Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi,
I've found many builders have a photo bug. Some of you guys would like to take better pictures. Woody suggested I give some photo tips. How about a class?

I’ll start with a basic class with a basic ($100) digital camera.
If your digital camera is more than 3 years old and cost less than $400, replace it. The cheap stuff has gotten scary good in the past year.
A little on my background;
My wife and I own a fun biz; isimon PHOTOGRAPHY. I thought of that i lower case thing 20 years ago! I should sue….but I digress. My primary biz is; thoughtful, high quality school and team photo’s (sports, dance). It keeps us insanely busy for 6 months of the year. We have a great reputation and many 20 year clients. We don’t have a complaint file to keep. I entertain Preschool kids and get portraits that moms can’t resist. I tell forth grade boys they are ugly….. I get great smiles. For prints we use the best lab available, not "junky school pictures" in any way. My wife is the brains of the operation (Ex CPA brainac. That, and she encourages my build dream. You can’t have her pthhhh)
I do some commercial projects but that can be its own business. Follow through and account maintenance can be consuming. So I only take on what I can. To fill time between our bread and butter I always did Weddings and such. I love event photography but it’s a younger mans game. So, chasing brides has hopefully turned into a small guitar and parts building biz. I hope to learn how to do this right. We’ll find out what I can learn.
What I can offer back; I will try to help you guys take better photo’s of your art you have worked so hard to create. I have volunteered my services to the upcoming ASIA and to Mid Atlantic (I hope John can piece that one back together some time) Also, I am doing my second stint at McKnight Jam. Tim and Mary have a very nice gathering. Tim puts Scotch heavy spray adhesive all over his guitars and then sets them all over the place. Awesome sales tactic, fun to photograph. Hee
So………….
Photo101
Lets turn Photo 1 into Photo 2

PHOTO1

PHOTO 2



Camera; my kids Nikon L18 $100 camera; has some manual overrides and a zoom lens.
Outdoors Lighting; Bright sun 10am
I got a little artsy with a Poly finished Yamaha. Never set a French Polished guitar in the grass! Pick your spot for either simplicity or a compliment to the intent. Put a Jazz guitar on a brick wall at a railway station. Dream the photo. It can be like playing your first bar chord. PIA that is so satisfying.

I started with an average shot. Harsh light. Noon is the worst, we‘ll cover that in lesson 2 . Bright, direct sun is bad; Wide angle optics distort

Backs are harder to shoot than fronts.
So what is working against these photos? Almost everything. The full front is distorted from being to close/using wide angle. The back, well, it’s a nice picture of …a field.
At least the light is low in the sky. Morning and dusk are your best friend. Note Mornings are blue in color tone., evenings yellow. Give me dusk on an overcast day as my favorite time to shoot. But you work with what you have. Today we have 10am EST spring.
Composition; Look at your whole scene. Did you see the garbage pale in photo2? If you did you get one "A ". Hey, a branch out of focus in the scene is art. A branch from a tree, right behind the guitar, is an antler. Dead on shots are generally a drag. It shows no depth, little of the character. Clients will ask for dead on, not on an angle. Not because they don’t want to see what is on the sides. It ’s just they subconsciously want a distortion free picture. Which I hope to teach you to create.
Angle is everything; Wide angle distorts. Wide angle close really distorts.

Try to remain parallel to your subject

BTW
You can do just as much damage to the image aiming up


Lets get started. Get as far away from your subject as you can. Use your optical telephoto.
NEVER use the camera as it turns on. Your camera was not built for product photography. It was built for round faces 15 feet away. With a few easy tricks we can make the camera do a great job. So, BACK UP. Get away from your subject. Now use your OPTICAL zoom to maximum to fill your frame. Part cut off? Back up more. Want to fill the frame more then move closer. Leave the zoom on max. Did I mention to not use the digital zoom. Digital zoom does not produce clear results. NEVER use the digital zoom. Also, if you have a tripod use it.
Here we have a nicer picture. Note the fence.

