OmegaSlayer
Well-Known Member
ThanksThat is very nice.
Now think if Yamaha brings them back into production
This one, quality wise, is equal to my Japanese Ibby (JEM77, FGM1, RG2228)
ThanksThat is very nice.
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Heeeeey! There's the John Sykes style LP that was the inspiration for my "MLP"I have no reservations about Edwards. I have two Edwards LPs and would say they are above LTD1000 but maybe just below ESP Std / E-II (not by much if any...although they don't have the extra jumbo frets that I love on Eclipses).
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A friend of mine didn't understand the importance of taking even just the slightest amount of effort to get good lighting to take pictures of his guitar he's trying to sell, so I threw these two rows of guitars together, and showed them to him separately. I asked him which one he'd more likely want to buy. It didn't even click to him until I combined them into this one side-by-side that he realized they were the same guitars.
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In the first photo, the guitars all look dark and almost black, not showing the true colors theytbh, I never knew the rules of good lighting and still don't. I don't even know really anything about camera stuff. Mostly just "avoid glare and reflections" or something like that.
What are the primary differences of light/camera between the two sets here?
I don't know much about the technical aspects, but you're bang on with the reflections. If the light on the object is brighter than what it would try to reflect, it's more likely that the "reflection" will be black, allowing the blacks/dark colors to shine and be "punchy"tbh, I never knew the rules of good lighting and still don't. I don't even know really anything about camera stuff. Mostly just "avoid glare and reflections" or something like that.
What are the primary differences of light/camera between the two sets here?
tbh, I never knew the rules of good lighting and still don't. I don't even know really anything about camera stuff. Mostly just "avoid glare and reflections" or something like that.
What are the primary differences of light/camera between the two sets here?
portrait photographer here, but as others mentioned/suggested, the same rules apply:
soft light = good light
diffused light = soft light
harsh lighting = dramatic shadows = chances are, its bad lighting that will enhance any blemishes.
case in point: not a cloud in the sky and its DIRECT light, you're squinting, if you photograph something, its racoon eyes and nasty shadows and colors are washed out. BUT if its a cloudy sky, the light is soft, colors are softer, shadows are softer, blemishes are mostly taken care of.
i dont really do product photography as much, but same ting applies. Take an image in your front/backyard when its super cloudy...OR take a picture INDOORS close to a giant window when there is no 'direct' sun peeking through the window.
declutter the background too.
it doesn't take much to make something go from 'average' looking to 'WOW!'
best of luck
Others have explained good photography practices from their perspective, and I'll share mine as well (professional photographer since 2004, shooting everything from products, food, fashion, portraits, corporate, street, travel, to real estate). I posted my photos a few posts above so you can see the results of what I'm about to describe, but I'll post examples in this post too.tbh, I never knew the rules of good lighting and still don't. I don't even know really anything about camera stuff. Mostly just "avoid glare and reflections" or something like that.
What are the primary differences of light/camera between the two sets here?
I mentioned in my previous post that you don't need a very expensive high-end camera to get great results. Even phone cameras can get excellent results if you know how to use it effectively. But, phone cameras will have limited level of control compared to a dedicated camera, and they have tiny sensors (about the size of a pinky finger nail, whereas a full-frame sensor is the size of a large stamp) that cannot achieve adequate fidelity for higher standards. I'll show you how a Micro Four-Thirds senor camera (Olympus E-M1 Mark II), with only about half the size of a full-frame sensor, compared to a full-frame camera (Sony a7IV).
BTW, these shots were all taken with just the soft/diffused ambient light coming through the windows of the living room, and the background is a yoga mat.
These shots were taken with the Micro Four-Thirds sensor camera:
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You can see that the noise level is a bit higher, and once removed, the details are a bit less sharp at the same resolution. I don't use this camera for professional work--it's my casual camera for when traveling or just snapping shots around the house of friends and family. But it is definitely a very capable camera and far better than any phone camera.
