Sunday, May 22, 2011

Lisa Spangler's Card Photography Series

I love making cards but sometimes (well often really!) find it so hard to take good photos of them. So I was delighted when I read on Lisa Spangler's blog that she is doing a Card Photography Series. I have so much to learn in so many areas so I'm thoroughly looking forward to all of Lisa's tutorials.

Usually I take photos in the morning in a sunny room at the front of the house. I've given up on taking photos outside as there always seems to be gusts of wind ready to blow over the cards. Also when I crouch down to take a photo Toby thinks it's play time and starts jumping up in front of the camera!

Lisa's first assignment was to download and print her cute card and photograph it in different locations using the auto white balance and other white balance settings. I didn't even know that I had a white balance mode on my camera - I'm terrible for not reading manuals! It was only later today that I discovered where it is and how to change it. My camera has been on direct sunlight mode since I bought it!

Photo taken early this morning when it was very cloudy. I seem to have a real problem photographing white against white. This photo is sooo bad! It also shows a problem I sometime have with cards - the light seems to be much brighter on the bottom right of the card. White balance - direct sunlight.




Photo taken at the same time and in the same place as the first photo but with different backgrounds. White balance - direct sunlight.


Photo taken in bright room but out of direct sunlight. The white background is further away than in the first photo and this seems to make a difference. White balance - direct sunlight.


The next three photos were taken this evening in a bright room but out of direct sunlight. White balance - auto.


White balance - shade.



White balance - cloudy.



I'm finding it slightly difficult to do this exercise as I'm working with a laptop (hopefully only for a little while longer) and any tilt of the monitor makes such a difference to the photos. I think photos 2 & 3 look better than the others and the last photo is the whitest looking one in that set of three taken this evening.

5 comments:

Barb said...

Wow Heather, you really did some fun experimenting! So cool to see the differences! Isn't it neat that Lisa is doing this for us?

Dawn T said...

Looks like you had fun trying out all the different lighting Heather.

Karen said...

Neat to see the results in different places/lights. BTW, I love that green tile!!!

Deirdre said...

Great experimenting. I always play with my photos in photoshop and post process them.... I never shoot in auto as the flash normally tries to come on and it makes the cards completely "washed out". Bet you are enjoying this process. Thanks for sharing.

susanne said...

Very interesting to see your results! At first I preferred the third photo (direct sunlight) until I saw the fourth . Great photos! It's really a learning experience isn't it! I love Lisa's tutorial!

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