Okay, you’ve been collecting figurines for awhile and your curio cabinet is filling up and looking beautiful. You’re proud as punch and decide to mark this beautiful display for posterity by taking a few photographs. After all, the display is gorgeous and the photographs will record your collecting and display skills.
Second, you are undaunted so you open the glass doors to catch the sparkles dancing off the figurines. Snap, review image, no sparkle! Once again, the intensity of the flash wiped out any sparkle that your cabinet light created.
Third, you get a good shot, but the cabinet looks cluttered. Your frustration is really growing. What happened this time? It’s simple. Your camera saw everything in front of it and recorded it. If you have a mirror in the back of your cabinet, your camera recorded the front of the figurines and the back of the figurines as reflected by the mirror. You can focus your eyes to see one thing, but the camera sees everything. Notice how the mirror reflected the back of the door panels. Also, in the lower right corner five Swans appear. There are only two. Your eyes and the camera see two different things.
This cabinet in the photo looks cluttered and disorganized. But it is not. This is the manufacturer’s display case of over sixty figurines nicely arranged so each individual piece can be seen. If you stood in front of the display, you could focus your eyes on one figurine, a small cluster of figurines or the whole shelf without ever noticing the mirror reflections.
What does this all boil down to? Simply stated, crystal, crystal figurines, jewelry and glassware are very difficult to photograph, whether shot as single units, as a group or in a display cabinet.
Photographing crystal and crystal figurines is a real challenge for the collector. There are so many factors that go into taking a good photo and so many things that can go wrong.
Unfortunately, to get really professional looking photos requires a huge investment in photography equipment ($4000 to $10,000) and a great deal of training and experience. The pros use a light box and place the figurine inside with spot lights placed outside the box. You can find them online under Photographic Equipment or you can get a home version from WalMart called a Portable Lighting Studio for about $50.
But don’t despair. You don’t need special equipment. You can get some good shots with your digital camera if you are willing to experiment and exercise a huge amount of patience
1. Don’t shoot crystal behind glass doors.
2. If the back of the cabinet has a glossy surface
(or a mirror) block it off with a flat finish material.
3. Stand four to six feet away from the cabinet and use
the zoom lens to frame the shot.
To shoot individual figurines on a tabletop:
1. Be certain to have light fall behind and in front of the figurine and use the flash.
2. Start taking your shot 12″ to 14″ away from the figurine and check the image.
If the outline of the figurine is fuzzy, you are too close or have too much zoom power. Move back in 2 to 3 inch intervals until you have a clean outline of the figurine.
3. You can use color lighting or colored background material to help bring out the outline of the figurine.(View other photo problems with crystal figurines at CrystalSplendor.blogspot.com).
Now that you are now aware of how to improve your shots, let me also tell you that two of our best photos were taken with no regard to lighting, a light box or special equipment. It was simply “dumb luck.” That’s why photographing crystal figurines is a “hit or miss” proposition.
Remember, all photography is trial and error until you achieve mastery. Keep experimenting and sooner or later you will find the right combination of techniques to achieve good results.
About the Author:
Lowry Mell is a retired Merchandiser and former Marketing and Business Consultant. His articles focus on new and creative ways to use and display crystal and crystal figurines. For more information, visit: http://www.CrystalSplendor.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – How Crystal Figurine Displays Fool the Camera
E. 66 – Part 1 – Rant of the Queens – 7-21-09 – Car Issues, Tenant OMFG, Wal-Mart Photographer
