Ironwood's Pen Progression

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Ironwood

Senior Member
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 :)
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I wrote a reply to this a while ago, but it appears to have gotten lost in space, either I fat-fingered the reply button, or my slow satellite connection is playing tricks on me.
Yes, I will bring some A2 White card home from work tomorrow and try a few things.

Marcel said:
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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You are right Marcel, it will be impossible to eliminate all reflections.
The best I can hope to do is to get rid of the worst of them, and try and reduce the others.
I think I prefer to have the darker tones on top of the chrome parts, as in yesterday's attempts, but I don't like the blown out glare I was getting along the closest edge to the camera lens.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Here is my very quick and dirty trial to retouch your last photo. It's not perfect in any way, but shows you what can be done with a layer with a brush in PS. I also noticed and marked a few dust spots that show your sensor is in need of a bit of cleaning. Or just retouching in post.
Hope you don't mind my hints.

pens retouching.jpg
 
K

Kevin H

Senior Member
Scott Murray said:
I did some experimenting with a quick lightbox made out of paper.

Here are the shots and the setup. As you can see there are subtle differences with the reflection, I think the only way of getting rid of it is placing the object on an angle to reduce the reflection or in post like Marcel has said.

I hope this helps.

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And last one with the front cutout

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Scott has an Alien Camera :D
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Marcel said:
Here is my very quick and dirty trial to retouch your last photo. It's not perfect in any way, but shows you what can be done with a layer with a brush in PS. I also noticed and marked a few dust spots that show your sensor is in need of a bit of cleaning. Or just retouching in post.
Hope you don't mind my hints.
Click to expand...
Your retouch job looks good Marcel, how long did it take to do ?

Yes I know I am due to do another clean of my sensor, I would have normally taken them out in PP, but these are just quick and dirty pics to get my lighting sorted.

I appreciate your tips, thanks.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Ironwood said:
Your retouch job looks good Marcel, how long did it take to do ?

Yes I know I am due to do another clean of my sensor, I would have normally taken them out in PP, but these are just quick and dirty pics to get my lighting sorted.

I appreciate your tips, thanks.
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The retouching didn't take more than 5 minutes. The trick is to use a new layer above the base one so if you make a mistake you can remove it and it doesn't affect the whole image, just the retouching. And then you can select the neighbor colors with the eye dropper so it matches exactly the surrounding.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Marcel said:
The retouching didn't take more than 5 minutes. The trick is to use a new layer above the base one so if you make a mistake you can remove it and it doesn't affect the whole image, just the retouching. And then you can select the neighbor colors with the eye dropper so it matches exactly the surrounding.
Click to expand...

Thanks Marcel.
It sounds a bit advanced for me and my apple aperture, I will have a try at what I can do with my limited skills.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Another try at it today. I have the A2 sheet of white card, I cut a hole in the middle for the lens to poke through.

This lot has the top light removed. I used a marbled background to help camouflage the sensor spots because I didn't want to spend time removing them ( I will clean my sensor tonight if I get time :eek: )

First one without the A2 card.

DSC_1457.jpg


These 2 have the A2 card in place. It still shows as a bit darker than the inside of the tent, but I think it is OK for what I am looking for.
DSC_1458.jpg


DSC_1459.jpg
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
I have put the top light back in for these next lot.
The pen needs a good clean as well as the sensor, fingerprints and those marks on the finial, I am not sure what they are.
DSC_1462.jpg


This angle is how I would be more likely to show the pen at.
DSC_1463.jpg


DSC_1464.jpg


This is my attempt at cloning out the reflection on the finial. A lot cruder than Marcels version of the other shot, but I am happy with how it looks for a 2 minute job.
DSC_1464 - Version 2.jpg


I think I will leave the top light in place, I think it is better. I will just play around with different levels of diffusion for individual lights to get a more pleasing look.

OK, fire away with your thoughts :).



.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Scott Murray said:
Looks like you are getting the desired shot.
Click to expand...

I am a lot happier with how things are looking today.

It is as I thought with the A2 card though, it is a real PIA to reposition the pen between shots.

I might get another A2 sheet and cut it into smaller pieces, so I can just remove the top piece to access the pen without upsetting the whole lot.
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Ironwood said:
I am a lot happier with how things are looking today.

It is as I thought with the A2 card though, it is a real PIA to reposition the pen between shots.

I might get another A2 sheet and cut it into smaller pieces, so I can just remove the top piece to access the pen without upsetting the whole lot.
Click to expand...

Yes well things cannot be easy all the time ;)
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Brad, great job with the retouching. You'll find out that a bit of practice will make it so much easier that you might not want to live without it. And don't forget that we see these because we're the photographers, your customer might just look at the beautiful pens, not the lighting... :)

As long as they keep selling, keep up the good work.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
Thanks for the encouragement Marcel.
I don't have layers while using Apple aperture, so I don't really understand how you did your retouch. But aperture is very forgiving, I can backtrack after each step of the cloning tool, or just start from the beginning again, so it's no drama if I make a mistake. I have been using this tool for a while now when I need to, but would rather get it right in camera.

You are right about the customers, most of them just see the pen and don't think much about the photo, if at all. But good photos do help to sell pens, it really does make a difference.
 
I

Ironwood

Senior Member
This is the last pen for a 16 pen order, one in each of the team colours in the NRL. ( National Rugby League football competition )

This one is in the Parramatta Eels colours, they were all done with a 30-06 cartridge and use a Parker ballpoint refill.

DSC_1665.jpg


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