B R I G L I N . C O M
Photographing Ceramics - Briglin Pottery

Photography is not something that is mastered in one night, it takes time to discover all the secrets. This page may help others with the hard task of photographing their own objects if not for a web site then just as a personal record. Some of my images are quite crude, I have learnt as the site developed. There is plenty of room for improvement still. Here are some articles that I found online that are well worth reading. You will probably struggle if you want to use your smart phone to photograph objects as it is just not up to the task. Yes it will take great pictures of you and your mates whilst out tobogganing, but it is just not set up to take macro images of ceramics. There are many differences between casual photography and product photography.

 
 
Basic Do's
Buy a camera with a macro focus (flower symbol) and manual settings (PASM modes)
The two things that matter about a digital camera are the sensor size and the lens quality
Use the ‘macro’ setting on your camera when shooting
Take shots from different angles
Use strong natural light (at least this is consistent if you have no light box)
Edit your photos
Choose a ‘look’ and stick to it
Use the maximum resolution for your JPG images
Use a tripod and the self timer
Use auto white balance
Use Aperture Priority or Standard P
Use the lowest ISO setting (80 or 100 is ideal)
Take lots of photos to get one - shoot shoot and shoot again to be sure.
Use a 50mm lens or slightly longer
Crop images if needed
 
Advanced Do's
Work out how to set the white balance manually (set custom WB)
Shoot in RAW not JPG
Shoot in Aperture Priority or Manual (use a high f-stop to get a good depth of field)
Use a light box or tent with 5000k daylight bulbs - (controllable diffuse light x2 minimum)
Use a polarized filter if your camera can take one
Bracket your exposures
Manually focus your digital camera
With difficult objects meter off an 18% grey card for exposure
Calibrate your monitor
 
Don'ts
Don't buy an expensve camera straight out if you are a novice - it will just confuse you
Don't think an expensive camera will take great pictures - People take great pictures not cameras
Have blurry photos or camera 'effects'
Have a ‘busy’ background
Use a flash unless you know what you are doing
Use digital zoom
Use High ISO settings >ISO400
Use a smart phone unless it is all you have
Use a wide angle 28mm lens
Don't edit the original!
Don’t use bad pictures
Never keep images on your camera, download them on to the PC
Don’t trust your eyes - Download the images and look at them on the PC not the camera screen.
Over expose shots, there is no detail in bleached out areas
Use mixed light
 
Light Boxes Links
Camera Review Sites
 
Photography Lessons Links
How to successfully photograph small objects - Pip's forum
Printing Links
 
HDR Images Links
 
Setting Up Your Monitor