Close Up and Personal - Day 21

Tiffany-Style Stained-Glass Lampshade  

Double source incandescent and fluorescent lighting  

- colored glass back-lit by compact fluorescent and side-lit by tungsten incandescent bulbs      

The pinks and yellows and greens here are pretty close to the original stained-glass colors in a lovely Tiffany-style lamp which I enjoy every time I turn it on.
 Accurately reproducing colors lit by two different light sources is tricky at best. I'm not satisfied with the results here, and so I will be working on this set-up again.

Close Up and Personal - Day 18

A Dozen Almonds  

Single source daylight-balanced lighting  

- simulated natural light coming from one floodlight bulb, white-balanced in editing     

Almonds. Years ago, they were a tasty treat, I could never get enough of them. Almond Bark. Candied Almonds. Marzipan. Almond Guy Ding. I tasted Almond Butter once. Even Almond Joy candy bars. All sinful pleasures, to be enjoyed at special times, and in carefully scrutinized moderation.
Fast forward to 2014 - almonds are so common today that even birdseed has them. AND my doctor recommends that I eat a dozen almonds a day "for my health."
Treats as health food! I didn't have to be told twice!

Close Up and Personal - Day 16

Two Different Light Sources, Two Different Colors  

Daylight and Incandescent, Blue and Orange  

- Colors blending and colors clashing     

You might not pick it up on the first glance, but there are two different colors of light illuminating this scene, the cold bluish tone of daylight from a window, and the warm orange tone of incandescent light, from a tungsten bulb. The camera is set to detect automatically the "White Balance" it is operating in, and to compensate for color shifts, but I think we have gotten the camera confused, and it has forgotten to override one of these!
But that doesn't matter to the candy in the dish - it is ready to be eaten, any time!

Close Up and Personal - Day 15

More Toys and New Tricks    

A Styrofoam Cup Light Tent for Close-Up Photography of Jewelry  

-   and other very small things  

With the fun of making a new photography toy yesterday, I decided to try again today with a different camera and a real challenge - to photograph a piece of jewelry or a coin as if I were going to sell it online.
I had a point-and-shoot camera with macro capabilities, a goose neck lamp, a lapel pin, and a styrofoam cup upended and with its base cut off. The initial idea came from this blog post. Thanks, Strobist! It me took a bit of time to convince the camera that I knew what I was doing, but in the end it allowed me to do a manual focus macro shot. The cup doubled as a handy tripod for the shoot.
I'll be looking for other sizes in opaque cups to allow for zooming in on the subject, but on the whole, this experiment turned out well.
 

Close Up and Personal - Day 14

Old Stuff, New Tricks    

A Juice Jug Light Tent for Close-Up Photography of Shiny Items  

-   recycling in a useful way  

I've been checking out ways to photograph jewelry, and ways to set up the camera to do it. Jewelry is tricky to shoot, because it's usually small and shiny and requires lighting that shows off its best features.
Well yes, there are commercial light diffusers available to buy, but there are some pretty ingenious homemade solutions, as well. So this morning, I cut the bottom out of a juice jug, and set it up next to a window, with a goose neck lamp sitting next to the jug. Then I set a small point-and-shoot camera lens down into the neck of the jug. Details are here. Thanks Camera Jim! I had to add to the jug's height to allow the camera to focus, and a measured length of paper towel tube did the trick.
I'm pleased with the results, and I'm going to try it again, and see where this can take me.