....Worth A Thousand Words____

by EIGHTY EIGHTFAN1

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     Taking good pictures of the product for your review will save you in typing.

     The last few issues of the E-Mag has had some great product reviews. But the review isn't a great review without pictures. The way we set up for those pictures, take those pictures, and either fix those picture in our favorite photo fixing programs, or present them raw, will save you  from getting carpol tunnel from typing.

     Unless you're a professional photographer, or even a hobbyist shutterbug, and have professional cameras, lights and back drops, you have to do with what you have at home or in your workshop. I'm one of those.

     Just placing the product on the workbench, without a back drop can be confusing, and distract the reader from the product.

     Using a back drop, when taking a picture of the product you're reviewing, is a must. Without it, the background can be distracting. You want the attention  to be on the product, and not a project you're in the middle of  working on,  sitting in the background of you're workbench, or what you had for diner that night on the kitchen table.

 

     Two pieces of unpainted styrene sheets, cardboard or plywood painted white, even just a sheet hung up with tacks. works well for this. Not only do you want a plain backing, but also a base. This also helps in reflecting light onto the product..

Placing two pieces of plain styrene, one for the back, and one for the base, helps hide stuff you don't want the reader to see.

      Here's a picture of the same building as above, placed on a sheet of

      styrene, and leaned up on a couple of spray paint cans, behind it.

 

 

      Lighting is also important when taking good pictures for your review. Since a lot of us don't have the professional lighting equipment, we have to use what is available.

 

     Placing the subject directly under some form of lighting will give the best results. Fluorescent lights are probably the best. The pictures you see here were taken under a double row of fluorescent lights.

 

     Natural sunlight would be the optimum, but standing outside in cold weather during the winter, setting up your shots, especially up here in the northern hemisphere, is not very inviting. Using the flash in "fill" mode also helps in bringing out the details.

Using the flash in fill mode, will bring out details. Compare this

picture, taken without the flash, with the previous one.