Suicide project — Help!

P
Posted By
patrick
May 24, 2004
Views
331
Replies
7
Status
Closed
I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out of hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)

The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion in a catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

The church is over 150 years old and the chalices have historical and personal significance as they have been donated by members over the years. They are not consecrated but I will have to shoot them inside and on-site so the setup will have to be somewhat simple.

I have the following resources: (Yes, I know — I’m over-equipped!) Nikon Coolpix 4500
Nikon D70 with a bushel of lenses
Monfrotto tripod and head
PS Elements 2.0 which I’m pretty familiar with
PS CS which I have not used
I can jury-rig a neutral backdrop
I can buy a couple of halogen shop lights. (Maybe some $200 on gear) My computer is probably adequate as is: 1.8G, 512, 80G, ViewSonic 19" We’ll use a commercial print shop for the final product.

I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick
Related Tags
help project

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

J
jaSPAMc
May 24, 2004
On Mon, 24 May 2004 14:38:33 GMT, "patrick" found these unused words floating about:

I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out of hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion in a catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

The church is over 150 years old and the chalices have historical and personal significance as they have been donated by members over the years. They are not consecrated but I will have to shoot them inside and on-site so the setup will have to be somewhat simple.

I have the following resources: (Yes, I know — I’m over-equipped!) Nikon Coolpix 4500
Nikon D70 with a bushel of lenses
Monfrotto tripod and head
PS Elements 2.0 which I’m pretty familiar with
PS CS which I have not used
I can jury-rig a neutral backdrop
I can buy a couple of halogen shop lights. (Maybe some $200 on gear) My computer is probably adequate as is: 1.8G, 512, 80G, ViewSonic 19" We’ll use a commercial print shop for the final product.
I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick
Since it’s a church project surely some one in the group has ‘handyman skills’ and can devise soft light ‘boxes’ or screens for your lights. Rig a table with a backdrop and the lights. Test, test, test and test again on the largest … then shoot all with the same settings.
KB
Ken Burns
May 24, 2004
The main thing you don’t have is experience working with light. Remember that photography means "light imaging." You will have to do much more than just shine lights on the chalices. You will have to control the character of the light and use it to sculpt each image. To do that you will need to add and subtract light in order to show the three dimensionality of the chalices. Are they shiney ceramics or metals? If so, you will have to treat them as if they were mirrors. That will require the use of large diffusion flats and reflectors to add light to the highlights and subtract light from the shadows. That is what will show the shapes and forms that make them what they are. Without experience working with lighting setups and without handyman skills to improvise whatever is necessary are going to be major limitations as to what you can accomplish. Its not the equipment you own that makes good images, its the photographic skills and experience you have!!!

KB

"patrick" wrote in message
I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out
of
hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion in
a
catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

The church is over 150 years old and the chalices have historical and personal significance as they have been donated by members over the years. They are not consecrated but I will have to shoot them inside and on-site
so
the setup will have to be somewhat simple.

I have the following resources: (Yes, I know — I’m over-equipped!) Nikon Coolpix 4500
Nikon D70 with a bushel of lenses
Monfrotto tripod and head
PS Elements 2.0 which I’m pretty familiar with
PS CS which I have not used
I can jury-rig a neutral backdrop
I can buy a couple of halogen shop lights. (Maybe some $200 on gear) My computer is probably adequate as is: 1.8G, 512, 80G, ViewSonic 19" We’ll use a commercial print shop for the final product.
I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick

S
Stephan
May 24, 2004
"patrick" wrote in message
I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out
of
hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion in
a
catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

snip<

I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick

Good for you, you have an occasion to buy some equipment and wife will even approve
Alienbees.com has very good and very cheap strobes
The B400 costs $200 and will do fine.
Add a softbox from the same company $100~140 and you’re set. I have been using Alien bees for years now and believe me they do work as good as Normans that cost many times more.

Or see this:http://tinyurl.com/37dok
Seems nice but I haven’t tried it yet

If you don’t want to spend money on equipment use your excellent SB80 but not directly at your subject.
Get two sheet of styrofoam, place one left and one right of your object. Direct the flash (placed on the table on a little tripod) on the left styrosheet, this will be you main source of light and the other piece of styro will act as a reflector. Play with distance and angles until you get what you want
Good luck.

Stephan
S
Stephan
May 24, 2004
"Ken Burns" wrote in message
snip<. Without experience working with lighting setups and without handyman skills to improvise whatever is necessary are going
to
be major limitations as to what you can accomplish. Its not the equipment you own that makes good images, its the photographic skills and experience you have!!!

He isn’t talking about shooting the latest Ferrari, don’t you think you are a bit too negative there?
Anyone can shoot this with a little help.
Especially today with digital cameras: you see the result immediately, how hard is that?

Stephan
R
robert
May 25, 2004
laughing @ (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)

sorry couldn’t help myself.

