo.....you don't want that to compete with your image focal point.

 

Fourth pic, the pen cap is distracting from the pen nib....crop it out.....

 

Fifth pic, crop out some of the shadow area, so you delete some of the upper left of the white paper page.

 

Last pic, crop out some of the shadow to the left and a tad bit of it on the top, then crop out a little bit of the white are below the bottom of the pen.

 

Try the above and compare it to your current images and see if you think they're stronger images.....that put more attention on the pen itself.

 

Have done a lot of photography the past 40 years or so.....and had the good fortune to have some good mentors that pushed me a bit to feel OK to crop a bit tighter.....

 

Also, put a link to your pen reviews in your sig.....so we know where to find them....

 

Hope you don't mind my comments....

 

 

Mark

[WaskiSquirrel]

Very nice pics of a fun looking pen.....

 

Overall, think you're going in the right direction, photo-wise.....

 

I'd advise cropping a bit more on some of the pics, will make them stronger visually and put your attention more on the pen.

 

First pic, crop some of the top off, just a bit below where the shadow comes to a point.

 

Third pic, you don't realize it, but the focus is as much on the table scratch next to the pen as the pen itself. Always watch out for what's in the background of a photo.....you don't want that to compete with your image focal point.

 

Fourth pic, the pen cap is distracting from the pen nib....crop it out.....

 

Fifth pic, crop out some of the shadow area, so you delete some of the upper left of the white paper page.

 

Last pic, crop out some of the shadow to the left and a tad bit of it on the top, then crop out a little bit of the white are below the bottom of the pen.

 

Try the above and compare it to your current images and see if you think they're stronger images.....that put more attention on the pen itself.

 

Have done a lot of photography the past 40 years or so.....and had the good fortune to have some good mentors that pushed me a bit to feel OK to crop a bit tighter.....

 

Also, put a link to your pen reviews in your sig.....so we know where to find them....

 

Hope you don't mind my comments....

 

 

Mark

 

Thanks for the specific suggestions about cropping! I've really improved at it with sports photography, but my other photography lags way behind. Once I read your suggestions, I saw analogues in my sports photography: what is the picture supposed to show? Anything else is extraneous. I did learn to stick with a standard size format, but it may be less important with pen photography: no one will ever buy these photos!

 

As for the link: I know that this post was a bit of self promotion, but it was also seeking exactly the kind of advice you offered. I'm uncomfortable posting links to my own website and videos because it seems too much like self promotion. Moreover, the photos may have been posted, but the actual reviews have not, so I have nothing to link to except the lackluster photos I took before I noticed the sunlight on my living room floor.

 

Thank-you so much for the specific suggestions. It took suggestions like these to help my sports photography and get it to the level that allowed me to purchase a good camera and useful lenses. I welcome even more specific suggestions!

Edited March 28, 2016 by Waski_the_Squirrel

[max dog]

Very nice pictures. I'm no photographer but I've heard the best time to take pictures is just before sunset or after sunrise when the low sun brings out all the brilliance and color which is exactly what your pictures capture. The pens look gorgeous.

 

I'm not a fan of yellow finish but the yellow demonstrator Omas is pretty appealing there.

 

With the Omas and Visconti I am sure those nibs are going to be flexy and wonderful.

[saskia_madding]

I find I have a lot of difficulty waiting for the sun. I live in Toronto, and to take photos of stationery without fancy photography equipment, you really need the sun to cooperate and the wind to not join the party. Waiting for just such a day to take photos of new stationery designs is killer, so I really feel your pain. The new photos you've posted here are really nice, though I do think they will be even better once you've cropped them.

[tinta]

What focal length lens(es) were you using to take the posted pictures?

 

Cropping is an important tool for getting rid of distracting background details. When I look at an image on my Elements 12 Editor, my first task is usually cropping. Sometimes that's all it takes to improve an image.

With your camera's large sensor, you have a greater potential to crop tighter (without losing image quality), something which I cannot do as well with my Android phone or Canon G9 P&S.

[TSherbs]

great pics, Wask! Beautiful pens, too.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I find I have a lot of difficulty waiting for the sun. I live in Toronto, and to take photos of stationery without fancy photography equipment, you really need the sun to cooperate and the wind to not join the party. Waiting for just such a day to take photos of new stationery designs is killer, so I really feel your pain. The new photos you've posted here are really nice, though I do think they will be even better once you've cropped them.

 

I grew up on the East Coast, so I know what you mean about sunny days. Here in SW North Dakota, we only get about 15 inches of rain a year, so sunny days are pretty common. I have gone back to the pictures and re-cropped them without worrying about standard sizes. Since nobody will be making prints of these photos, that worked really nicely.

 

What focal length lens(es) were you using to take the posted pictures?

 

Cropping is an important tool for getting rid of distracting background details. When I look at an image on my Elements 12 Editor, my first task is usually cropping. Sometimes that's all it takes to improve an image.

With your camera's large sensor, you have a greater potential to crop tighter (without losing image quality), something which I cannot do as well with my Android phone or Canon G9 P&S.

 

This seems to be a good lesson for me. With my sports photography, I learned to use standard-size crops so parents could make prints. Nobody will be doing prints of these, so I don't have to stick to standard sizes.