Look at the same photo shot on wide angle much closer to the guitar, can you see the distortions;


Next lets GET RID OF THE GLARE. Since the dark of the back shows the uneven light better lets turn it around.
Worst best solution. Aim the guitar into the cloudless sky.

Best; get some wide felt and block the direct sun.



Did you see the cans again? We'll do much more on picking spots to shoot pictures.
You can also use white sheets to diffuse the sun. That works fantastic with sunbursts and Mahogany/dark tops. Black gloss tops are a WHOLE other lesson. Note; pink sheets, blue sheets, paisley …… NO

That’s the end of lesson 1 I will be happy to carry on with encouragement. I’m not looking for Kudos, I just gotta know its being used and my ramblings understood before I put a couple hours into the next lesson.


Copyright 2009 isimon PHOTOGRAPHY Free to copy. Send me dough or at least ask permission if using for a teaching tool. Publish whole or part Only with permission and credit.

This is great stuff, John, please continue!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

John this is great. Please, please, please continue

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Dan

You are a godsend. I am on the edge of my seat. Don't leave us hanging too long.

Thanks a bunch,
Kent

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Kent Schoonover

WWW.schoonoverresophonicguitars.com

Thanks John, bring on lesson two this is really good stuff.

Cheers

Kim

JOHN.............You've got my attention! Don't quit now, I'm looking forward to the next lesson. And thank you kindly for your generosity.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Thank you, thank you! Please continue.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

This is most excited I've been about a thread here in a long time (except maybe the Taz'laam auction :p). I just bought a new Nikon D40 so I can take some nice pictures of my first build when I get it back from finishing. I found I have a lot to learn about the lens capabilities, depth of field, etc...

I've looked at a few books on basic digital photography, but I'm really looking forward to this guitar specific stuff..

PLEASE continue!

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Jim Hansen

Agreed, this is really valuable information, and very much appreciated. Thanks so much for your generosity.

Ken

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Thanks for doing this. Please do continue. Now I need to decide whether to hurry up and send in pictures of my latest while I can still claim ignorance or wait so I can maybe do it better.

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Mike Lindstrom

John,

I really appreciate you taking the time to do this!!! Thanks.

A question. You show 2 pics of the guitar leaning against the fence and state to look at the fence. One pic is taken from further away (zoomed in) and the other is taken nearer with the camera paned out (not sure the proper term). The fence looks more distorted in the second picture than in the first.....and If I read correctly, the second pic is the one taken closer to the subject. What am I missing?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

John, thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I am certainly taking notes...and looking forward to the next lesson!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Wow, thanks guys. Questions are welcome.
I figure one more outside class with basic gear, one on artificial light or mixed light. Then we can get into Digital SLR's.

Great job John. I've tried everything to get decent pictures of a dark back. You've also comfirmed that I need a new camera. Keep up the good work.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Hi Darryl, What you are missing is the fence is screwed and ready to fall over lol. I see your confusion, I looked and the image 2 looks like a sturdier fence because of the distortion! Look at the rock pile in the background. See how it looks much furthwer away in photo 2 than photo1. Look at the shoulders of the guitar how different they look. On an unfamiliar guitar you may not notice, one you spent a 100 hours building will just look well, a little wrong.
The telephoto compacts the image, a wide angle expands.
I have a great way to better explain lens distortion that I will put together. For now a quick test for your optics. I always do this test with new lens's/cameras Take a full newspaper sheet and pin it flat to a wall. put your lens at its widest. Walk until the edges of the paper are at the edges of your view through the camera. Make sure your lens front is parrallel to the wall. Snap the picture. Do the same thing at mid and at full tele. The results will show you;
Over all sharpness
How accurate your viewfinder is. Meaning, you aimed at a full shot, you snap and the image is cut off on the bottom or top or is it just as you saw it on the screen or through the viewfinder?
If your flash kicks on and whites out the image; a single layer of white TP or tissue taped to the flash will diffuse the flash.
On full tele if you are too close to focus and it blurs; use the close up filter. There is a single flower symbol on the back of your auto camera. That button or setting is so you can shoot real close like a headstock. Now that close setting on wide will let you get right on top of things but it again, distorts the image. Especially on the edges of the photo. Now, use the close setting on telephoto and you have a pro shot of your head or pickguard or bridge.....
Now look at the images on a big screen. You will likely see the letters curve or blur on the wide stuff. Mid to Tele should be sharp clear and accurate.