Now, compared to shots from my Sony a7IV with a full-frame sensor, you can see these have higher fidelity and lower noise. This is because the sensor is about twice the size of the Micro Four-Thirds:
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You'll notice that on the glossy-finish guitars, there are reflections like windows, ceiling fan, framed pictures on the walls, shelves, etc., but I try my hardest to position the guitar and myself so those reflections end up in the least distracting areas on the guitar. Not perfect compared to if I still had my studio set up for large product photography, but much better than if I didn't even bother trying to minimize the reflections at all.
I also want to point out that having backgrounds of real environments isn't inherently bad--it depends on the look you're after. You can achieve nice shots if you use the environment effectively, like in these shots:
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I hope all these tips will help y'all in getting better shots of your beloved guitars (and better listing photos when you sell them).
Thanks!Pro quality pics, man.
Backgrounds are important and can elevate the artistic quality of any shot. I've been into fast cars for many years and used to drive hundreds of miles at times in part to take pics in front of certain features at a certain time of day, especially the golden hour. Perfect moments, captured.
Yes! My wife is guilty of that. Her phone and iPad are always covered in fingerprint and grease and god knows what else. If I have to touch her devices I always use hand sanitizer afterward. She once asked me why her photos looked crappy because ones from my phone looked great, and I took her phone, looked the photo she took, then I wiped the lenses with my shirt, and handed it back to her. She couldn't believe the difference it made.@LunatiqueRob
Great work on explaining these things for uneducated folks on these subjects, great photos as well. There are, however 2 things I'd like to comment on the POTATO CAMERA PHOTOS, these problems I often see coming from generic cell phone photos, both not hardware/software limitations but user related.
- Cell phones are objects that have constant hand touch and hands are greasy and dirty and... they often touch the phone's lens, which will add a filter to the photo. The grease and dirt filter which will affect how the light enters the camera. In order to avoid this, ALWAYS clean your phone's lens before taking photos with a dry and cloth of some sort, do not aply force or there's a high risk of damaging the lens' surface with scratches, no one wants that, ever.
- Then, there's also the user's fault by not knowing how to take advantage of the camera's software control and frequently not using the max resolution option available... or often using the lowest resolution possible for storage sake. In order to maximize the photo quality, ALWAYS use the max resolution possible. Additionally, one should also navigate the camera's menu options to customize the user experience, like deciding on the color space/panorama, white balance options, and whatever else there is.
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Having this said, personally, I take my photos the best I can and edit them only when out of the phone they aren't rocking as much as I'd like. Most of the time I'm downsizing and cropping them, with a little color balance and contrast twists but not much. It depends a lot on the photo's purpose and since when I'm doing my gear's photos I'm doing it just for fun, I'm not too demanding on the result and don't invest much time on each photo..
I can relate that experience with so many familiars and friends. I also always clean my phone's lens with my t-shirt before any photo, but when I see my students (around 16y/o) taking photos with their phones, it creeps me out about how much careless they are, even with compositions... the Cell Phone generation is completely careless about anything... amazing...Thanks!
Wildlife and landscape photographers are known to sleep out in the wild in ungodly hours and shitty weather just to be able to capture some elusive wild animal, or a landscape lit at a specific angle by the sun in those 30 seconds. I have gotten injured trying to capture difficult shots before (climbing onto things I shouldn't have for a better angle).
Yes! My wife is guilty of that. Her phone and iPad are always covered in fingerprint and grease and god knows what else. If I have to touch her devices I always use hand sanitizer afterward. She once asked me why her photos looked crappy because ones from my phone looked great, and I took her phone, looked the photo she took, then I wiped the lenses with my shirt, and handed it back to her. She couldn't believe the difference it made.
Another thing people don't know is how they have to hold the camera very still to not cause motion blur and smear the details. Yes, we have sensor stabilization/anti-shake tech now but they don't perform miracles, so you still have to be relatively still to not overwhelm their capability.
Pretty much all phone camera apps today have automated image optimization built-in, so the editing is already done for you. You'd actually have to go into the settings to turn it off or else you don't even know all your photos have already been edited by the algorithm.
BTW, you guys can check out my photography work here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32242855@N00/sets/72057594095034856