correctmyphotos

In my previous post I suggested that better photos could lead to better sales. While I don’t have direct evidence to support that statement it seems logical that a potential buyer would be more interested in bidding on an item if the photos were really good verses barely acceptable.  So how do you achieve better photos? Let’s start with the photo shoot set up—your photo “studio”.  I realize that we are not pros so don’t think you need to spend a lot of money and take photography lessons to get great eBay shots.  There are two basic setups; one using natural light and the other using artificial light.

Photo Studio Setup-Natural Light (left), Artificial Light (right)

The basic items you need for either setup is a digital camera, tripod, and back drop. I would also suggest a GretagMacbeth Color Checker Mini Gray Balance Card for reasons I will describe in the next post in this series—Photo Editing.

Digital Camera
You probably already have a digital camera that will work just fine. It should be at least 4 MP and have an aperture preferred mode of shooting.  Depending the on the size of the object you are photographing you may run into a depth of field issue (the front part of the object is sharp and the back is fuzzy) Setting the aperture manually instead of shooting in Auto mode on close up shots will solve this problem. Remember the higher the number the more depth of field you will have.  I use a Canon G5, a 5 MP camera that I have had for a number of years, and get very good results shooting my ceramic birds. 

Back Drop (or Background)
I prefer a neutral background (neutral is black, white, or gray, not biege or tan) Assuming the object you are photographing is small enough to be placed on a table I recommend a neutral gray flat (not shiny) background. White and black are other common choices, however a neutral gray is the best for shooting a colorful object.  I bought a couple yards of a gray fleece at a local fabric store. Before you buy the fabric look at it under natural light to make sure it is really gray and doesn’t have a little blue or other color cast. Also, you can get a smoother background with fleece than with a harder fabric. Note how the fleece is pulled away from the bottom edge of the box to make a smooth background.  If you can’t move the object you will want to remove as much clutter from around it before you shoot. You don’t want other objects to compete with the  item you are trying to sell.

Natural Light Set Up
My natural light set up is outside on our patio. This works in Minnesota in the summer, but I will either use our four season porch or artificial light in the winter. The important thing to note when using natural light is not to set up in direct sunlight. A bright cloudy day is great or wait until the area you selected is in the shade. The ideal setting would be a North facing room with big windows to bring in the natural light. (Now you know why artists like north facing studios.) The main advantage of using natural light is that you avoid shadows and glare that are difficult to avoid using artificial light unless you use a light tent.

Artificial Light Set Up
For indoor shooting I set up on the pool table in our lower level (a fancy name for basement). I have two daylight desk lamps that I position to minimize shadows and glare. You can also use a light tent and position the lights on the outside of the tent to diffuse the light and eliminate the shadows. I ordered one today so I will see how much difference that makes. Here is a photo comparison between the two lighting set ups. I do prefer the natural light approach, but the artificial light set up is pretty good.

Compare Artificial Light (left) with Natural Light (right)

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Where do you put your digital photos when you download them to your computer?
A couple of weeks ago I posted and article on Downloading Photos to Your Computer. In the article I suggested using Windows Explorer to download the photos from the camera or memory chip (via a card reader) and putting them into the My Pictures (XP) or Pictures (Vista) folder. If you have sufficient hard drive capacity that is a good place to put them. However, you should also create a backup copy of the photo files other than on the C drive on your computer. In fact, I have gotten into the habit of downloading the photos to my external hard drive and not to my C drive. There are two reasons for doing this. One, is that my main drive is getting full and the second is that I make sure I create a backup or archive copy of the photos external to my computer.  When I go to edit the photos I will either edit them directly on the external drive or copy the photos to the Pictures folder on the C-drive.

Should you archive or create a backup file of the photos?
The answer to this question should be obvious–absolutely! But, how many people actually do that? When I ask my friends if they archive or create a backup of their photos, they  generally look at me with a blank stare. These are, of course, the same people who don’t back up their computer or back up files on their working C-drive. Think I am kidding? We get calls and emails from customers all the time that either did not backup their software file or backed them up on the same hard drive that just crashed. Duh!! (continue reading…)

Vista Image Preview
The other day while searching my photo files for images I mistakenly clicked on Open instead of Preview to brows photos in a folder. Up pops the window asking me what application I want to use.

Click on Open to select an application to priview or edit a photo

Since all I wanted to do was browse the folder I didn’t need the extra step of selecting an application. I should have selected “Preview” which would have taken me directly to the Windows viewer allowing me to quickly cycle through the photos. An honest mistake since Open is the only selection in bold. But,that made me wonder how many people don’t even know about the preview feature in Vista or know the difference between Open and preview. The Open feature is used primarily to select and/or launch a photo editing application. You can set a default application such as CorrectPhoto or Elements to always launch when you click Open by checking the little box below the selection window. However, since I use both of these programs on a regular basis I choose not to automatically launch one of them.
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Do the people in your photos have red eyes?
Do you know why? How do you avoid red eyes?
How do you get rid of red eyes in your photos?

I don’t normally have the red eye problem when I take flash photos. So, when I received this photo of the winner of our Rotary Fund Raiser Raffle winner (he won the scooter) it occurred to me that many amateur photographers have spooky red eyes in their photos. So, let’s me try to answer the questions. If your photos don’t have the problem you can probably skip this post and go on to something more exciting. If you do you should continue reading.

Red Eye is a reflection of the flash off the retina of the eye

 Do you know why? How do you avoid red eyes?
The red color comes from the light that reflects off the retinas in our eyes. When taking flash pictures of humans (animals have a different effect) the flash is so bright that it causes a reflection off the retina–what you see is the red color from the blood vessels (yuk) nourishing the eye. (For more information on red eye causes go to www.howstuffworks.com/question51.htm)

The easiest way to avoid red eye is to use the “red eye reduction” feature on your camera. I keep this feature turned on in my Canon camera. With this feature turned on the camera flash goes off twice. The first flash causes the subjects pupils to contract, reducing the red eye significantly. If you don’t have this feature you can turn on all the lights in the room, which also contracts the pupil. However, in cases like the scooter picture this is not possible so, if your camera doesn’t have the red eye reduction feature you are probably out of luck. If you have a camera that has a “hot shoe” for an external flash attachment you can point the flash away from the subject (i.e. bounce the flash off the ceiling) you will also avoid the red eye problem. If I am shooting indoors I almost always use my flash attachment instead of the built in flash in the camera. The best way to “fix” red eye is to avoid the problem in the first place. But, if your camera doesn’t have the feature or (which often happens) you forget to turn it on, what do you do?

How do you get rid of red eyes in your photos?

Red Eye Can Be Fixed CorrectPhoto Editor

There are a number of ways of fixing the red eye. Some photo printing services claim to be able to eliminate the red eye before making prints. I don’t have experience with these services so I can’t say how well they work. I prefer to be “in charge” and would use a photo editing program to eliminate the red eye.  Here again there are many different approaches and since I only use CorrectPhoto and Photoshop Elements for photo editing I will discuss these two options.  CorrectPhoto’s Red Eye reduction feature is a direct interaction whereby the user positions a variable size cursor over the red eye and when in position clicks the mouse to activate the red eye reduction technology.

CorrectPhoto Red Eye Reduction Feature

Before correcting the red eye I did use the OneClick color correction feature of CorrectPhoto to correct the color. The red eye does take a little time to position the curser, but the results are very good.

Photoshop Elements has an Auto Red Eye feature that worked on one eye, but not the other. It is not clear why that occurred. In order to activate the Auto Red Eye (I am using Elements 6.0) I had to first use the Auto Color feature. If the Auto Red Eye would have worked on both eyes it would have been faster than CorrectPhoto, however, the Auto Color feature seemed to distort the color of the photo as it tried to enhance the very dark background. It may be that this particular image didn’t lend itself to the Elements correction and it may work much better on photos where the background is brighter.  Here is the Photoshop Elements corrected photos.

Photoshop Elements Red Eye Correction worked on one eye

In summary, the best way to avoid the red eye problem is to turn on the Red Eye Reduction Feature in your digital camera. If you forget use a photo editor to get rid of it before you send the photo to someone or get prints made. If you know of other ways to eliminate red eye please add a comment. If anyone knows why Elements Auto Red Eye worked on one eye and not the other let me know.

Wayne http://www.correctphoto.com

Greetings,

I am a little behind in postings. The last couple of weeks have been a bit hectic with other things and it is finally spring in Minnesota and if you lived here you would understand. Last weekend a few of us guys went to Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills of South Dakota to “open” Bill’s cabin. I will talk about the trip and show some of the photos I took in a future post. But, first I want to touch on the process of downloading (or uploading, if you prefer) picture files from your digital camera or memory chip to your computer. This discussion is prompted by Bill’s question, “I forgot how to download pictures to my computer, can you help me?” Since he hadn’t transfered pictures from his camera to the computer for quite some time (his chip was full) he had photos from a number of events. Before detailing the process I want to point out that Bill is not alone in his lack of understanding of  “digital picture/computer” processes, nor is he a dummy. In fact, he is quite intelligent and is a tax accountant by profession. So, take heart if you have similar questions and frustrations.

Here is the process I recommend and the one we used with Bill’s photos.

Use Windows Explorer.   When we plugged his camera into the computer the software that came with his camera insisted on taking control of the process.  The first suggestion I made was to close the application (and recommended he delete it from his computer) and use the Windows Explorer system to manage the process.

Windows Vista Options for Downloading Photos

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