Photo problems

[Rex Guinn]

I just made a photo box from pvc, shade, and white panels, but am not getting the results I want. Here are a couple of examples. Suggestions would be appriciated.
maple.jpg
walnut.jpg

[Leo Pashea]

Top photo, adjust your white balance setting. If you use Halogen lighting, set the white balance to the Tungsten setting. Bottom photo not too bad, make sure you use the Macro setting on your camera. You really need a trial and error periond of adjusting your lighting to get things the way you like. Bottom photo, you are on the right track, just keep experimenting, you'll get it.

[Neal Addy]

Leo's on the money. White balance is the biggest problem with the first photo. Matching your camera's color/white balance setting with your specific lighting type will make a huge difference.

Also, it looks like you are using a single source light in the first photo. You might want to add a second light source (reflected off a panel) to the front of the box to eliminate the shadow. This would also help the second photo where you are using overhead lighting. Optimum lighting placement is the single thing I usually struggle with the most.

Nice bowls, BTW!

[Shane Whitlock]

It looks like you are shooting with a Digital Rebel. I have one and they are a nice camera.

I can see you are shooting with the white balance in Auto mode, switch to manual as Leo and Neal suggested and try the different settings. Depending on what your light source is one of them will give ya a good white background.

Looks like you are using a zoom lens and not a prime. The 80mm focal length ya shot with is a good range, I wouldn't shoot too much closer or you will start to get lens distortion, I generally shoot my turnings around 200mm. Are you using a 28-135 f3.5-5.6 lens?

It also looks like ya was using Auto Exposure mode and for some reason the camera stopped the lens way down on the first pic. Try shooting in AE mode, a f3.5-5.6 lens will generally be the clearest between f6.3 and f8, and the camera will choose the shutter speed for ya. You will probably have to use a tripod (and should be anyways).

Good luck,
Shane

[Bill Boehme]

I think that the problem in the first shot has to do with the light box. White backgrounds are notorious for picking up the color of the item being photographed especially if it is something opaque and reflective like white foam board. If you are using a mixture of tungsten and flash, then you have a problem because there is no single color temperature to fix it. Go with a single type of light source and set the white balance accordingly. Shoot the image in RAW and make minor adjustments in post processing.

High key backgrounds are always problematic. I think that a neutral density gray background is a good place to start. Also, it does not hurt to do a pre-shot with a color swatch in the vicinity of the subject. You can then use that image to help with post processing.

Bill

ps: I reread Shane's comments and then took a look at the EXIF data. Sure enough, there are some strange combinations of shutter speed and aperture. My preference is to shoot in shutter priority, but aperture priority and manual could also be used as well.