This week’s photography session was all about white light and white balance.
We started with a white plastic box and shone a light through the top of it and placed some white paper inside to create a nice white box for our products.
Next, we chose random objects to photograph.
As we started to take pictures, it soon became apparent that there was too much light or not enough light inside the box and around the object, so we then had to add/subtract light accordingly until we were able to capture clean images of our products.
Essentially we were practising product placement photography, for example taking a photo of something for a sales promotion or a magazine.
Here are some of the images I was able to capture...
We had to take the images being very aware of any corners or shadows that could ruin the picture. This is where the A3 sized piece of paper came in handy. It was positioned to cover both the back of the box and the base of the box; there were no creases, therefore no corners to attract shadows.
The sunglasses were exceptionally hard to photograph because we also had to ensure nothing was being reflected back to us in the lens (i.e. the photographer!).
The white balance also had to be checked (making sure the whites were true whites, and not looking yellow or grey). If they were slightly yellow, we needed to adjust the white balance using the exposure compensator button on the top of the camera. So it took a few practice shots with each object to make sure the whites were correct.
I hope you have enjoyed the photo's, I will be using this technique more when I do macrophotography as I think it may help me to achieve a crisper image.
Thank you so much for visiting!
Much love, BB xx
(a huge thank you to @zord189 for my bouncing bullies signature!)
Oh, very cool. Those are some great photos.
My friend the jewelry designer and supplier has a commercial 'white box' that she uses extensively. I've diddled with it a little, just out of curiosity. Now I see what she is trying to accomplish.
Thanks for the whole series. This is really terrific for me....
Thank you Big T! So glad you are enjoying it. It is actually helping me to absorb the information by writing about what I am doing and why I am doing it. I am also having lots of fun photographing random objects that I would not normally point my camera at!
Thank you so much for your support!
BB <3
Photography can be very complex, many years ago I lived with a young lady who did animal photography and I learned a lot from her about light and using a light meter. Those are some nice shots and look great to me.
Thank you so much @sultnpapper! :D
Animal Photography and Macrophotography are my 2 favourite types of photography and that is usually where I tend to focus, so this course is good because it pushes me out of my comfort zone. I woud never usually take images like this so it is fun experimenting with something new. And of course learning the technical side will be helpful to me in the future too! :D
Thanks for popping by!
BB <3
I will say that lighting and knowing how the light will hit from the flash is the hardest part to learn, or at least it was for me. I never bought into the digital cameras and all the true cameras I have are 35mm or 2.25 format film cameras. Paying for film and developing just doesn't make sense any more to me and my phone takes good enough pictures for what I do so I don't see me spending the money for new digital cameras.
But it never hurts to learn about things, knowledge is power they say.
Exactly :) And to be fair, some of the best images I have seen have been taken with a camera phone!
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Amazing work and great recollection, really shows you are taking it all in. Reading your blogs really teases me into the idea of going digital. Maybe when steem rises again I'll be able to afford a decent dslr. Thanks for sharing BB and will get my act together soon so we can meet up.
Thanks hun! Glad you are enjoying the series. Using digital images definitely makes it easier to learn from mistakes as I am not worried about the cost of film and waiting times etc, but I can also see the appeal of using film for authenticity. another thing I have learned is never buy camera equipment new! I will only buy second hand from now on as photographers really look after their glass and you can get some amazing deals on lenses.
BB <3
So it is you who keeps out-bidding me on Ebay! lol
I'm loving your series and find myself hanging on for the next instalment.
Great advice on finding bargains and I'll keep my eyes peeled for good deals. I've picked up a great Carl Zeisse lens from a charity shop for just £5 but its screw thread mount so am currently trying to buy an adaptor.
Haha yes, I wait until the last minute then get a sneaky bid in ;)
My tutor keeps going on about an online company that does second hand photography equipment, I will find out what it is called and let you know. I think it has the word 'London' in it lol
Edit: it is the London Camera Exchange :)
Nice one BB, I'll take a look. I'm currently setting up my plastic box to try out what the technique you spoke of in part3...
Awesome! I am heading into Mansfield shortly on the hunt for a white plastic box haha
I can't wait to see what you come up with in your light box photography!
BB <3
Enjoy your day!
Haha! My mum was seriously wondering about my sanity when she came into the kitchen this morning and saw what I was doing, there were lights and extension cable everywhere! Soon as I get them developed onto cd I'll make a post about it for sure. Thanks for the inspiration.
Oh Wow! These are pretty professional looking shots, I had no idea that a white box would make that much of a difference! Is it easy to make a white light box? It sounds like you just had a plastic tub with paper (and light!).
yes, that is exactly what we had! It was so simple! :D I am going to head to poundland tomorrow to get my DIY lightbox kit! hehe
Wow, those came out looking really nice, the contrast is lovely at some of them, good job!
Thank you so much @zen-art! :D
BB <3
Very cool! I like the elephant))
Thank you! :D Yes, he was soooo cute, I couldn't resist him!
BB <3
Beautiful shots! :)
Thank you so much :)
Nice shots! This post was awesome! I gotta try playing with a white box one day and see what comes out! Thanks for sharing, honey!
Thank you so much Hun! :D Glad you enjoyed it. Honestly, the lightbox was so easy to make and it is so cheap! There is really no need to spend lots of money on expensive equipment (unless you are a pro photographer of course, which I am defo not lol )
Thanks for popping in!
BB <3
Oh they are beautiful! I'm no photographer do I shall just enjoy these photos instead 😘
Ah, thank you so much :) I am happy that you enjoy the images! :D
BB <3
Simply breath-taking! the marble in the fabric is stunning! Imagine that blown up like the size of a wall in a restaurant or public space, it'd be mesmerizing!
