My DIY for the day

[kimbo]

I take quit a lot of vape photos and with my mik-en-druk it does not always look so good. Light in my room is not ideal for photos so i thought i will get a light box. But looking at something cheap was still way over my budget so i had to come up with a plan.
I took a old box and lined it with white A4 paper and took some of my left over LED strip light, cut that into pieces and solder wire in between so i can have a longer reach



And the result



Now i must just get a better camera

 

[zadiac]

Nice, but you need more exposure. The pic of the atty is a little dark. Or just add some more lighting in photoshop or adobe lightroom

Edit: Did this in Adobe After Effects quicly

@kimbo , if you can get hold of adobe after effects program, I'll make you a quick tutorial on how to improve your photos, or even photoshop if you want. I'll hunt for a simpler program for you that can do that and do a tutorial for you if you want. There should be many free programs out there that can improve exposure/lighting on photos. I just need to search.

 

[Andre]

'n Boer maak 'n plan. Looks great to my unprofessional eye.

 

[kimbo]

Nice, but you need more exposure. The pic of the atty is a little dark. Or just add some more lighting in photoshop or adobe lightroom

Edit: Did this in Adobe After Effects quicly

@kimbo , if you can get hold of adobe after effects program, I'll make you a quick tutorial on how to improve your photos, or even photoshop if you want. I'll hunt for a simpler program for you that can do that and do a tutorial for you if you want. There should be many free programs out there that can improve exposure/lighting on photos. I just need to search.

I have lightroom thank you

Still learning, I am just a bit carefull of the exposure

 

[kimbo]

View attachment 19300

I have lightroom thank you

Still learning, I am just a bit carefull of the exposure

I am using my mik-en-druk ..

 

[zadiac]

Would you like me to do a tutorial for you on lightroom on how to improve exposure and contrast, or do you want to experiment on your own?

 

[kimbo]

Would you like me to do a tutorial for you on lightroom on how to improve exposure and contrast, or do you want to experiment on your own?

Yes please, most of the youtube vids are so ovcer my head its not even funny

 

[zadiac]

Ok. Just gimme a few hours. Will have it ready for you later tonight.

 

[kimbo]

Ok. Just gimme a few hours. Will have it ready for you later tonight.

Thank you very much

 

[Cat]

Well done! (where's the thumbs-up emoticon?) ja, a must-have for this stuff, but my main concern is to stop being so slack and use the tripod i got an never opened, because i have such shakey hands.
i use the Canon DPP program that came with the cam, easy and does the job well. i should copy the cd for you sometime, so you can try it. i do the tone curve assist /auto, because the light in the room usually low and the flash usually stuffs it up, and i use the un-blur, drag the slider until i see it improve enough, and that's it.

 

[kimbo]

Well done! (where's the thumbs-up emoticon?) ja, a must-have for this stuff, but my main concern is to stop being so slack and use the tripod i got an never opened, because i have such shakey hands.
i use the Canon DPP program that came with the cam, easy and does the job well. i should copy the cd for you sometime, so you can try it. i do the tone curve assist /auto, because the light in the room usually low and the flash usually stuffs it up, and i use the un-blur, drag the slider until i see it improve enough, and that's it.

Thank you

That will be really helpfull, i long for a DSLR or just a bridge camera, but for now it is me and my Lumix

 

[zadiac]

@kimbo , for some reason my Lightroom won't import images....sigh. I haven't worked with it in a long time. Dunno what's wrong.

Wish you had photoshop or after effects. Would've worked much better. I never liked Lightroom.

Edit: Anyway, got lightroom working again and busy with your tutorial. Will let you know

 

[free3dom]

I take quit a lot of vape photos and with my mik-en-druk it does not always look so good. Light in my room is not ideal for photos so i thought i will get a light box. But looking at something cheap was still way over my budget so i had to come up with a plan.
I took a old box and lined it with white A4 paper and took some of my left over LED strip light, cut that into pieces and solder wire in between so i can have a longer reach

View attachment 19290

And the result

View attachment 19291

Now i must just get a better camera

Awesome bud

Just one question...did your Reo turn into a RTA when you took a picture of it?

 

[kimbo]

Awesome bud

Just one question...did your Reo turn into a RTA when you took a picture of it?

 

[free3dom]

View attachment 19318

Whew...panic avoided

Looking good

I have another suggestion for your setup. Get a fairly strong directional light (such as a desk lamp) and point it into the box from the front (leaving room for you and the camera, of course). Then put some white transparent paper (the kind that is almost like tissue, I forget the name) over the lamp. This will provide you with some fill light to bring out the details, without creating harsh shadows (the transparent paper diffuses the light and creates soft shadows).

Here is a quick tutorial on light diffusion:

 

[kimbo]

Whew...panic avoided

Looking good

I have another suggestion for your setup. Get a fairly strong directional light (such as a desk lamp) and point it into the box from the front (leaving room for you and the camera, of course). Then put some white transparent paper (the kind that is almost like tissue, I forget the name) over the lamp. This will provide you with some fill light to bring out the details, without creating harsh shadows (the transparent paper diffuses the light and creates soft shadows).

Here is a quick tutorial on light diffusion:

Thank you

My space is a bit thin here, external lights will not work

This is one i took just now with the Reo a bit deeper in the box

 

[Cat]

Much better.
Black is the worst, glossy black is really the worst. Most skill, most knowledge. Anything black, be it a bike part or a mod, i look at the silver plain version or a coloured version instead of the black, so i can see the thing.

// free3dom, ja i know what you mean, it is called tissue paper, it's for wrapping gifts, but you want the white, not the coloured. Tissue paper, not tissues. Probably hard to find; they'll have colours and not the plain, cos nobody wants to wrap gifts with plain white.

 

[free3dom]

Thank you

My space is a bit thin here, external lights will not work

This is one i took just now with the Reo a bit deeper in the box

View attachment 19319

That looks great already...especially considering the Reo is all black, which makes it the most difficult to get properly lit
Then just a few tweaks with Lightroom and you can definitely go without any more lighting - in a pinch I sometimes use my cellphone's flash turned on for a little bit of extra fill light

 

[Cat]

mik-en-druk, is interesting. P&S, should be mik-en-skiet.

 

[free3dom]

mik-en-druk, is interesting. P&S, should be mik-en-skiet.

That's called a gun

 

[Arthster]

Awesome job kimbo. that is pretty much exactly what a proper light box is. just a little tip for the mik and drik. If you take a tissue and fold it in half and cover the mik and drik flash it makes for a perfect very effective and cheap filter. using different color tissue can warm or cool your photo. And all this helps with less work in the digital dark room

 

[kimbo]

The ZNA almost looks better

Now i can take vape photos at night to

 

[kimbo]

Tried something with a bit more color

 

[Arthster]

Awesome work @kimbo. Starting to look pretty professional.

 

[Silver]

@kimbo

Nothing wrong with your photos at all. They look great

Most mik and druk cameras i think can produce photos good enough for using on the web
Just knowing how to use them properly and to their best potential I think is the key
What Lumix have you got? Lumix make some unbelievable cameras from what i have read

Maybe you need to play a bit with the settings available on the camera to get a better shot
Also keep the camera still on a tripod or a box - that helps a huge amount - and use the countdown shutter release. Most small cameras have that. You will get much better low light indoor shots like that

Sorry if you have tried all these recommendations, just posting in case you havent