In need of some basics!

M

mattsnoise

Suspended / Banned
Messages
60
Name
Matthew
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi - I hope I'm putting this thread in the right place because what I'm doing and trying to find out is really quite basic I think.
I have set-up a box with the sides cut out, covered the inside with white card and then have a flashgun on a stand directed from the right of the photo through a piece of card so it diffuses to some extent. This has to some extent worked quite nicely (or certainly better than I hoped it would) however as you can see below, the original image looks decidedly grey and requires a fair bit of fiddling to make the background look anywhere near white.
Do I need more light or more lights or just to change the way I'm doing this. I think there's most likely an obvious explanation - I'm new to this so don't have much of a clue - any help appreciated!

Original:
5950340065_ac1debec5b_z.jpg


Edited: I'm still not sure whether the 'white' background is really any better - I think I'm seeing some sort of warmth to the left where there's no light coming in?!
5950893108_a2c2680d1c_z.jpg
 
Have you tried a custom white balance, try shooting the box with more light and get the shot then use that as your white balance.
Did you use manual settings the meter is always looking for average grey, so a grey/white card can help. Then use the dropper to click on the white when processing.
 
I haven't tried custom white balance and to be honest it did cross my mind when I was editing - its not something I've paid much attention to before but here where you want a properly white background I'm feeling the need to.
So you're saying to shoot just the box to get to a point where I have a photo that is truly white and then introduce the subject to the box.

Thanks for replying :)
 
Grey is just unsaturated white. Are you having a colour balance problem (things looking too red/blue) or an exposure problem (things not exposing enough). I suspect you have the second, in which case you need to understand the metering the camera applies and the way the flash operates.

How is the flash triggered and how is it connected to the camera?
 
I had the flash off camera on a stand pointed towards the box. It's triggered by a cheap wireless transmitter/receiver and then set-up manually as a result. I was using the flash roughly 2m from the box and set it so that it was appropriately powerful to illuminate 2m away.
There was also a piece of white card forming the side of the box that acted to diffuse the flash within the box. I know that this did reduce the power of the light within the box and so making the background more grey than white, however, without the card in place, I got harsh shadows on the far side of the subject as I don't (as yet) have another light source powerful enough to balance with the flashgun I was using.
In answer to your question I am using the flash completely independently of the camera.
 
What mode is the camera set to? P/A/T/M?
 
Manual - I was shooting at ISO 200, 1/100th, f5.6 which from trial and error provided the best results.
 
I would read this as it explains what we mean.
Try different positons for the light, at the front pointing up in the box is good, aim to get white first.
 
I think I grasp it now (having read the exposure thread) - I need to be overexposing by two stops to make the background properly white and then I can always edit to bring back clarity to the objects in the photo if they appear overexposed, but the key is to get the background right first, because white should be white where it is expected to be white is my current rule - until it all falls apart again.
Again, thanks.
 
Matthew have you had a look at Photoflex may give you an idea.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top