Ironwood's Pen Progression

I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Another one of my Wife's Polymer Clay Creations.
She posted my photos of the pink one from the other day on her Facebook, and a colleague saw it and wanted one made in green which is her favourite colour.
Here it is.

These are taken with the CPL on the lens, but no pol. film on the diffusers, I want to sort out the hot lights before I use it again.

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I

Ironwood

Senior Member
I was pleasantly surprised to find the red polymer clay pen on the front page of the "International Association of Penturners" forum today.
 
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I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Well I have changed the lighting in my lightbox.
I swapped out the old hot lights for led's, I have started out with less diffusers than before, but I think I will have to add more to soften the light more, and do some mods to what is reflecting off the shiny bits.

These are some Wedding pens I completed just recently, they are photo'd with the new lighting setup.
I haven't got my custom white balance setting dialled in properly yet, I have had to change these quite a bit in PP they were far too cool out of camera.

Please let me know what you think of how the photos look.
Do you think there is too much black reflecting off the chrome bits ?

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These two were taken previously with the old lighting setup, I have added them here to compare to.

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Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
Well I have changed the lighting in my lightbox.
I swapped out the old hot lights for led's, I have started out with less diffusers than before, but I think I will have to add more to soften the light more, and do some mods to what is reflecting off the shiny bits.

These are some Wedding pens I completed just recently, they are photo'd with the new lighting setup.
I haven't got my custom white balance setting dialled in properly yet, I have had to change these quite a bit in PP they were far too cool out of camera.

Please let me know what you think of how the photos look.
Do you think there is too much black reflecting off the chrome bits ?

These two were taken previously with the old lighting setup, I have added them here to compare to.

View attachment 176593
Click to expand...

They are great, yes there is some black reflection in the chrome (what is it from?) I do notice the old lighting was nearly perfect :) keep trialling it and I am sure you will get something that you are happy with. I do not know what else you could do.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Scott Murray said:
They are great, yes there is some black reflection in the chrome (what is it from?) I do notice the old lighting was nearly perfect :) keep trialling it and I am sure you will get something that you are happy with. I do not know what else you could do.
Click to expand...


Cheers Scott.
They sent me one odd light (warm white) so I left the top one out while I am waiting for the replacement. To cover the gap in the top of the box, I used a piece of black cardboard that was handy, that is what is reflecting (or actually lack of reflection ) .
It is going to take a bit of work to get my new setup working as good as the old one.

The old one took me 2 years to get it to where I had it , hopefully it wont take so long this time :eek:.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
OK, so I had 3 minutes spare this afternoon, so I experimented a bit with my lighting. I have got some improvement.

I have received the replacement LED but have not fitted it yet, so the top light is still missing. I am not sure if it will improve things by putting it in, but will try it at a later date.

I put the fabric tent back in to try for better diffusion, also put some greaseproof cooking paper over the 2 front lights, as well as a few bits of foam.

Let me know what you think.

The pens have barrels made from real shedded snakeskin, cast in resin, the purple one is tinted resin.

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I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Today I put the replacement light into the top of the box. Not real sure whats going on now because I am getting that black band along the closest edge of the pen. It is from the opening on the front of the box, but I am not sure why its showing now and wasn't yesterday.

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I can rotate the pen a little and it shifts the black.

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You can see what is going on in this one, the lack of white reflection from the tent is causing the black.

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This one I have the pen at 90 degrees to the camera and held a piece of white card each side of the lens, this has reduced the black band but not eliminated it.
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Tomorrow I might try taking the top light back out and putting some white card above the pen just to see what happens.

I could also have a large piece of white card with a hole for the lens at the front of the box, it will be a hassle to move the pen between shots, but will give it a try anyway.
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
Today I put the replacement light into the top of the box. Not real sure whats going on now because I am getting that black band along the closest edge of the pen. It is from the opening on the front of the box, but I am not sure why its showing now and wasn't yesterday.



I can rotate the pen a little and it shifts the black.



You can see what is going on in this one, the lack of white reflection from the tent is causing the black.

View attachment 176963

This one I have the pen at 90 degrees to the camera and held a piece of white card each side of the lens, this has reduced the black band but not eliminated it.


Tomorrow I might try taking the top light back out and putting some white card above the pen just to see what happens.

I could also have a large piece of white card with a hole for the lens at the front of the box, it will be a hassle to move the pen between shots, but will give it a try anyway.
Click to expand...

Looking at this image it definitely appears to be the front opening causing the black band, you need a way of eliminating that its like shooting straight into a mirror... You can see some details in the end of the pen and I am sure if enlarged it will be things behind you :)
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Scott Murray said:
Looking at this image it definitely appears to be the front opening causing the black band, you need a way of eliminating that its like shooting straight into a mirror... You can see some details in the end of the pen and I am sure if enlarged it will be things behind you :)
Click to expand...
I think that this is unavoidable Scott. I've done catalog work a few years ago , OK, 30 years ago :-( , And we had the same problem trying to shoot chrome kettles... These things were a mirrored dome. There was just no way to completely avoid the lens reflection. And I think the black adds depth to the chrome. When all shiny, it gets a bit dull while a black line gives it contrast.

If this reflection is really a problem, a layer with the correct brushing technique could easily take care of it. In the old days, there were air brush people that would feed their families by just going over prints with their air brushes. With PS, it's a lot lot easier and you can erase your mistakes as well.
 
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