Review: Helicon Focus vs CombineZP

On 12.23.09, In Commentary, Do It Yourself, Macro, Photos, Software, By Chester

Helicon Focus Flower Macro Composite
I have been using Helicon Focus off and on for a little over a year now. I love the program. I haven’t really tried depth of field stacking in Photoshop, mainly because the results of Helicon Focus are so good. If it is good enough for scientific work, it’s good enough for me. However, I recently became aware of a free tool similar to Helicon, called CombineZP, so I had to give it a try.

Call me crazy, but even though Helicon Focus has a retail price of more than $0, I find it to be a superior program. The interface is easier to use, there are export plugins from Adobe Lightroom, and the resulting product, in my mind, is superior. I created the images below using the 2 programs, each using a stack of 4 shots from my Olympus E-510 to create the resultant image. You be the judge, but I know I will continue to use Helicon Focus.

CombineZP
CombineZP Comparison Shot (by Chester Bullock)

Helicon Focus
Helicon Focus Comparison Shot (by Chester Bullock)

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DIY Monday – Creating the Wet Look

On 12.14.09, In Do It Yourself, Photos, Products, By Chester

Oogave product lineup
Earlier this fall I had the opportunity to do a product shoot for a local soft drink company who was taking their product national in Whole Foods. Made from agave cactus nectars, these drinks are competing for shelf space with a whole host of competitors. The owner was rolling out new labeling and needed pics quick. He chose me because of my experience in shooting highly reflective surfaces, particularly glass bottles. To make the images more compelling, the owner wanted the bottles to look like they had just come out of a cooler. Fair enough, but now I needed to figure out how to do it.

The solution turned out to be fairly simple. I set the shot up as I normally would for shooting glass, got the lighting right, checked some test images and liked what I had. Then I used a common household spray bottle filled with water (nozzle set to a fine mist) and sprayed the bottles lightly. The water beaded up naturally, and I started shooting. It was actually pretty simple.

A couple of things to note when doing this:

  • If you need to respray them, let them dry first. Towelling the bottles off can result in torn labels.
  • Use extra caution if the labels are printed on regular paper. Let the water sit too long, and they will change color.
  • Take your time. Rearrange the items as necessary, let them dry completely, then rewet as needed.

But Wait, There’s More…
Spiderweb by Sam Pierson
Just a couple of weeks ago I came across some very cool photos of spiderwebs that had waterdrops on them. The photographer, Sam Pierson, had gone out one morning after a foggy night and got some incredible shots (link above goes to a great gallery of them). When I saw this, I thought “those are awesome, I want to make one”. I don’t have any good webs like that in my area (at least I haven’t found any), but when I do locate some, I plan to take my spray bottle with me and see if the same principle can be applied to the webs. I think you can make the wet look whenever you want.

Special thanks to Sam for letting me use his picture here. You simply must check out his gallery, he has some outstanding images there. For more information about Oogave Soda, check out their website.

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How to Photograph Your Christmas Lights

On 12.09.09, In Commentary, Do It Yourself, By Chester

Our lights (by Bullock Family)
These are our lights this year. I just grabbed my camera, went outside, and started shooting. Wish I had remembered about the Strobist guide to shooting holiday lights from 3 years ago. But I found the link, and you can benefit from it’s great tips. Strobist: How To Photograph Christmas Lights.

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DIY Monday – Dancing Milk

On 11.30.09, In Do It Yourself, By Chester

Please note, this image nor the accompanying writeup are mine. I am just linking to this because I thought it was very creative and ultra cool.

From Blue to Yellow in a Drop (by Morphicx)

Here’s how to get this shot:
1) Step 1
2) Step 2
3) Step 3

What kinds of cool things are you trying?

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DIY Monday – For All You Do It Yourselfers – A New Flickr Group

On 11.23.09, In Do It Yourself, By Chester



Small PCV Backdrop

Originally uploaded by Paweł Spychalski



Hands down, most of the traffic coming to this site is because of my DIY projects. Clearly a lot of people are trying to save money and use PVC for their equipment needs. If this includes you, there is another Flickr group you should check out (and contribute to) – Tinker Tubes. More specialized than the DIYPhotographyNet group, this one is dedicated to things people make with PVC. Check it out, I think it is worthwhile.

To that end, I owe all my Flickr friends an apology. I have been out of the loop in a bunch of those groups for a long time. Heck, I was neglecting the entries to this blog as well. I pledge that I will become re-engaged. I won’t be as prolific as I have been in the past, but I am dedicating time each week to shooting new pics, trying out new techniques, building new gear, testing new gear and software, and all the things you like about my site and my posts. But this time there will be balance between that and my life. Enjoy, I know I will.

