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A Short Course in
Digital
Desktop Studio Photography
The
Complete Guide to Lighting and Photographing Small
Objects with your Digital Camera
122
pages
Printed Book in Black & White and eBook on CD in Full
Colour both included
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This book is all about
lighting and photographing small objects with your digital camera
although the principles you learn will also serve just as well with
larger subjects. It’s for small business people, artists,
naturalists, collectors, writers, and anyone else who wants to take
high-quality studio pictures under controlled conditions. It
presents a totally new approach to studio photography made possible
by the two most important ways that digital cameras are
revolutionizing studio photography for the better:
Many digital cameras allow you to preview your picture on the LCD
monitor built into your camera, and all allow you to review your
results immediately. This makes studio photography very interactive.
You can explore and experiment to your heart’s content—and there are
no film costs. With some imagination and the techniques discussed in
this book, you’ll get the image you want.
The camera’s white balance setting lets you shoot under almost any
light. You no longer need expensive and complex strobes to get good
results. You can now use simple and inexpensive tungsten, quartz, or
fluorescent bulbs with reflectors. Not only are the results as good,
but with the lights on all of the time, you can see the effect they
are having as you arrange your setup.
These two things, all by themselves, remove
the guesswork from studio photography. If you have had any fears
about trying to do your own studio photography, you can now lay
those fears aside. Another piece of good news is that you don’t need
a special camera. The digital camera you already own will probably
be fine.
This book is comprehensive and explains
camera settings used in studio photography and describes lighting
and other studio equipment. It presents sixteen cases studies so you
can see how a professional studio photographer thinks about the
images he’s taking and see the techniques he uses. Finally, there is
a section that answers all of your questions about image sizes, and
one that shows you how to add images to eBay listings. While putting
all of this information together, we have continually kept two
things in mind:
We have been conscious of your budget because most of us have more
creativity then money. We describe professional equipment, but also
show you how to get equally good results using inexpensive materials
you can find at your local office, hardware, or art supply store.
We have been conscious of your space limitations because most of us
are trying to squeeze a studio into our already full house,
apartment, or office. We’ll show you how to work on top of a desk or
collapsible card table. We’ll highlight equipment that you can knock
down for easy storage, or put to other uses when not photographing.
With the development of tools such as
digital cameras and page layout programs, and the vast expansion of
low-cost marketing outlets, a new era of self-publishing has
arrived. All by yourself, you can now create illustrated catalogues,
Web sites, portfolios, on-line auction listings, and eBooks to share
information about, or sell, all kinds of objects from anaglyphs to
zeotropes.
We’ve tried to make this book a gateway
into the new, and much easier and less expensive world of studio
photography. We hope it guides you to the results you want in your
own studio work.
Part 1
The Camera in the Digital Desktop Studio
- Choosing the Camera 6
- Choosing the Lens or Amount of
Zoom 7
- Focusing 9
- Controlling Depth of Field 10
- Selecting an Image Size 13
- Selecting an Image Quality 16
- Controlling Exposures 19
- Metering the Setup 22
- Metering and Middle Gray 23
- Using Exposure Compensation 24
- Other Camera Features 27
- Controlling Brightness—Histograms
28
- Controlling Colors—White Balance
30
- Putting it All Together—Exposure
and White Balance 32
Part 2
The Digital Desktop Photo Studio
- Using the Camera’s Built-in Flash
35
- Using an External Flash 36
- External Flash Accessories 37
- Controlling Flash Exposures 38
- Using Continuous Lights 39
- Using Strobes 41
- Connecting the Camera and Lights
42
- Understanding Hard and Soft Light
43
- Using Fill Cards and Reflectors 45
- Using Diffusers 47
- Other Lighting Controls 49
- Choosing a Background 50
- Supporting the Camera 52
- Collecting Studio Stuff 54
- Creating the Studio 55
- Positioning the Camera 60
- Positioning Lights—Introduction 63
- The Main Light 64
- The Fill Light 65
- The Background Light 66
- The Rim Light 67
- Getting Ready—Cleaning the Item 68
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Part 3
Case Studies from the Digital Desktop Studio
- Thinking About Your Photograph 70
- Case Study—The Road Runner 72
- Case Study—A Kodak Truck Bank 74
- Case Study—A Neon Flamingo 76
- Case Study—A Reflective Stainless
Steel
Coffee Holder 78
- Case Study—A Textured Leather
Battery Wallet 80
- Case Study—Two Dimensional Flat
Art 82
- Case Study—Objects Behind Glass 84
- Case Study—A Reflective Silver
Chalice 86
- Case Study—A Translucent Bottle 88
- Case Study—Transparent Crystal 90
- Case Study—A Part Opaque and
Part Translucent Mineral 92
- Case Study—A Product With Its
Packaging 94
- Case Study—A Chinese Porcelain
Vase 96
- Case Study—An Animated Object 98
- Case Study—A Turquoise Necklace
100
- Case Study—A Snapping Turtle 102
Part 4
Displaying and Printing Digital Photos
- Pixels and Image Sizes 105
- Displaying Images 107
- Printing Images 110
- Understanding Pixels per Inch 112
- Color Depth and File Size 113
Part 5
Placing Photos on eBay
- Preparing Photos 116
- Getting Started 117
- Using eBay Picture Services 118
- Using Other Hosting Services 121
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© Dennis P Curtin - All Rights
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