Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!rex!ames!ucsd!celit!billd
From: billd@fps.com (Bill Davidson)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: PoolTable Turing Test Photo
Message-ID: <15117@celit.fps.com>
Date: 26 Jan 91 21:46:35 GMT
References: <28220@cs.yale.edu> <1991Jan25.142659.3914@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> <1991Jan26.144101.27840@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Followup-To: rec.photo
Organization: FPS Computing Inc., San Diego CA
Lines: 38

In article <1991Jan26.144101.27840@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald) writes:
>In article <15115@celit.fps.com> billd@fps.com (Bill Davidson) writes:
>> In many professionaly
>>produced pictures of shiny spherical objects, the camera lens is
>>retouched out or obscured by other reflections around it (you can't
>>shoot it without the reflection; it's impossible).
>
>But you can come arbitrarily close: take the picture through a 
>neutral density filter whose front surface reflects onto a large surround
>of black felt. And put the camera in the dark. A 10 percent transmission
>filter works well. 

While it's true that this will make the camera reflection pretty much
disappear it can cause other problems.

Can you say flare?  I knew you could.

Also, you have to make your apparatus cover the field of view of the
spherical object (180 degrees in all directions) without having the
fact that it is an apparatus visible.  In most cases that's very
problematic.  Large gel's tend to exhibit all sorts of imperfections
which reflect in those shiny objects.  These imperfections also
translate onto your film directly (since you are shooting through
them.  Plus there's more places for dust to collect and it all adds up
to make that picture you thought was going to crisp and vibrant into a
fuzzy mess.  Just retouching the camera out in the first place makes
for a better image.

I've spent a lot of time in the studio trying to learn how to do
advertising work.  Crisp, vibrant photos are a main-stay in this type
of work.  I used to shoot 4x5 most of the time and spend a hell of
a lot of time trying to make the crispest photos possible.  I know
what I'm talking about because I've tried it.

This is getting away from CG; follow-ups to rec.photo (which I don't
read anymore).

--Bill Davidson