Glass Message Board
Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: johnphilip on May 17, 2008, 07:33:21 PM
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I have been having problems photographing clear engraved glass vessels
then like a bolt out of the blue it came to me Eureka, get some Guinness or Coca Cola
fill the vessel wait till the liquid goes flat with no bubbles use the flash hey presto it works
no distortion from engraving on the other side, then pour liquid into plastic bottle to use again,or have a drink and celebrate. I hope i am not teaching granny to suck eggs. JP
:chky: Sorry meant to put it in glass can one of you nice hard working people move it for me Thanks
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Does anyone have any tips for photographing clear engraved glass against a shadowless pure white background? I've tried pretty much everything I can think of, and have failed miserably every time. *sigh*
I can't imagine pouring milk into the glass working.... espcially under hot photography lamps. ;D
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JP, could you post an example or two of how your photos turn out? How do you avoid glare from the flash?
Photos of polished engraving can be very difficult! I'm not the world's best photographer, but I'll explain how I do it using a white background, very cheap, lazy, and low tech. I take a sheet of posterboard and curve it up against a wall. Then I hold a lamp so that it's shining on the piece from above and slightly behind (or wherever works best) to try to eliminate glare. I position it so that at least part of the background is in shadow cast by the lamp "shade" in order to provide the contrast necessary to show the engraving. The lamp I use is part of a desk lamp, so it's on a post, allowing me to maneuver it and still hold the camera. The photos below give an idea of how I do it - keep in mind that this is one of the hardest pieces I've had to photograph and that the photos were taken mainly for demonstration, so they aren't the best. The first one is just to show the general set-up and doesn't show the glass well at all.
A lot of people put pieces of black posterboard or whatever on the sides or under the item to provide contrast. This may help with rich (brilliant) cut glass, but I haven't found it terribly useful for engraving.
Hope this helps!
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Cor! Kristi, you're a real star! :clap: I must try again with my pics. Thank you very much for the tips! :-*
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JP,
great idea, i will try it out!
Cheers
Andy
;D
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I have also found taking a birdseye shot straight down from above also sometimes shows the pattern
depending on the shape of the vessel, thats without the liquid of course.JP
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Hi,
To get a white background you could photograph with a black background and then get the negative of the image. But i don't know whether it looks like glass then..... See these 2 images.
regards Patrick
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I thought of another thing. When you're taking a photo of a vessel and have to deal with two layers of glass (e.g. the first and third photos below) sometimes it works well to set the aperture as far open as possible (with the lowest number). This decreases the depth of field so that the near side is in focus and the far side is blurry. It helps minimize the confusing images of the engraving on near and far sides of the glass. I didn't consciously do that here, but have tried it with other stuff.
Here are a couple other photos demonstrating the use of shading on a white background and indirect light. For these I didn't shine the light on the glass, only at the background. I've found white far preferable to dark colors for rock crystal (fully polished) engraving. The third photo shows the best I could do with a dark background. I've probably taken 100 photos of this vase. Dealing with curved glass without getting a glare can be a real pain.
"Cor! Kristi, you're a real star!" Thanks for saying that Leni! That makes me feel good, like I'm helping. :) There's so much on this board I don't know about, I want to contribute what I can.
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That was my point the liquid blocks out the pattern at the back of the glass so no interference.
Try it with that glass.
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Hi Mr Hobbs,
You must get your act together and sort out how to put images on here........... You contribute a lot to this forum but you are being held back by the lack of images.
Best wishes Patrick.
ps, Give the lovely Pinky a call and she could come over with her new laptop and DONGLE and show you how to do it.
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That was my point the liquid blocks out the pattern at the back of the glass so no interference.
Try it with that glass.
But then the only way to light it is from the front and you have to deal with glare. I never use a flash on glass. I've tried filling things with various substances, and it works for some types of decoration. I agree with Patrick - we need photos! Show us your magic, then maybe we'll be convinced! ;D
Mmmm, I'd love to have that puppy filled with Guinness and forget about the photos!
What's a DONGLE?!
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This goblet was a challenge because there were unpolished and highly polished cut surfaces and a blank that had been altered by deep cutting of leaves, giving it a twisted appearance. I tried putting soda in the goblet, not so much to show the cutting (shown better with other methods) but to show the thickness of the blank and what was causing the twisted look.
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I tried putting soda in the goblet, not so much to show the cutting (shown better with other methods) but to show the thickness of the blank and what was causing the twisted look.
For that it performed admirably!
Just a note - Karen's photos were taken in a light tent.
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I am not saying its perfect but i am beginning to get the result i need for ebay
to show the patterns and i am a novice with computers and digital cameras my
snaps wont win competitions, but i have only just begun.
I will try to put some pictures on soon, at the moment i am having emergency
dental work, root treatment lots of pain. JP :mus:
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What's a DONGLE?!
Hi Kristi,
I am currently on the train from Newark on Trent to London.................. I have got my DONGLE out and am passing the time on the internet. It is a device that you connect to a usb port on a laptop and it gives you mobile ' broadband ' internet. Also very usefull if you live on a narrowboat as i do. Speed can vary depending on the location but is normally fast enough.
Cost of unlimited access is about $40.00 per month.
Regards Patrick.
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Shows how tech-savvy I am!
I had to look up narrowboat, too. That's pretty nifty! When I was a kid I thought it would be so cool to live on a boat. All kinds of questions spring to mind, but that's way off-topic, so I'll leave it there.
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Kristi, feel free to start a new topic about it in Cafe if you wish. :)
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I've finally got around to clearing a space for a cheap and cheerful lighting table I bought several months ago, and gave it a whirl with some engraved and clear glass that I'd had absolutely no luck with in a photography tent. All I can say is.... I wish I'd bought one of these a couple of years ago, instead of mucking about with various photography tents! No more editing out annoying and intrusive under-shadows! ;D With a bit of aperture-tweaking, I'll hopefully master getting just one side of the glass in focus.
These are my first efforts with clear glass.... a set of 1946 'Mercur' cordials by Per Lütken with a completely white background, and a set of 1937 'Ejby' cordials by JE Bang with some more dramatic lighting.