Holmfirth Camera Club Visit
9th March 2024
Geoff France & Vince Cunningham
VINCE – Puluz Light Box
Vince showed us how to use the light box and talked about editing pictures and about various editing packages. He has very kindly has donated / loaned the box to the club.
This has a built in LED light source, various assorted interchangeable coloured backgrounds – these can/should be selected to be in context with the subject.
Pictures can be taken either from the front or from the top through a hole in the roof of the box. This is ideal for small to medium size carvings.
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He demonstrated using a mobile phone (iPhone or Android) - mostly using the AUTO setting.
It was suggested that if the photo’s are blurred it may be due to a dirty lens.
Basic editing can be done directly in a phone using the built in settings
to Crop an image and to enhance or reduce Highlights and Shadows.
Holmfirth Camera Club Visit
9th March 2024
Geoff France & Vince Cunningham
VINCE – Puluz Light Box
Vince showed us how to use the light box and talked about editing pictures and about various editing packages. He has very kindly has donated / loaned the box to the club.
This has a built in LED light source, various assorted interchangeable coloured backgrounds – these can/should be selected to be in context with the subject.
Pictures can be taken either from the front or from the top through a hole in the roof of the box. This is ideal for small to medium size carvings.
​
He demonstrated using a mobile phone (iPhone or Android) - mostly using the AUTO setting.
It was suggested that if the photo’s are blurred it may be due to a dirty lens.
Basic editing can be done directly in a phone using the built in settings
to Crop an image and to enhance or reduce Highlights and Shadows.
Without
With
Without
With
Software editing packages
SNAPSEED – FREE to download , simple to use but very powerful and is often used by professional photographers.
Can be downloaded onto a mobile and photos edited directly on the phone.
It can also be downloaded to a laptop or tablet if you prefer a bigger screen.
It has the ability to “Clone” out unwanted spots/blemishes etc. – e.g. on the background
There are numerous tutorials on the web.
Sharing and Exporting photo’s - e.g. to email.
If emailing a picture to someone so they can make an A4 print the image size needs to be 3000x2000 pixels
A file for the web should be 1600x1200 – Although OUR web editor programme automatically scales Jpegs to the correct size so ther is no need t do anything when sending them.
Good software for resizing images is FASTSTONE.
A good app for sending numerous photos by email is WeTransfer.
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Geoff - Photographing Larger Carvings
Geoff set up a way for photographing larger carving using 3 large cardboard sheets joined with duct/duck tape with a sheet of hessian cloth draped over it – he found the hessian to be a good background for wood carvings without being too bland
If not using a dedicated set up try to photograph against a plain surface and ensure there are no distracting objects in the background.
Lighting – have the light coming from behind if possible and DO NOT USE FLASH if possible as it can tend to flatten the image, cause shadows and can lead to unwanted highlight spots / reflections.
Position most carvings at a slight angle NOT directly face on – this adds depth and looks more interesting.
For carvings with depth & texture such as relief carvings it is also best to have the light coming from from the side at about 30 – 45 degrees.
Relief carvings will need to be propped up in some way.
If photographing with a camera having adjustable settings it is best to use Aperture priority set to a large aperture to give a narrow depth of field to help blur the background.
IF processing or editing the pictures on a Windows 11 computer the new Photo Programme has a remove/replace Background option witch is worth trying.