You started this buddy
Brazilian Rosewood is a nightmare to shoot. I photo'd a Brazilian for Tim McKight for publication (see Acoustic Fingerstyles latest issue). I put together a 5-6 light studio in his garage. It took 2 tries and probably 4 hours to get any detail out of that beautiful chocolate without also getting me, my lights and his Honda in the reflection!
We'll cover tough objects, tough light.

Thank for putting the effort into this John. I sure hope this makes it into the tutorial section.

I look forward to seeing more.

Cheers,
Danny

My sincere thanks for taking the time to publish this tutorial John. You've begun to address a skill-set that very few of us have and I find your information very worthwhile. I think that the way you've shown both the improper and proper techniques is an excellent learning aid. Please continue.... and thanks from a complete "camera novice."

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Peter

Love this post.

I decided I had to learn how to take 101 level pics after I ended up with a couple of floating decapitated heads in pictures..... We were taking pics outside in bright sun.... wearing white shirts..... It overexposed the white shirts and consequently the pic looks like several decapitated heads floating up in space above a weird white blob.

Love the pics with too much junk in focus around the Guitar..... Especially the one with the gas can in sharp focus.... Sweet. We have Birthday pics that resemble this -- piles of mail and dirty dishes in front of the cake.....

I want to add 1 -- that needs a pic in this tutorial......

1. Watch out for sunlight shining in from windows. Well lit Indoors is very dark. Brightly lit indoors is about the same light as dark shade outside on a sunny day. Windows on the other hand... they let in the full brightness of Daylight... which is about 1,000 times brighter than indoors. Somehow, we are drawn to shooting pics in front of an open window like a Moth to the Flame... and get the giant white blob of overexposure... and the nice dark featureless subject in the foreground.

Thanks

John

OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the response.

I have another question if it's not too much trouble. When photographing the back you said to block the direct sunlight. A subsequent picture show the black cloth drapped to form the block; however, I see that the shadow from the black cloth does not cover the guitar back. How is the direct sunlight being blocked if the subject is not within the shadow of the cloth? I sure appreciate this post.....and as you can see from my questions, I've a lot to learn.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Sweet tip about the toilet paper flash diffuser.

Going to try that one out next time I shoot with flash on Shiny surfaces...

John

You might have FINALLY allowed me to make friends with my camera on this one!!
Thanks for doing this. I'll go on the list with everyone else that's awaiting the next lesson....

Darryl... the black cloth is not blocking any light, it's what is being reflected in the guitar's back. The reflected black cloth "disappears" leaving the wood fully lit, with no glare.

Great post! John.

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Ya beat me. Like I said in the OP "Ramblings" Ya do something 5000 times you forget how and what your doing and saying, ya just do it. As it was I reread rewrote for over an hour trying to convay properly. All that said; yep, I will go back to the op and make it more clear as I worded it down right wrong. So, thanks again Darryl. You will make me a better teacher.
Hmm I guess you can't edit after replies? Makes sense. I would have changed i to say "Block the reflection."
I will do a part on diffused light through a sheet.

You can edit for 20 minutes after you post, then it freezes forever.

Keep this thread going, I am finding a lot of great stuff in here. Not to derail you but I am interested in taking work shop pics too. Mostly in progress shots to send to customers and post in blogs etc.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com