Photograph help, please!

[Former_Member]

How do you get nice, bright photos against a white background that still allows the product to look great?

I've been trying to get photos of my ornaments against a white background, outside, so I can use natural lighting; I can't seem to get a good shot -- I either get a darker shot where my background looks grey, and the ornament looks good, like here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/81540402/bauble-cover-star-struck

Or, I get a shot that has so much light that the background looks better but the light is so harsh that the ornament doesn't come out.I can't figure out how to use natural lighting to get that perfect shot that I see so many people use :/

[Former_Member]

Many people will use a lightbox, I use a posterboard with a full spectrum lamp. Be sure to use the macro on your camera too. If you really want the bright white background for your photos, you could try fotofuze. It's simple to use, and it brightens everything up. I started to use it in my shop, and I found that it made my pictures look more uniform.

[Former_Member]

I have a simple tutorial on my blog that shows how I do it...

http://lifeandjewelry.blogspot.com/2011/02/photos.html

[Former_Member]

Thanks I will take a look!

[Former_Member]

You can try using Picasa 3 which is a free photoshop program and PicMonkey is too. I use Picasa and then PicMonkey unless I'm at my office where I have Adobe CS5 and Lightroom 2. They're having a sell since CS6 and Lightroom 3 are coming out. CS5 is around 350. Not sure about lightroom. If you have CS5 it's easy to get the white background. I normally use my studio lights and shoot inside with a white backdrop. I imagine what's happening to you is the background is getting washed out which is making the object bright and washed out. Depending on your camera, there are ways to fix this. I would try using cloth or white poster board and shoot downward staying out of the suns light so you don't make shadows. You could also use posterboard against a fence or house and find something you can hang your items from, like the top of posterboard. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of camera do you use? In Picasa you can increase the Highlights and it won't increase any light except the white backdrop and light on the object. I can give better instructions if I know what kind of camera you are using.

[Former_Member]

I've been using my phone's camera, which is a huge part of my problem, but it seems sometimes I have trouble with my digital camera also -- It's an HP Photosmart.

[SmitherineDesigns]

I would back up a bit, and hang the ornament so it can be viewed as how it will hang. I think its a good idea to show each product being used in its primary use setting. good luck!

[Former_Member]

Smitherine has a good point but some people like their backgrounds to be the same on every item. The HP will work better because you can set the ISO, Shutter and Aperture settings. I would just mess around with the camera to get used to it. A manual will help. You might find something on You Tube.