Photographing instruments -- tips/tricks?

[Ryan Evans]

Ben Gormly's recent thread on his new beautiful tenor ukulele got me thinking more about how I photograph instruments, since that's my only way of sharing what I make with most of the world. And I realized... I don't know a whole lot about it.

For folks who have a photography setup that they like, I'd be curious to hear what that setup looks like, and any additional considerations you need to make to get the best results.

--Ryan

Also, apologies if this is off-topic for the list but I figured enough of us are in the same boat that it would be useful.

[Ben Gormly]

Hey Ryan. Thanks again for your kind words. As far as the photography set up goes; I started with a used Canon rebel t6. The cameras with the interchangeable lenses come in better quality.  I have since upgraded. I would recommend researching a few different DSLR cameras to find the one that will suit you best. The lenses are a bit more expensive through canon than say a Sony. 

 The lens I was using was a 50mm f1.8 lens from Canon, known as the "nifty fifty". The smaller aperture (the f1.8 number) will let more light through the lens and add the blurred background effect. I feel like this really helps highlight things on the instrument. 

 I bought a set of inexpensive soft/light boxes from Amazon, and a backdrop stand I found on ebay for like $20. You can find all kinds of backdrops, and some professional builders use paper rolls for a one and done use.

 The set up and lighting takes a bit of practice, and there are plenty of editing software and tutorials out there.

 I hope this helps. Karan is an amazing photographer, and could (if he's willing) offer much more insight than I. 

Happy building!

[Gregor331979]

So coming from a bit of photography background I thought I’d comment on this thread.  Remember that it’s not just the camera we use it’s the lighting we choose for the images.  Ben has done a wonderful job of using lighting with a black background to show off the uke.  And using great depth of field to highlight what he is trying to portray in each image.  Not being sure what he used I’d guess that it is some kind of soft light that will wrap around the instrument. A hard light would just reflect to much on our usually glossy instruments and not be ideal.  You don’t need very expensive stuff to do this. You can even set something up in front of a large window and just use available light which would be  soft.    If you like there are many options on eBay or Amazon for inexpensive lighting setups for soft boxes and stands.  Where a DSLR as Ben is using gives many options for creating the look you want, any of todays phones would be able to do an acceptable job as well. 

Now I’m still working on my first build I don’t have any images to show. Hopefully sooner than later it’ll be complete. I’m almost to the finishing part I have to make  the bridge next.  

Hope this helps. 

Greg

[Robbie O'Brien]

Along these lines...

I have had several people ask me to do a course about photography for luthiers. I am not qualified in this area. So, if anyone knows of someone that is willing to put together a course on this subject and market it through my website, please contact me.

Robbie

O'Brien Guitars obrienguitars.com Keep track of the changes going on now at O'Brien Guitars by signing up for my newsletter

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[Paul McEvoy]

Not really a photographer any more but I was.  This book is fairly technical but kinda goes over all the technical aspects of lighting.  Guitars are kinda medium difficulty lighting wise.  The shinier they are the harder it is.  But they are sort of forgiving subjects generally. 

Light: Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240808193/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_3QSYDB0AF6FWMQG5VYFR

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/obrien-forum/CY4PR03MB3158315808AB9DEF099CA1EADA6F9%40CY4PR03MB3158.namprd03.prod.outlook.com.

[Ben Gormly]

Robbie, I would say Kathy Wingert. She does very well with all of it, and she really enjoys talking about it. I had a very nice conversation with her regarding photography via Facebook a while back.

[Karan Singh]

Thanks for the shoutout Ben!

And I agree, Kathy would be perfect for a course! Her work is gorgeous.

My personal setup is really simple. I use an old Fuji XT1 mirrorless with a 35mm f/1.4 lens on it.

This gives me a 50mm field of view. I usually shoot my guitars in the afternoon when the natural light is diffused.

I don't use light boxes. Instead I have my son hold the guitars in the position needed, and then make the background black in photoshop.

Takes all of 2-3 minutes per image in photoshop. The photoshop program has plenty of video tutorials explaining the process.

I don't edit my images in any other way except the background. Colours, contrast etc are all set in camera because I despise spending time on the computer editing those elements!!!

As for diffusing light, the easiest way is to make a wooden frame and tape a sheet of butter paper over it and place in front of the light source..

Happy to discuss in detail if anyone has more questions!!

Cheers

Karan

[Jim Feeley]

Some great comments so far!

I’ve periodically worked in (and out of) photography for decades now. Now I do more film/video work, but not as a cinematographer or gaffer (lighting person). But I work on capturing images, and more importantly, this is the internet. So of course I have thoughts. Short version: There’s a lot to getting consistently good images of any object, especially something with the mix of color, and detail as a fine guitar. But there’s lots of good info available that will get people going. Lots and lots and lots; too much. The key thing is to narrow our search.

Basically, I’d start by doing a Google search on "Product Photography Tutorial” 

Product Photography Tutorial

Alternatively, search on “Tabletop photography”

That tends to focus on objects smaller than guitars, but with eBay, Reverb, etsy, and the rest, lots of people are sharing pretty decent advice on what to do. This book, now kinda hard to find, takes a nice approach; the writer assumes you don’t have tons of photography equipment, but still want good results. Note the guitar on the cover. It’s an electric guitar, and a clear one at that. But hey, close enough, huh?

https://rockynook.com/shop/photography/tabletop-photography/#

One great thing about photography tutorials: You can check the results to see if the tutorial is worth following. :-) Here are two that look decent.

This is a six-minute video from B&H, sort of the Sweetwater of photo and video equipment. But they’re not making a hard sell. A couple of their ideas involve using paper towels do diffuse your light… Kinda along the lines of Karan’s technique. The video shows someone photographing a watch (something even smaller than a uke), but some basic concepts are quickly described.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9rJB3VKA74

This page and video is also decent, and talks about using free to cheap stuff to control light.
Product Photography – On a Budget

https://www.theschoolofphotography.com/tutorials/product-photography

Photography is fun, but not as fun as building guitars. ;-)

HTH!

[Howard Replogle]

On Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 11:25:46 AM UTC-8 me wrote:

[David]

Another great inexpensive option to add light is to use lights that don't get hot (like LED bulbs) in an inexpensive aluminum reflector from the hardware store and tape some waxed paper or a white plastic shopping bag over the reflector. Then you can use the lights over your workbench when you're not photographing. :)

-David