Photographs of metal items look rusty

I noticed that many bare metal items that I photograph with my Fuji digital camera, look rustier on photos than they do in "real life". I would like to correct it so that the photos show exactly as much rust as would be seen by a naked eye. Any thoughts on this? Should Ichange lighting, or something else? Thanks

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789
Loading thread data ...

Have you tried taking the photo outdoors in natural sunlight?

And why are your eyes naked? :)

Reply to
chaz

I will try that, but I must say that I often need to take photographs in the evening. I also bought some evapo-rust, and hope that I could remove rust from items easily to make them look better.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789

What are you selling?

Reply to
chaz

Right now, I need to sell 21 Signode steel banding tensioners. 3/4" and 1.25" banding. They seem to be fine and look OK to the "naked eye", but turn out rusty on photos. Photographs do them a big disservice. If I can dip them in evaporust and remove visible rust (which is very superficial), that would help me get better prices for them.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789

A light scrubbing with a brillo pad also does wonders.

chaz

Reply to
chaz

This is *EXACTLY* why it's totally and utterly foolish to use any other camera than a Nikon D2x for your eBay pics.

Seriously, stop using the flash if you are using it. Next is to get some halogen flood lamps and and some (white) not clear fluorescent light diffusers and build several diffused lights and experiment with different angles. What you are seeing *IS* the rust that is really there. It just shows up better under different lighting conditions.

Rita

Reply to
Rita Ä Berkowitz

Another thing you might try is going over them with an oily rag.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Nope! Use "0000" steel wool and a light coat of WD-40.

Rita

Reply to
Rita Ä Berkowitz

I would check white balance and remove some red in PhotoShop. Or even make them b&w :-)

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

Back off on the red.

Or redo major surfaces.

formatting link

Reply to
Don Lancaster

Thanks, Chaz, Rita, and Jim. I am sorry if I missed posts of other persons, but I will try to respond to them as well.

I will try scrubbing and WD-40, but I must note that these tensioners have very irregular surface and are therefore hard to scrub. A chemical solution would be preferable, but I will give steel wool a chance.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789

What, does it remove rust? :)

I have a 1kW halogen telescoping light, I will give it a try. That would be a great solution if it works.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789

thanks Don... I will check it out...

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789

It should work nicely. Just use a minimum of two sets shining from two different angles. A third one really makes things look sweet. USE the white diffusers.

Rita

Reply to
Rita Ä Berkowitz

I have three lights indeed (one mounted on the set plus another separately).

i
Reply to
Ignoramus12789

See

for a "rust corrected" image.

Reply to
Don Lancaster

Very nice result, all rust seems to be corrected away. A very fine example of a "rust corrected", "As New" item. :) So, did you just reduce the red component in the image? Did that "do it" for you?

i quite impressed

Reply to
Ignoramus12789

When I have that problem it is always the lighting. So I use the kitchen table in the afternoon when the light is not direct from the outside. I also use the flash everytime. Most digital cameras now correct the lighting/exposure so it looks like the lighting is daylight. If not then the software will do it. Perhaps your digital camera is not set to correct for lighting. Finally take a lot of pictures until you get it right. Remember also that there are colors that are obtrusive and some that are not. Use a darker shade of blue for a background.

Reply to
Bob AZ

...you forgot to also tear out the kitchen ceiling to install a large softbox.

Actually, I have great success with an EZ Cube.

formatting link
Easy to set up, and stores the size of a small seat pad.

Reply to
Kurt

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.