Some of the pics of cymbals here are amazing - the ones by Drumaholic stand out, BosLover also has some great ones (although maybe someone else took those); there must be others I just haven't noticed. I did a search but couldn't find a post talking about how to take great cymbal pictures. Can anyone post some clues about lighting type and placement, any special camera settings, etc?
Picture taking secrets?
There's just a few guidelines and the rest involves a lot of experimentation.
I think natural sunlight is the best for cymbal photos, but it can't be too direct. Try taking photos indoors in a room that get light from different angles at the same time. Also try taking some photos outside, but early in the morning or late in the afternoon. s a rule flash pictures don't work because cymbals are very reflective. Ambient light alone works best. I don't use a tri-pod but you might want to consider one. A Photoshop program is a very handy thing to have to size you pictures, adjust the color and sharpen the focus. Just keep experimenting with different times and locations to see what works best for you.
I've used my Epson scanner to scan the stamps on cymbals, that works better than some not so good cameras.
Great thread...I was thinking about this the other day. I want to take pictures of my older Zildjians so that the hammering stands out. Any suggestions? Jumping2
BosLover
Great thread...I was thinking about this the other day. I want to take pictures of my older Zildjians so that the hammering stands out. Any suggestions? Jumping2
Take them outside in the afternoon. Angle the cymbal so you can take the shot with maximum reflection across the entire cymbal. Then try adding a slow flash to fill in the details better. This usually gives me very good results.
Take lots of pictures even during the same photo session with the same cymbal under the same conditions. That way you'll have several possible candidates to choose from. Then you can pick the one you think gave you the best results. Keep experimenting with new locations with various lighting conditions. Eventually you'll find what works best for you.
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