Thank you Donna! :D Yes, I thought the scarf wrapped around it made it look almost like waves :) So pleased you like it!
BB <3
This is really cool. I hope to learn more from your photography course. How do you avoid your own reflection in the sunglasses?
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
You just have to manoeuvre yourself so you aren't in the reflection, so you get in some tricky positions lol
I'll remember that next time I try to photograph a reflective surface.
thank you for sharing! So much techniques, it makes me feel so amateurish XD WOuld be interestig to see some of your mistakes too to see the difference / work process.. :)
great shots by the way, love the first one!
oooo there are sooooo many mistakes haha maybe I will do that in my next post! Thank you for the suggestion!
BB <3
You're sorry you got me started on this, aren't you.
Wowzers! Now this one is stunning! hehe Are you going out chasing sun stars now? lol
BB <3
Good eyes! I particularly love the elephant one!
thank you! :)
@beautifulbullies WOW YOU GOT THE BOUNCINGBULL FOOTER looks AMAZING this is yhe best one untill now @zord189 maybe I need one to for My furrie blogs.
Back to you dear the course seems pretty fierce I love the hairpin ( I think ) and the glasses turned out pretty well !
Great to follow the tasks !
Have a great Bullie day dear
Love Britt
Thank you sweetness! :D
Yes I was a little overexcited when @zord189 sent me the signature through, I love it! :D I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!
Thank you, I am happy you enjoyed the photos. The hairpin was actually a huge piece of glass art! It is hard to gauge the size in the photo but it was about 20cm in length!
Thanks for popping by Britt!
BB <3 xx
Ok, so now i understand how to get the products photographed correctly. I always wondered how that was done. Was it hard to get the box set up? Was it just a white cardboard box?
The elephant was definitely my favorite.
Ren
It was really easy to set the box up. It was just a white plastic box tipped onto it's side with a light on the top shining through. Put the A3 piece of white paper inside it to get rid of the corners and that's it! :D Have a go and let me know how you get on! :)
BB <3
That is fascinating and useful. Just a suggestion: a post on setting up the box? That would really be useful, @beautifulbullies
Great suggestion, thank you! Yes I will write a post about it! :D
BB <3
@beautifulbullies great info. Your photos are wonderful.
This is the first I have read about product placement using a box and it makes sense to me.
I am going to show my husband .
He is an artist and we set up a screen that drapes from the ceiling over the table and then of course have to have the right lighting.
Maybe this is something we can utilize. He has sculptures. As long as there is room in the box.
What about canvas? .. I want to shoot some of those. Is there a easier way? LOL I am all about getting a great shot the easiest way.
I am going to have prints to sell.
Thank you @rebeccabe. I am so glad you found this useful! :D
I will try and remember to ask at my next lesson about photographing canvases for you!
BB <3
These photos are really amazing. I dabble and mostly with food - on the run. I need to spend more time. We had friends stay with us this weekend - they are professional photographers and so talented. She does amazing stuff - just with her phone and then what they do with "the" camera, is just mind-blowing! I hope you saw my suggestion below about the box!
Look forward to stopping by again from #steemitbloggers
Thank you so much! :D
Awww yes, that is a great suggestion, thank you! I have had a few people ask more about the setup so I think that would be a good post to write. It doesn't look like a professional setup, but it still does the job :)
Thank you for your support!
BB <3
I think that's exactly the point - it's not a professional set-up which means that those of us wannabe's can learn a lot from it and try something without forking out $$$. Look forward to that post ;)
Beautiful Snappies here! I like the purple ball and the sunglasses one the most, looks like those classes are starting to come off but OMG those bouncing dogs!! Then when they pop up on the screen from below :O You trying to give me a heart attack :P At least they aren't spiders...
No, I couldn't cope with moving spiders, especially jumping ones hehe
So glad you enjoyed the pictures! :D
BB <3
Noooo don't say that! I heard some stories from a work colleague that went to Adelaide for a bit in Australia and told about him having spiders in his house. He was describing the size and deadlines of them. Nearly threw up lol!
I will take a dog over a spider 😀
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Thank you so much!
Now this is unique! The first one is something else! Well done!
Thank you foxy! :D
BB <3
Such fantastic shots!
Good lesson too as I often have the indoor yellows or over exposed blues from out doors. White balance huh? Nice.
Thank you! Yes I know, white Balance - it blew my mind too! ;)
BB <3
I loved that second one
What is it?
All gorgeous
And you threw in some tips too with your walk through
Thank you so much for sharing this with us :D
Thank you so much! :D
The second shot was actually a piece of Glass artwork. I guess it is down to interpretation of what it is! I like to think of it as a crow...
BB <3
nice series @beautifulbullies
Thank you @claudiaz! :D
BB <3
You did really well, I'm impressed...
Thank you Wales! :D
BB <3
Beautiful job @beautifulbullies! Interesting project. You actually have actually just taught me a small lesson. I have to take pictures of product for work. We have a white booth, but I have a hard time with getting the light so I can even see the front of the product. I think I will play around a bit with placement :) and change my paper LOL.
Awwww thank you! Wow, I managed to pass on some tips to a professional, that is awesome! :D Hopefully I can learn from you some more tricks of the trade!
BB <3
Oh I am far from professional. I do have to say that trying to get light with the white, no shadows and such it a bit of work. My biggest issue I think is because I'm taking the picture as a headshot due to how the booth is setup. I think if I were up on a ladder shooting down, it would clear up my pictures.
Wow @beautifulbullies
Professional looking shots. Really nice job.
This type of thing was my buddy @britishbeef 's area of expertise too. I've managed to get him on steemit but he is not active yet. Yet!
Here is some of his work
Gaz