Enlist the services of the "idiot" in whatever you can get out of him. Make him think twice before volunteering someone else’s time.

by the way your a good man to do this!

robert

"patrick" wrote in message
I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out
of
hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion in
a
catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

The church is over 150 years old and the chalices have historical and personal significance as they have been donated by members over the years. They are not consecrated but I will have to shoot them inside and on-site
so
the setup will have to be somewhat simple.

I have the following resources: (Yes, I know — I’m over-equipped!) Nikon Coolpix 4500
Nikon D70 with a bushel of lenses
Monfrotto tripod and head
PS Elements 2.0 which I’m pretty familiar with
PS CS which I have not used
I can jury-rig a neutral backdrop
I can buy a couple of halogen shop lights. (Maybe some $200 on gear) My computer is probably adequate as is: 1.8G, 512, 80G, ViewSonic 19" We’ll use a commercial print shop for the final product.
I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick

P
patrick
May 25, 2004
Thanks, Robert. Nice to hear from someone who cam empathize! We had a good comeback for that kind of guy in Korea when they knew exactly what should be done and how to do it: "That’s a good idea. You’re the new club officer!"

The advice I’ve received here has already been of great help. I was blissfully headed down the wrong track with two bare shop lights on the objects. Now I’ll definitely use a light box and have located a pair of light stands with 5500 degree flourescent bulbs (the kind that screw into a standard socket). I’m anticipating that they will throw a gentle flood on the entire drop cloths for a nice diffused effect within the light box. I did a Google search and found some great ideas for constructing a lightbox, one of which uses a large cardboard box, a couple of pillow cases and a white plastic garbage sack. It might just be within my abilities to rig up. Given the involvement of the project, however, I don’t want to be constantly stumbling over a makeshift lighting setup, hence the light stands.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement and sympathy!
…..patrick

"robert" wrote in message
laughing @ (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
sorry couldn’t help myself.

Enlist the services of the "idiot" in whatever you can get out of him. Make him think twice before volunteering someone else’s time.
by the way your a good man to do this!

robert

"patrick" wrote in message
I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out
of
hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion
in
a
catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

The church is over 150 years old and the chalices have historical and personal significance as they have been donated by members over the
years.
They are not consecrated but I will have to shoot them inside and
on-site
so
the setup will have to be somewhat simple.

I have the following resources: (Yes, I know — I’m over-equipped!) Nikon Coolpix 4500
Nikon D70 with a bushel of lenses
Monfrotto tripod and head
PS Elements 2.0 which I’m pretty familiar with
PS CS which I have not used
I can jury-rig a neutral backdrop
I can buy a couple of halogen shop lights. (Maybe some $200 on gear) My computer is probably adequate as is: 1.8G, 512, 80G, ViewSonic 19" We’ll use a commercial print shop for the final product.
I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick

S
someone
May 25, 2004
In article <JNnsc.226$ says…
I am about to embark on an ambitious project which could readily get out of hand. (Some idiot at my wife’s church said I was a photographer!)
The project is to shoot and edit some 250 church chalices for inclusion in a catalog-style book with thumbnails and text description of each chalice. We envision some six to eight items per page.

The church is over 150 years old and the chalices have historical and personal significance as they have been donated by members over the years. They are not consecrated but I will have to shoot them inside and on-site so the setup will have to be somewhat simple.

I have the following resources: (Yes, I know — I’m over-equipped!) Nikon Coolpix 4500
Nikon D70 with a bushel of lenses
Monfrotto tripod and head
PS Elements 2.0 which I’m pretty familiar with
PS CS which I have not used
I can jury-rig a neutral backdrop
I can buy a couple of halogen shop lights. (Maybe some $200 on gear) My computer is probably adequate as is: 1.8G, 512, 80G, ViewSonic 19" We’ll use a commercial print shop for the final product.
I do NOT have:
Studio setup
Lights except for builtin flash and SB80
Soft light box
Handyman skills

I do have lots of patience and am a receptive student.
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer for some 60 years. (I said, "serious," not "skillled")

Thanks! . . . . patrick

Patrick,

I assume that the chalices are mostly metalic. If that is the case, you probably want to build yourself a tent of diffusion material, then you can use the quartz lights found at most hardware and home improvement stores. Get some grey and black paper from the art supply store and build a tent around the work area. You can use a clean white sheet, but there are better materials available at many pro photo stores. Experiment with the lighting, until you start seeing the shape and detail of the chalice. Remember that metal reflects, so you will need to keep the lights back from the diffusion material, and use reflective material (white card, etc) to let the metal see white, where there is detail, etching. Once you get near, what you want, hang the grey paper behind the diffusion material to get good shape with the chalice. Set your white balance, especially if you use a sheet, and experiment. The background/diffusion material can be easily knocked-out in PS.

Hunt

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections