How to improve the pictures I taking ?

[Ninjaz]

I really like to improve the pictures I am taking (I think now I need better lighting).

I got an ok digital camera Fujifilm Finepix S6500fd - got it for about two years now and it still working 

When I first took pictures of items I didn't use any aids and the pictures looked really bad (when I zoomed I could see some kind of blur).
I thought it probably me moving while taking the picture so I loan a tripod (I still got it lol they didn't asked for it back) and nothing changed (it wasn't me).
I got better background (reflect light) and better bulb from the room and two small ones and it got a little better but still not good as I wanted.
So after a while of taking bad pictures I just leave it be.

Few month ago I decide I want to give it another shot and bought small light box (30x30x30cm - just for SAKs – it probably too small I should have get the 50x50x50cm one) - it is great and I get much better pictures.
When I take a picture now I turn the room light off and turn on two desk lamps from both sides (the desk lamps I got are pretty lame - I got them for only 5$ each and the lamps I am using are just those energy saving lamps that suppose to make day light color but I got the small ones so they are 10w and suppose to be like 50w.)

So I am thinking to get better lights but I really need advice on what should I get ? (I don't want to spend more money and still not to be happy)

Any advices about how to take better pictures with the light box ?

Well I do use Paint Shop Pro for making the pictures better after taking them but if the raw picture isn't good there isn't not much to do (even with Photoshop I prefer work with PSP even when I got Photoshop and it suppose to be more professional)

P.S. I wasn't sure if to post it here or the break room so if it is in the wrong section please move it there.

[Roadie]

Well it looks like you've got the lighting sorted, the only other thing i would ask is, are you using the macro function on your camera? Other than that, maybe move the camera further away and use the (optical) zoom to make the object bigger rather than moving the camera closer

[eodtech]

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LOOK HERE FOR INFORMATION
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[Ninjaz]

Well it looks like you've got the lighting sorted, the only other thing i would ask is, are you using the macro function on your camera? Other than that, maybe move the camera further away and use the (optical) zoom to make the object bigger rather than moving the camera closer

Yeah I am using the macro and some times even the super-macro. and yes I am using the optical zoom (one of reasons I wanted that specific model I bought is that the zoom is manual and not electronic - the focus can be controlled manual as well)

LOOK HERE FOR INFORMATION

I saw that before - I got bulbs that look like this:
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/image/70488448
but mine are much less powerfull.
and I got this light box:

[J-sews]

Hey ninjaz, would you mind posting a few pictures in this thread so we can see what you mean?

[Ninjaz]

Hey ninjaz, would you mind posting a few pictures in this thread so we can see what you mean?

Well now my pictures are ok but not great... I see pictures you guys post (guys like Neil, Dave and other people) are just awsome - how you do it ?
At the moment I usually get problems with shadows and things like that.
Example - look on the "white background" - it got mixed colors there:


I could go and clean it using Paint Shop Pro and make the backround disapper but there must be better way to make the pictures better:


I think I need to get better light - maybe stronger bulbs will make a difference.

[J-sews]

Perfectly white backgrounds are one of the most difficult things to achieve. I've tried stronger light bulbs, but it doesn't seem to help. The digital camera tends to "automatically" compensate for the increased light, and the desired white background really doesn't get any whiter.

You'd be better off to try a colored background, perhaps a darker one that won't show the effects of shadow as much.

[Ninjaz]

Perfectly white backgrounds are one of the most difficult things to achieve. I've tried stronger light bulbs, but it doesn't seem to help. The digital camera tends to "automatically" compensate for the increased light, and the desired white background really doesn't get any whiter.

You'd be better off to try a colored background, perhaps a darker one that won't show the effects of shadow as much.

hmmm... I should try it. The light box I bought come with red/blue/black/white background - I only used the white so far.
Tomorrow I will try different colors but maybe I need different material for the background.

Thanks for the tip.

[Poncho65]

man you call that bad

well I wish my pictures would turn out that bad then

[DaveK]

Hey ninjaz, would you mind posting a few pictures in this thread so we can see what you mean?

Well now my pictures are ok but not great... I see pictures you guys post (guys like Neil, Dave and other people) are just awsome - how you do it ?
At the moment I usually get problems with shadows and things like that.
Example - look on the "white background" - it got mixed colors there:
(Image removed from quote.)

I could go and clean it using Paint Shop Pro and make the backround disapper but there must be better way to make the pictures better:
(Image removed from quote.)

I think I need to get better light - maybe stronger bulbs will make a difference.

Hey Ninjaz - I missed this thread before. I'm afraid that any good pictures I've posted are down to a simple method I use. Take 20 shots, delete 19 if I'm lucky. Sometimes I delete all 20 

FWIW, I think that shot above is brilliant - as good as anything I've ever done at least

[Whoey]

do you use a tripod? a remote trigger or timer? long exposures?

I find those things as well as some tweaks to exposure compensation (check your camera manual!) help loads

If I'm not holding the camera, I can set the exposure time much larger to not have to worry about blurring... having a good light source is definitely important.

[Neil]

(Image removed from quote.)

I think I need to get better light - maybe stronger bulbs will make a difference.

What am I missing?     That's a superb shot.

Neil

[Ninjaz]

do you use a tripod? a remote trigger or timer? long exposures?

I find those things as well as some tweaks to exposure compensation (check your camera manual!) help loads

If I'm not holding the camera, I can set the exposure time much larger to not have to worry about blurring... having a good light source is definitely important.

I do use tripod (most of the time) and I take many pictures playing with the white ballance and ISO (and like Dave said I delete most of them if not all).

What am I missing?     That's a superb shot.

Neil

Photo editor  The backgrond isn't the ready background. You can see that the knives have too much light on them and I accedently delete too much from the right Shuriken because the metal bland into the background (it was white).
In the photo editing part I am ok, I can make the picture look nice and mix pictures together and so on but take the pictures - thats the art

[Grant Lamontagne]

My pictures aren't the best, but one trick I learned when taking macros is to use the timer if you don't have a remote.  I usually set it for two seconds, focus, press the button then stand back.

Dunno if that will help you, but it may help someone so I posted it anyway!

Def