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Shooting Highly Reflective Surfaces

On 11.18.09, In Commentary, Do It Yourself, By Chester

WMD - Super Fatman Product Photo
I have scored a few product shoots because of my demonstrated ability to take good pictures of glass objects. Truth be told however, there really isn’t a whole lot to it.

First step is to have the proper environment to shoot in. For me that means using my oversized DIY PVC Light Tent. It is big enough that the light is distributed really well within. For added measure, when I was building it and then making the second revision, I made sure that the fabric would cover any of the PVC so it would not show up as a reflection in the objects I was shooting.

Second step is, obviously, lighting it. When shooting in the big tent, I tend to go between two different placements for my lights. I use a pair of 27W, 5500K compact fluorescents in standard 10″ clamp light fixtures I got at Home Depot. Sometimes I will place them slightly ahead of center on either side of the tent. Other times I will put them overhead, either facing directly into the tent or bouncing the light off the rafters overhead (sounds goofy, but it works). I take a couple of shots, see how they look, and then readjust as necessary. Most of the time I can get a good idea of how the lights are working from peeking through the viewfinder and then adjusting.

I generally do one or two shots in auto mode to get some idea of the f-stop and exposure ratio, then start working from there. As you can see from the EXIF for the shot above, it can be fairly fast. But again, that depends on how you light it.

One key I have been working on is how to keep the camera reflection from appearing in the object. I account for this in a couple of ways:
1) The opening in my front curtain is only large enough to let the lens through.
2) I do not use any sort of lens hood.
3) When practical, I elevate above the object and shoot downward at an angle. Straight on shots are the worst for showing the camera lens, and I try to avoid this at all costs.
4) When 4 isn’t practical, I try to get any opaque objects on the surface of the object to be in the forefront.
5) When 3 and 4 don’t work, I just deal with the fact that the reflection is part of the image.

These things must be working, as I continue to get product shot engagements, and several specifically indicate it is because of my work with highly reflective surfaces.

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DIY Monday – Illuminating from underneath

On 11.16.09, In Do It Yourself, Photos, Products, By Chester

Corona Drinking Glass from recycled bottle - After slight retouching (by Chester Bullock)
I had an occasion where I needed to light an object from underneath (the glass of beer in the pic above). I wrestled with it for some time, and then came up with what turned out to be a pretty easy solution.

Using a flat fluorescent light fixture I picked up at Home Depot, and a piece of black craft foam, and my large DIY light tent with glass riser, I was able to get the photo above. I cut a hole in the black craft foam that was roughly the same size as the base of the glass. I then put my black backdrop into the light tent, set the fluorescent light on my workbench inside the light tent, and then placed the craft foam on top of that so no light escaped except through the hole I had created. From there I inserted my glass sheet to have a riser (which was conveniently about an inch higher than the surface of the fluorescent light), filled the drinking glass with beer, and turned on the light. This photo did not require any additional lighting other than the fluorescent underneath the product. And by using the pane of glass as a riser, a nice reflection appeared as well.

That’s all there is to it, hope it works for you if you need some illumination from underneath on an object.

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DIY Monday – PVC/ Lightstand Backdrop Holder

On 02.16.09, In Do It Yourself, By Chester

Self Portrait
This self portrait was taken using a homemade PVC/ Lightstand backdrop holder. I took the original idea from Martin Kimeldorf and, as usual, did a little of my own thing with it. The smaller images in this article can be clicked on to see larger versions.

PVC/ Lightstand Backdrop PartsThe parts list for this is pretty easy. Two 2′ sections of 1/2″ PVC pipe (Schedule 40, Home Depot has pre-cut 2′ lengths for about $0.79ea), one 6″ section of 1/2″ PVC pipe (if you don’t have any laying around, get another 2′ section), one 1/2″ Sch40 T, one 36″x1/2″ wooden dowel, one lightstand, one backdrop, and two or three clips or clamps (simple binder clips would even work). I found that, with my particular lightstand, the 1/2″ PVC slipped right over the top and fit quite nicely. I then put the T on, put the 2′ sections of PVC into the T, and then inserted the wooden dowel to keep the PVC from sagging. Once all that was on, I draped the backdrop over the pipe, clipped it with the clamps, and was all done.

