Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Photos for best clarity

Through out my blog life, I have tried various angle/lighting/setting to capture the best representation of tea. Some times trying too hard with too much shifted the purpose. Pictures might come out nice, but the tea is not identifiable.

Dry leaves in picture is taken under natural sun light. I have only 30 minutes window to take pictures each day, that's only if I wasn't busy with other things and the sun is out. Due to sun light only shine through my door about 2 feet.

Following picture is spent leaves in a shallow dish filled with water. The clarity level is high enough to show veins and other details detectable by eyes. Flash light was used here, a bit over exposed, however all 3 dimensions are visible. Water keeps leaves semi floating which creates a 3 dimensional look, unlike wet leaves lay flat on surface.

4 comments:

Salsero said...

I am just about ready to conclude that it is impossible to get a good photo of leaves, especially the dry leaves. MarshalN does as well as anyone, but I don't trust any photo for accuracy any more.

Imen said...

Dry leaf is more difficult to photograph. The subtle differences are not easy to detect from a photo. Spent leaf is actually quite manageable. Photos at best reveal 70% of the actual tea, after taken consideration of other factors such as whether the leaves are the bottom of the barrel or top. How crushed it is during transportation, storage condition, and most important of all, viewer's perception and experience.

Hobbes said...

Try a simple sheet of white paper, angled behind the camera, when shooting using natural light. The impromptu reflector can bring out many of the textures of a dry leaf that would otherwise be concealed.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Imen said...

Hobbes,

Is the white paper placed behind tea leaves or camera?

Can you send me a photo that I can model with? Thanks!