Picture Tricks

[#1]

I am endlessly messing with my pictures trying to get them to look just right for my shop, but never completely happy with them. A few times I asked for critiques and received answers like, too dark, inconstant lighting/ background/ thyme so on and so forth. What I would really benefit from is hearing other shops "picture tricks"
How do you;
*get consistent lighting, even on a cloudy (non natural sunlight) day
*model the item your taking a picture of to look just right .
*secret picture taking weapons of mass consistency...

I have seen amazing pics taken from phones, and without the use of expensive photo equipment, so I know there has to be tricks to the trade...

[MKuzPhotography]

I don't know why people are so quick to say don't use flash. I used flash for this shot:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/106484620/orange-flower-photo-autumn-decor-fall
And my wife used it for this one:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/110068780/american-girl-doll-clothes-colonial
In fact, I just finished shooting a series of wine charms for another seller here on Etsy, and I used flash on every one. You can see them here:

http://greenpix.zenfolio.com/p107221550

[MyLittleBlueShop]

Wow Mike! You are making me reconsider using a flash.

[Former_Member]

Pease, Be careful with flash. It can be a great tool, don't get me wrong. But it can also make photos look awful.

Mike's photos do look great, but I suspect two very important things may be going on here (Mike please correct me if I'm wrong!)

Either

A) The flash was not mounted to the camera (IE it wasn't the pop up flash built into a camera)

or

B) The flash was just used as a 'fill' to fill in shadows in the front, but it wasn't the main light. It may have been modified in some way, like reducing the power, or putting a small softbox on it. Or, the other light that was used just overpowered the flash, making it seem less harsh.

Often, great flash shots come from 'off camera flash'. That's not the flash that's built into the camera. Other times, flash looks great is when it's not the only light source.

If you look at both of the pictures above, you'll see there is still a lot of dimensionality in the shots. That means that there may be some 'fill flash' in front, but that another light source is really illuminating most of the shot. Or, it means that the flash wasn't mounted on the camera.

Straight up, full frontal, pop up flash will erase all of the shadows on the front of your subject, and cast hard shadows directly behind the subject. Neither of those things are happening in the two shots above. To me that means the flash was modified in some way, either by using less power, using multiple light sources, putting a small soft box on the flash, or moving the flash off camera.

I hope that makes sense. Unless you get lucky, or you really know what you're doing, it's safer to not use you on camera flash.

[MKuzPhotography]

Kat, I'm not sure that I understand your point. Shooting with flash is no different than shooting in the sun, in the shade, under cloud cover, near a window, in your dining room, in a light tent, in a light box, in a light cube, against a wall or on the floor. Either your equipment is set up properly and your technique is good, in which case your photos are good and you're happy. Or your equipment is set up improperly and your technique is poor, in which case your photos are crap and you're sad.

I was simply trying to get folks away from the "flash is evil" mentality so prevalent here in the forums and even in the Etsy help guides.

[Former_Member]

I understand your point. And I don't think flash is evil at all. But to many people who aren't photographers, 'flash' simply means on camera pop up flash.

This isn't a community of photographers for the most part, and many people struggle with lighting, camera settings, propping etc. It's easier to tell beginners not to use their pop up flash than it is to explain propper lighting technique to a person who's already frustrated with their photos.

So while I agree that people shouldn't be afraid of using proper lighting, no matter what the source, I have to be careful not to recommend 'flash' without qualifying that off camera flash / modified flash / fill flash is different than unadulterated pop up flash.

My point was only to clarify that your photos wee not taken in full auto mode with the on camera flash as the main light source. Because I know quite a few people in this community, I know that your post might be misinterpreted, and a bunch of people will go back to turning their flash on, and wonder why their pictures didn't turn out as lovely as yours.

I do think your photos are lovely, and in a photo community like Photo .net or uglyhedgehog . com, I think it's absolutely appropriate to assert that people shouldn't be afraid of flash, but most Etsians are not photographers, and many of them struggle with photography basics. I just don't want them to beat themselves up because they didn't understand the point you were making.