Thumper
01-30-2013, 01:59 AM
Mr. Lenster ... first a little background. I was a point & shoot guy back in the dark ages, then in the early 70's, I got "the itch". The latest, hottest thing going at that time was the Canon F-1 (5 or so years before the AE-1 was released). I jumped in with both feet ... bought a new F-1, bought film in bulk ... big ol' reels of the stuff that I'd cut to size. I got into doing my own developing (B&W) ... but I didn't really have the "artistic" talent needed for decent photographs. I quickly tired of it, decided it wasn't "my thing", sold my equipment and went back to point & shoot where I remain today.
Now ... I need some advice. I have a Nikon Coolpix S6100 (16.0 megapixels) nowadays and use it to take photos of stuff I post on e-Bay. Generally, I have no real problem ... but these dang razors kick my ass. The typical metal TTO type razor is actually a nickle-plated brass. So basically, a worn razor has brass showing in the high wear areas. This is what differentiates a nice or collector type razor from a "user grade" razor and there is quite a difference as to what price they will bring. A razor with all it's nickle plating intact will bring much more than a user-grade razor showing "brassiness".
Now to my problem. When I take photos of my razors, they show a ton of brassiness where there actually is none (that can be seen with the naked eye anyway). If the razor actually has some brassiness, it comes out HIGHLY exaggerated in the photos and looks MUCH more worn than it really is. I've had some photos come out where the razor looks like it's gold-plated when it's actually silver colored (nickle). I feel like a dork posting a pic of a "gold-colored" razor on e-Bay, then trying to explain it's an illusion, it's nickle-plated and there really is no brassing ... truuuust meeee! Yeah right!
I've tried all different lighting ... flash, non-flash with a flourescent desk lamp ... non-flash, no desk lamp and only office lights (CFL's) ... nothing works. The flash is usually the best as far as taking the "gold" out ... but it exaggerates any tiny little flaw and makes it look like a major disaster ... also not ideal. I've tried f'ing around with contrast, but by time I get rid of the "brassiness" ... the pic is actually black & white! That REALLY looks like I'm trying to hide something. It seems my best shots come from outside with natural sunlight. BUT ... I have a heck of a time getting to a spot where I can get a full frontal close-up shot without a shadow. To get a decent (close-up) shot with the sun to my back and no shadow is nearly impossible. I've had to resort to weird angles and practically standing on my head to avoid shadows. I've tried sunlight AND flash, but that gets me right back to point A, but not as bad as inside shots. I've also been backing off, taking "longer" shots, then cropping the pic and enlarging it ... not ideal, but it helps.
Right now ... my best shots are from outside with natural sunlight ... and that's what I use. But that's a hassle ... luckily we have plenty of sunny days, but if I want to get some posting done at night ... I can't ... I have to wait 'til the next day to get my pics. BUT ... if I have something planned that day (dr. appt, whatever) ... I have to wait 'til the NEXT day (and hope the weather's nice). It ain't ideal ... but it's all I got.
Suggestions? (besides get a zillion $$$ camera and take a photography course) ;)
Now ... I need some advice. I have a Nikon Coolpix S6100 (16.0 megapixels) nowadays and use it to take photos of stuff I post on e-Bay. Generally, I have no real problem ... but these dang razors kick my ass. The typical metal TTO type razor is actually a nickle-plated brass. So basically, a worn razor has brass showing in the high wear areas. This is what differentiates a nice or collector type razor from a "user grade" razor and there is quite a difference as to what price they will bring. A razor with all it's nickle plating intact will bring much more than a user-grade razor showing "brassiness".
Now to my problem. When I take photos of my razors, they show a ton of brassiness where there actually is none (that can be seen with the naked eye anyway). If the razor actually has some brassiness, it comes out HIGHLY exaggerated in the photos and looks MUCH more worn than it really is. I've had some photos come out where the razor looks like it's gold-plated when it's actually silver colored (nickle). I feel like a dork posting a pic of a "gold-colored" razor on e-Bay, then trying to explain it's an illusion, it's nickle-plated and there really is no brassing ... truuuust meeee! Yeah right!
I've tried all different lighting ... flash, non-flash with a flourescent desk lamp ... non-flash, no desk lamp and only office lights (CFL's) ... nothing works. The flash is usually the best as far as taking the "gold" out ... but it exaggerates any tiny little flaw and makes it look like a major disaster ... also not ideal. I've tried f'ing around with contrast, but by time I get rid of the "brassiness" ... the pic is actually black & white! That REALLY looks like I'm trying to hide something. It seems my best shots come from outside with natural sunlight. BUT ... I have a heck of a time getting to a spot where I can get a full frontal close-up shot without a shadow. To get a decent (close-up) shot with the sun to my back and no shadow is nearly impossible. I've had to resort to weird angles and practically standing on my head to avoid shadows. I've tried sunlight AND flash, but that gets me right back to point A, but not as bad as inside shots. I've also been backing off, taking "longer" shots, then cropping the pic and enlarging it ... not ideal, but it helps.
Right now ... my best shots are from outside with natural sunlight ... and that's what I use. But that's a hassle ... luckily we have plenty of sunny days, but if I want to get some posting done at night ... I can't ... I have to wait 'til the next day to get my pics. BUT ... if I have something planned that day (dr. appt, whatever) ... I have to wait 'til the NEXT day (and hope the weather's nice). It ain't ideal ... but it's all I got.
Suggestions? (besides get a zillion $$$ camera and take a photography course) ;)