Shave of the Day pics

UKRob

UKRob

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5,357
Location
Lichfield
I'm really impressed with some of the SOTD efforts as they make mine look very plain - so I though it would be good to get some background as to how you set them up. I'm thinking of stuff like, where you take them, do you use a photo box, under lights or just daylight, do you play around with the images - anything that may help other people (like me) to see an improvement.

Rob
 
I use a light box, but prefer the day light, but that doesn't work during winter time for me (dark when I leave and dark when I get home :( ). I try to lighten every pic up with something shaving related, an old De or something else. Good light and nice lens takes you far, I think.
 
I posted a few taken with the Hipstamatic app on my phone. Shanking the phone causes it to use a random lens and paper. To add a twist I tried to capture the shave, taking the pic on the sink with the lather. However, with a black cup and brush, in a black and white bathroom, they were all going to look more of less the same.
 
I never use a light box, just my kitchen table, a wireless remote shutter, and a reflector board, well I call it a reflector board, but actually It's the back of an Ikea table place mat, with a kind of mirror chrome finish and flexible allows you to bend and focus light onto certain area's, first of all choose my composition then I set up the camera set my shutter balance my aperture, I then have my both hands free to finish the shot, It's the perfect set up for any kind of still life photography after that's all a SOTD photo is.

Jamie
 
You can buy a collapsible photo tent for less than twenty quid and it'll be the best investment you ever made because first and foremost it'll diffuse any artificial light source you care to use.
 
I use the standard camera app on my iPhone. Nothing special, but the 4S is an 8MP camera which is just superb IMHO.

Mind you, I don't claim to be a good photographer at the SOTD pics (when I do one), so I am honoured to be posting next to some of the great photographers here!!
 
antdad said:
You can buy a collapsible photo tent for less than twenty quid and it'll be the best investment you ever made because first and foremost it'll diffuse any artificial light source you care to use.
Click to expand...

This is the kind of thing I was trying to get to. I use a home made diffuser box for some pictures of restores but I can't be bothered doing that for a SOTD picture. I would like to post on SOTD more often but already I have to download to photobucket in order to get it small enough to be acceptable. Does anyone have an alternative to doing this?
 
The quality of pics on SOTD here is very good. Look closely at what you find attractive, make your own small variation and off you go. One of the common characteristics is close cropping. Your pics will depend on how much effort you want to put into them. There are some useful tips here:

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/shooting/10-tips-to-get-started-with-still-life-photography/
 
I've just dug out my light box from the garage, so be prepared for some great pics.. well the best I can anyway!
There are some exceptional photographers on here, not just the technical quality of the photo, but also the composition. That level of artiness is beyond me, no matter how hard I try.

I've always got Photobucket to lean on with its array of effects and overlays...

Jon
 
My photos are taken on a fur look pillow cover from a charity shop(75p) in the front room table as its by a window,with a light on for sharp light (clear pictures) and with a soft light lamp ( less sharp ) all with sun light if posable, then they are emailed to myself on the MacBook Pro where I use iPhoto to do any editing then posting on TSR. Since the photos are going on the web I try to do a good job, you never know who is looking at them.

I try to push my self and my poor iPhone 4S to the max to get the shot,
but I also try to work with a theme to get creative, at the moment it's take the razor and shave with it and get it dirty as they often look cool dirty,I noticed this at Christmas with my fatboy and figurd that looks like a project for the future. The trouble is I'm just the pleb shaving with them, the razor is the star not me.
 
Here's what I currently do in order to get a shot onto SOTD - can anyone suggest a shortcut?

-Camera is a Cannon SLR, take photo and then load memory card into reader (rather than link the camera directly) to my laptop.
-Copy from card and paste into 'my photos'.
-Open Photobucket and browse my photos then upload.
-Copy from my photos into SOTD.

Is there any way I can reduce the original photo to a size that's acceptable on the forum, without going through Photobucket?

If not, can I shortcut the process in some way?
 
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