PVC/ Light Stand Backdrop Holder Overall I was pleased with how well it worked, and even more impressed by it’s portability and the ease with which it broke down. One con is that it takes up one of the two lightstands I have, but I have been meaning to get more anyway. Just in case I need a wider backdrop, I purchased two 1/2″ couplers and two extra 2′ sticks of PVC, along with an extra dowel. That will give me a lot of coverage should I need it, say for a group or something. Now I need to try making my own backdrops. If you have any nifty DIY things I should try, leave a comment or send me an email.

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Do It Yourself Monday – Backdrop and Light Stands

On 02.09.09, In Do It Yourself, By Chester

PVC Backdrop Holder by Martin Kimeldorf
I decided last week that it is time for me to make a backdrop holder. I had a shoot recently where I wasn’t terribly happy with the results, so I knew I needed a proper backdrop holder. As luck would have it, I found some good tutorials on how to make quality light and backdrop stands. Also found a nifty tutorial on making your own muslin backdrops. I have some headshots to do tomorrow, so I will definitely be building some of this today. Check back next week to see which one(s) I build, and how well I think they work.

  • Kimeldorf system which uses PVC and a light stand. I like it, but may not build it since I will need both of my light stands tomorrow. There is also a followup article that has some improvements to the original design. Very portable.
  • Jeff Geerling design, which would be good at home, but not sure about portability.
  • Brian Zimmerman’s design which seems designed for portability (longest length of pipe is 5′), but also has modifications for lighting. Also shows how he made a backdrop. Certainly the most complete system of the ones I am linking to. Might also take the longest to build, depending on the mods you use. VERY cool though, and I plan to build this one at some point, just not in time for tomorrow.
  • Plunger head version that uses telescoping paint poles, plunger heads, and misc clamps. Not quite suitable for my needs, but possibly workable for you. Worth looking at anyway.
  • David Thurman’s design is for people who already have poles and just need to build a base to put the poles in (kind of like the base for an umbrella on a patio table or something). Not at all applicable to my situation, but still useful for some people.
  • Create your own muslin backdrop – I really like this tutorial and will use it at some point. Already have something I plan to use tomorrow though.

I also want to mention that I attended a Colorado Strobist meetup last night, and the guest speaker was none other than David Tejada. I have been following his work for quite some time now, and was very pleased to be able to meet him in person. His work is definitely an inspiration to me, and it was great to hear how he setup certain shots. He also agreed to speak at my daughters high school photography class. I am sure the kids will be excited about this. If you haven’t heard of him, check out his work – it will help you think creatively on your next shoot.

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DIY Monday – Portable PVC Light Tent

On 01.26.09, In Do It Yourself, Gear, By Chester

DIY Light Tent
Once I completed my very large PVC Light Tent, I was pretty certain I would need a portable one. The large one could be portable, but would likely be a pain to cart around. And I was right – just last week someone asked me to come to their location and do some product photos. That shoot should be sometime this week, so I took some time this past weekend and made a portable light tent out of PVC pipe.

Portable Light Tent I could have gone with the same plans I used for the larger one, but instead opted to try Bill Huber’s design. It is much simpler than the large one, with fewer pieces, increasing the portability. I didn’t really vary mine much from his, except that I used regular 90° elbows, and I didn’t glue any joints together. Not gluing allows me to break the pieces down for maximum portability.

DIY Portable Light Tent When I went to the craft store to locate suitable heavy paper, I came across a higher quality posterboard that is double sided. Each piece measures 22″ in width, which is perfect for the width of this box. By using this posterboard, I have 8 different colors of backdrop – 2 shades of blue, purple, red, green, yellow, gold and silver. Following Bill’s trick of using a sheet metal or wood screw on the crossbar (drill pilot holes first before putting the screws in) and punching holes in the top of the posterboard, you get a VERY convenient method to hang the backdrops with. This also gives you added versatility. You can put the backdrop inside the frame and cover the tent with a sheet, or you can hang the backdrop so it is outside the frame. You might ask when you would need to do this, and an immediate example I can think of is a spherical object that reflects everything.

P1254546 As the photos on Bill’s site attest, you can get some great results from this. I haven’t fully tested it yet, but will be experimenting a lot with light positioning, etc. when I do my product shoot in Highlands Ranch later this week. This is a very inexpensive piece of equipment though, and I anticipate using it quite a bit. I’ll be sure to post pics after the shoot.

Also, I’d love to see some other designs for light tents, as well as any other DIY projects you might think of. And you can click on any of the thumbnails in this article to see a larger version.

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