Photo Techniques

[pitted bore]

Wildcatter asked for a description of how I made the photos of the cartridge heads I posted on June 7.
I'm flattered and will oblige, but it's really not complex.

I have a Pentax Optio E10 from 2006. In the digital era, this qualifies it for an old-age pension.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06010306pentax_e10.asp
(It came from Cameraland http://www.cameralandny.com. They qualify as firearms-friendly,
and sponsor a hunting optics forum on another site.)

The camera goes on a tripod. I find it almost impossible to make good closeup images without one.
Mine's an old Sears tripod that I inherited.

For lighting I use a couple of old reflector lights with 100-watt bulbs installed. (I hope this
link works: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/sf/1-14-clamp%20light.jpg)

I set up the cases, position the camera, turn it on, set the camera to "macro" mode, turn off the
flash, and turn on the lights. Then I mess with the lights until the image looks ok on the view
screen. Then I press the shutter button half-way, which this camera causes it to focus as
best it can. If the image looks sharp, then I press the shutter release. The photo usually comes out
ok. Then I extract the photo from the camera's memory and put it in web storage.

The camera is set at its highest resolution, which gives a big picture. Usually I crop the photo using
the Windows Paint program. The photos with the 100-watt incandescent lights usually have a slightly
reddish cast. If necessary I've removed it with Photoshop.

Here's a photo I just took with another camera that shows the Pentax in position to photograph the
case head of a .45 Win Mag.



Here's the photo that resulted. You can see the corrosion spots, the red primer sealant on the
case and primer, and a slight mark from the ejector-groove from the pressure. It was a factory round.


If this isn't sufficiently clear, please ask questions and I'll try to answer them. I'm pretty sure I've
omitted something.
--Bob

[wildcatter]

Bad Bob,

It's not just the case heads, but the ones you took of the profile are just great!

Holy Cow Thanks for the tips. This is going to help everyone in critiquing the work of others,.."many eyes make for better research"..Just be kind guys..

[slash2]

Where do you position the lights?

[pitted bore]

slash2-
I don't have a normal or usual position for the lights, because the reflections on the cases are
really difficult to deal with. Usually there is a real glare off of some flat surface that makes
things complicated.

I have the two lights fastened clamp to clamp, so the bulbs are about 24 inches apart.
The lights are held by one hand.

While looking at the image on the camera screen, I start swiveling the reflectors around to
keep even illumination and to get rid of reflections and glare. Most often the lights are about
at the level of the camera, or maybe a little above. The place where I take most of these
pictures has a ceiling about 4 feet over the subject table, and I sometimes bounce one or
both lights off of the ceiling.

I suspect this explanation is a bit unclear, so please don't hesitate to ask for clarification.

Thanks for your interest.
--Bob

[slash2]

Nope, clear enough. With photography it's all about the light. Thanks.