Poor Macro shots with Cannon S3 and built in Flash

[demsta80]

I have been having difficulty taking closeup detailed pics of fine watches I wish to put on ebay, Lighting, shadows etc often prevent me from showing the fine details of my watches. The Cannon S3 is my only camera for now do I need a separate flash attach. Any suggestions would be mucho appreciated.
Thanks
demsta

[ALSto]

Hi demsta80;

I just looked up the specs on the S3. There is something called "flash exposure compensation" which you can try. It will change the timing of your flash and when it fires which maybe of some help with the brightness & reflections. If you have a tripod (or someone to help) you can hold a white business card angled to deflect the flash instead of direct on the objects.

An external flash may help but try the above before spending money.

Allen...

[inkista]

Dunno how helpful it might be, but you might want to read the Strobist blog entries about specular highlights on watches. Ming Thein's setup, however, iirc, was a dSLR and three flashes and three pieces of plexiglass.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/07...ght-watch.html
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/07...ing-thing.html
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/08...yle-macro.html

[wulf]

You might want to create some kind of light box set up so that you have good, even, diffuse lighting rather than relying on the "brute force" of an on camera flash.

Wulf

[mysticeyesx]

i agree with wulf you might want to try this
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Ine...raphy-Lightbox

[Aia Adriano]

Here's a REALLY cheap and effective way to get rid of those shadows. http://www.pbase.com/davexl/image/27588588

[Monoscopic]

I took a piece of that self sticking seranwrap stuff and folded it up 6 or 7 times, used a piece of scotch tape to hold it over the built in flash, LOOSELY. Sorry I dont have any example handy to show the major improvment in my flash pics but trust me, much better.

But not as good as the $$ equipment

[Pocket-Sized]

For shooting photos of small objects I've made myself a cheap lightbox. Made out of a few sheets of paper and a small cardboard box.

Instead of using the camera flash, I use a simple desk lamp... ensuring that I correct any colour cast using the cameras white balance settings.

The lightbox setup


Example photograph using the simple lightbox


My camera is then mounted on a tripod to stop any movement, aswel as allowing me to fiddle with the subject and get it in focus etc

The simple rig costs nothing, other than time.
Hopefully this is of some help to you.