Please help with glare

[shannonh]

I started making glass marble magnets to sell on eBay. I have taken hundreds of pictures inside, outside and everywhere I can possibly think of but I am still getting this awful glare. I have Jasc Paint Shop Photo Album 5 if that helps. When I edit they turn out looking fake.
I tried to attach the photo but the file is to large.

Thanks,
Shannon

[nebgranny]

Hi Shannon. Does the photo album have the resize function which is in the psp programs? I usually resize in psp as I am so used to that programs ability. Sure would be nice to see your work and what the problem is. I would not be able to help with the main problem but there sure are people here who can. If you would like to e-mail the image to me I can resize it for you. I CAN do that LOL..Neb

[philbach]

Well if the objects are small then I would suggest that you spend more time on taking the original photo. Make a home photo stand. A table with some nice velvet cloth and diffuse lighting on each side. That would start you off with a nice photograph that would need no retouching.

[nebgranny]

I have psp photo album 5 and looked to find the resize function and found it . Here is how is works.

Note: Resizing photos may reduce the sharpness of a photo (especially when you decrease the size), so it is a good idea to keep a backup copy of the original photo by using Save As to save the new image.

To resize a photo:

Open the folder containing the photos you want to resize. For information about locating photos, refer to Finding Photos.

Double-click the photo to open it in the Enhance tab.

On the Enhance tab, choose Image > Resize to open the

Image Resize dialog.

The Image function is on top , clcik it and you will find resize toward the bottom. I like to do it by percent.

Neb

[shannonh]

I resized it so now it will upload. Any suggestions?

[Cassidy]

ShannonH, by any means do you have another maybe a little more over exposed, I think that a white backdrop with drop shadow on the marbles should do the trick, however your current pic is a hard one, as a couple of the marbles are blended to the background

[shannonh]

More Photos

[Cassidy]

Just looking at your pics, maybe get yourself piece of either bright blue or green material, so the background separates more easily. The first pic looks pretty acceptable to me, but a bright diverse background would enable much more manipulation. The first pic, which actually looks like marbles, does in fact blend a bit with some of the marbles so makes for harder selection

[shannonh]

Photos are taken out side with an overcast.

[shannonh]

I really appreciate you guys looking at my pictures and offering advice. I will work on your suggestions and let you know what happens.

Shannon

[Cassidy]

One of the easier separations, included a selection, a levels and then a blending with shadow. A roughy, but hopefully for idea

[Cameraken]

Hi Shannon. Welcome to RP.

If you have a lot of these to photograph then getting the picture right first is far better than trying to correct them later.

If you had a SLR type camera you could use a polarising filter to eliminate the glare. But as you haven’t I would suggest making some sort of tent. Surround the objects and your camera with white translucent material. This will let the light through so you don’t need flash but will soften the light so you don’t get the glare.

Objects like this can be tricky and you are making it more difficult by photographing a lot at once. You would find it easier if you did just one per photograph.

Ken

[Panpan]

I agree with Ken that you should build a light tent. Here's a tutorial.

Those 100 watts equivalent fluorescents that fit in a lamp socket should make things even easier than in the tutorial. Plastic bags and hot lamps don't go well together.

Pierre

[Kraellin]

what ken and pierre suggest is correct. you want diffused or indirect light; preferably both. even reflected would be better than direct. and i totally agree with the polarizing lens filter.

one way to get a diffused look (without looking at the tutorial on the tent) is to use a thin cloth material to light the subject area with.

also, in almost all of your images you posted, the lighting needs to come up. they are a bit dark. you particularly want to highlight your product a bit. there are all sorts of tricks in photography for doing things like this. you can actually prop your product up off the background (while hiding the prop to the viewer) and light the product and backdrop separately. or, you can use photoshop to light each separately.

i had a friend who was running a mom and pop jewelry store in alabama. he was expanding his reach by using e-bay also. he was not a photographer, however he'd send me pics to highlight and i'd send them back glitzed up a bit. you might want to find retoucher to do the same. these are usually pretty easy fixes.

generally, when doing images of this type, go for 'pop!'. you want the product to stand out. that usually means contrast and lighting. you dont want a white on white, or red on red and so on, unless the shades of each are pretty far apart. even adding a bit of contrast within the marbles might help on some of them. and usually, you want the background darker than the foreground. not always, but i'd say usually.

you said these are magnetic? umm, you might want to demonstrate that within the image also. show a few sticking things to a refridgerator...things like that.

Craig

[shannonh]

I took your advice and made a lighting tent (think that's what you called it). So here are the new pictures. Any suggestions or comments?