 

By the way: I'm taking these pictures on an iPad camera. I'd like to use my Canon 5d, but I wasn't thrilled with the pictures I was getting. I had tried both a 50mm and an 85mm lens. I thought the 28mm would be too distorting, and just hadn't tried the 135mm or the 200mm, though I have gotten good garden and flower pictures with them. Admittedly, I never tried the Canon with the light like these photos, so maybe that's something to try?

 

great pics, Wask! Beautiful pens, too.

 

Thanks! I'll try to upload the re-cropped versions later when I have more time.

[slippery when wet]

If I had access to a Canon 5d, that would be my tool of choice. A good 50mm macro can be purchased for not a lot of money, if that is an issue then maybe cheap macro filters (+1,+2,+3) might give you good results. While I love natural light I wouldn't allow that to dictate the shot, a light source can give you greater control over things like shadowing. Back ground clutter should be kept to a minimum, the emphasis should be on the pen and really nothing else. Even with a standard 50mm lens and the resolution the camera provides, you still should be able to crop heavily without compromising the image quality. Hope this helps.

[pen2paper]

What a interesting thread. Thanks Wasaki and photographer contributors!

 

Very non-photographer here but with a photographer friend who's also been generous sharing over the years.

It's good exercise scrolling and holding up masking to see what you wanted to share, like the flare, and what the eye is drawn to, further enhanced by cropping.

 

In the first shot the woodgrain just under pen works nicely (for my non-xpert eyes) where the ink reflects red in the pen shaped shadow.

Edited March 30, 2016 by pen2paper

[ppdiaporama]

It's nice to see a thread on pens and photography.

 

Depending on the minimum focusing distance on your 200mm lens it may be an interesting choice. Before I purchsed a dedicated macro lens, I would regularly use my 200mm lens to do some macro shots.

 

 

**edited to complete an incomplete word!

Edited March 29, 2016 by ppdiaporama

[tinta]

Close up lenses (filters) could work quite well with a standard 50 mm. lens, though you'd have to stop down to increase your depth of field. Steadying the camera with a tripod, a table pod, a Gorilla or even resting a beanbag is useful.

[WaskiSquirrel]

If I had access to a Canon 5d, that would be my tool of choice. A good 50mm macro can be purchased for not a lot of money, if that is an issue then maybe cheap macro filters (+1,+2,+3) might give you good results. While I love natural light I wouldn't allow that to dictate the shot, a light source can give you greater control over things like shadowing. Back ground clutter should be kept to a minimum, the emphasis should be on the pen and really nothing else. Even with a standard 50mm lens and the resolution the camera provides, you still should be able to crop heavily without compromising the image quality. Hope this helps.

 

I was looking at a 50mm macro. I have savings, but not in that part of the budget. I haven't really budgeted for new lenses until I started experimenting over the weekend with the iPad. I may have to put a macro lens into my budget. I think I agree with you: a 50mm macro will probably be good for what I want to do.

 

Part of the reason I was using daylight was the iPad camera. In less than ideal light, it starts to show its limitations. I agree: with the Canon, I could get away with artificial light sources. Something to try, especially possibly with the 200mm lens. On a tripod, I can use that at a low speed. Maybe I can even get some nifty effects with a tiny aperture with that lens and a really low speed.

 

I'm still torn on the background. A white poster or sheet of paper is plain, but also uninteresting. However, my TV trays have too much character between scratches and ink stains. Over the 17 years I've had them, they've been dinner tables, desks, computer stands, and bedstands. I do like the blackened background, and sort of envision the pen raised up somehow in bright light with the really underexposed background behind it. Still working on that part!

[slippery when wet]

Hope you don't mind but this as an example of one of my photo's. My main aim is to make it fit seamlessly into the background, this suits product display maybe more than what your aiming for, not sure ?? Also I would be looking at a second hand lens in the excellent to mint range, great lens can be had for under $100

Edited March 30, 2016 by slippery when wet

[ppdiaporama]

If light is a concern and you're opening up the budget ;-) you can now find very inexpensive (<100) bounce flashes on amazon that work with all the TTL functions of your camera.

[line]

Is this thread still "alive"? If not, I'll try to blow some life in it again. I'm trying to learn more about photography. This is a photo I've just taken of some Norwegian Fountain Pen history:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q794/china_line/litt%20fyllepennhistorie_zpszeixxebc.jpg

[tinta]

Is this thread still "alive"? If not, I'll try to blow some life in it again. I'm trying to learn more about photography. This is a photo I've just taken of some Norwegian Fountain Pen history:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q794/china_line/litt%20fyllepennhistorie_zpszeixxebc.jpg

You have just given it life. Very nice. A Norwegian instrument?

[line]

You have just given it life. Very nice. A Norwegian instrument?

Thanks! Both the pen and the ink is Norwegian. The pen is called Pan jr. and my father got it from his grandmother many many years ago. As far as I know, there is no longer any fountain pen or ink production in our country. It is all history now.

[tinta]

Both Canada & Hungary (the country of my birth) used to have fountain pen manufacture. Like you say, it's history now.

[FPRebel]

Is this thread still "alive"? If not, I'll try to blow some life in it again. I'm trying to learn more about photography. This is a photo I've just taken of some Norwegian Fountain Pen history:

http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q794/china_line/litt%20fyllepennhistorie_zpszeixxebc.jpg

I like. A lot.

Great composition, colors, subject! So much to love!

What did you use for lighting?