How to: photograph your teaware. A beginner's guide.

[Seeker]

O M G...

[Geekgirl]

Maybe there could be a thread about how to POST your pictures? It seems that a significant portion of this one ends up being repeated tutorials on how to do that. (or maybe I'm just grumpy this morning.)

[Victoria]

I was thinking the same thing. A descriptive how-to from the more popular hosting programs. I would be happy to do it, or assist.

Even if it is just a post, we can then post the link.

[rjiwrth]

Maybe there could be a thread about how to POST your pictures? It seems that a significant portion of this one ends up being repeated tutorials on how to do that. (or maybe I'm just grumpy this morning.)

I need to appologize for this. I used this thread inappropriately. In my effort to become a contributory member of this forum, I was not mindful of what I was really doing to this thread. I have so many things I'd like to share; I ask a ton of questions on this board and it's only right for me to offer something as a part of this community. After reviewing this thread, I'm pretty embarrassed. I really didn't mean to shift the focus; perhaps it demonstrates a need for such a topic thread. But, it also shows the unwaivering attempts of other members to help those who are struggling to particpate - there's some great instruction here. I do appreciate your bringing this up, Geekgirl, and I don't think it was just because you may have been feeling grumpy. It was a solid point and well-taken.
Rebecca

[Chip]

I have created a TC User Guide "subforum" located under Welcome > TeaChat Announcements, Introduction, User Guide > TeaChat User Guide at the top of the TeaChat index.

In the User Guide, I have created a "How to post photos on TeaChat" topic. Please contribute questions and answers there. This will hopefully solve the problem of "how to" for many members.

Please check it out and contribute questions and answers.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 49&start=0

[Victoria]

Thanks Chip! We have needed this and I have added a couple of posts and will continue to help work on this whenever needed. Or if anyone needs more help let me know, and I will be happy to research it.

[Seeker]

awesome Chip!

[Chip]

... it is long overdue. Thanks Geek, Victoria, Rebecca for the prodding. I cannot tell you how many times I told someone how to do it.

[rjiwrth]

... it is long overdue. Thanks Geek, Victoria, Rebecca for the prodding. I cannot tell you how many times I told someone how to do it.

Yay! Thank-you, Chip! I will hop on over to tha sub-forum. I will be back when I graduate to the phase when I'm actually focused on TAKING the pics

[Geekgirl]

Photo Editing: How to make your photos "POP."

I'm going to use a lovely photo of Victoria's because she's a goodnatured woman, and (I hope) she won't mind.

I wasn't pleased how this picture came out; camera not level and focus off. But I love the look with the little matching cupped bamboo and how the natural light falls on the leaf and bud.

I did a wee bit of editing for POP. (The sharpening caused a bit of artifacting because it's a lo-res image.) You might try downloading the Lightroom 3 Beta. It's crippled just a bit because it's a beta, but it's free (for now,) and a very powerful editing tool especially if you are using RAW. (I just double posted this from the chabana thread. Sorry.)



This photo is actually nicely done, it just needed a little bit of editing help. The focus may be slightly off, but the composition is nice, the cup face is clear (which is the important part, so maybe the focus isn't off after all,) and the lighting is good.

My edits: I sharpened just a bit, which would have looked natural if working with a full-res image. I used an adjustment brush to selectively apply brightening to ONLY the cup face and the part of the leaf that curves over the cup. Then I brightened the whole image slightly, and boosted the vibrance just a touch (which is mid-tone color,) not the saturation, (which is total color and can look fake.) Finally, I straightened the image so the cup is level.

"Pop" is often a function of brightness and vibrance, so if you have a good image that just isn't getting it done for you, try these two things in your post processing, you might find it makes a big difference.

[Victoria]

Thanks Geek! I did *try* to fix it up a bit though the picnik program, I think I used the auto adjust and maybe a little of the color boost. I definitely don't have the eye for what needs fixing or how it could look better. If you look here I just now uploaded my cropped original:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52128369@N00/

You can see I did help it out a bit, but it definitely needed more. I forgot I could have straightened it there, I don't think I had the option before the upgrade. I wish I had kept the full res copy for you to work your magic on!

So I have now d/l the Lightroom3 and will try to play around with that some. Thanks for the help!

[chicagopotter]

Victoria -- what kind of lighting are you using for your shots?

[Seeker]

I'm gonna guess that's natural window light?

[Victoria]

Yes, just natural window light. I can only shoot till about 3:00.

I bought a flash with diffuser,
but I still don't like the harshness of a flash.

[Geekgirl]

Try reducing your flash strength to -2/3 and bounce it off a side wall instead of the ceiling . This will give you some directional lighting and extra illumination without the harsh light.