Monday, February 28, 2011

Time for Tips!

Ok the first of my tip blogs with questions and queries sent by u!

This post will be advising on a couple of cameras that you own and how to improve those photos not just for folksy but in general. Some very useful tricks and tips for u all.

Wendy of Madbags advised me she had a Hitachi HDC-756E


So believe it or not i couldn't even find an online manual for this camera! so what i advise will be off my own experience with compact digital cameras.

"The photo was taken with a small compact - Hitachi HDC-756E. I used the macro setting and cannot remember if the flash was used."


Just to make u all aware for those who didn't know, while your camera is in Macro setting it won't allow Flash, the same goes for sports settings, this is because it requires the lens to be open at different times than normal. So only use macro when your natural lighting is good. if possible take ur photos as close to a window as possible also choose ur backgrounds wisely as they can cause a lot of headaches while trying to get the products look fab!

Here is a before shot of a bag that Wendy sent to me what u will see over the next few images is what i would do to improve it.



I am cert not saying the photo is bad! as for a compact with no flash it's not bad at all!
Below are 2 techniques that can be used to lighten up images without over saturating them, further info can be obtained my message me at my shop Bonnita Graphics

(click to enlarge image) This was done in photo shop but the principles work in most photo editing software


Option one is to completely cut the background out giving u a magazine feel to ur images it's takes some practice to get the curves and image looking right but it an produce some lovely results

Option 2 is to adjust the exposure levels, have a look left, as i said i can explain in more detail if u are not sure just message me. It;s a good way for u to identify where the issue is, over or under exposed.

It wont get rid of the background unless u shot in white in the first place! this is the kindest way to adjust the background brightness without over exposing the product and making it over saturated.


The next email was from Gracie who in my humble opinion doesn't need help! There really isn't a lot i could say other than, be carefull of opposing colours in ur background.

On the left is the original on the right is my take on what may look better, the less pink helps the green pop imho. This was done using the levels technique i showed earlier and then in the image settings taking some of the red out.


Bev @ Bits and Bobs sent me a great example that i can solve fairly easily with technique but not with photoshop, this is an issue that can be solved with camera options

"I use an HP CB350 camera, 12MP. A friend has helped me set it up and the only pics I can take what don't take on a pink tinge are on an intelligent setting but this doesn't allow me to use the little flower setting that brings out the detail in my work."

here is the image i was sent


Now u can't see very well from this size image but it suffering from a bad case of noise.

Noise is the silver particles that are in the camera and when Lighting is low your camera (if on Auto) will up up it's ISO to allow more light to flow through the lens, the down side to this is it hits these particles and creates noise.


There are 2 simple ways to solve this issue.


the first one is (if the camera allows) to change ur ISO setting to no more than 200. I wont go into detail about ISO as we will be here for some time!

If you still have problems or photos are too dark, take them outside or on windowsill, the more natural light u can get on the product the better.

If you want to try and get that stitching detail wack it on macro and make sure u have a good light source.

So there u have it some tips that i hope will help u create better images for your beautiful products.

Think about what makes u buy a product that you see in a magazine, lifestyle pictures can really help set a scene and play on people emotions which is a massive factor when buying, how a product will make a person feel will help them decide whether to buy or not!.

6 comments:

  1. That's really interesting to see all that goes into producing a great photo, thanks Bon!

    I know that very often my decision to buy something is because I've fallen in love with the photo of it, so I know how vital it is to pay attention to getting it just right!

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  2. Thanks Bonita for this. Great tips. I've just got a new camera so am going to try them out as I would really like to improve my pics. Ursula x

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  3. Great tips, Bon - thank you! x

    Can I just say, though, that flash does work when my camera's set to Macro. Not that I use flash, but if the light level drops, I have to manually disable it to stop it automatically cutting in. My camera's a Praktica DCZ 4.4.

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  4. This is EXACTLY what I've been needing! Thank you so much for this post.

    LA x

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  5. @baggie wow there's a first! even i can learn something new :)

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