What's the best way to photograph cards?

[jwillgrails]

Hey guys,

I'm keen to understand the best way of photographing cards - any and all tips are welcome. I have an iPhone 8, a scanner and very little photography knowledge.

I have recently returned to the hobby and I want to show off my Jason Williams collection in all it's glory.

What methods do you use? What have you seen work well for others? Is there a particular platform to host the photos which is better than others?

I'd love to get some ideas.

Thanks, Jerome.

[AbraCalabro]

You'll want to get yourself a lighting solution, by that, I mean a light source. You never, ever want to use the camera flash, because that's glare and reflection city. Get a good lamp or a light box. Right now I use a lamp, because I like to incorporate background colors, patterns, or scenery to really set off the photography, but if you just want good lighting, a light box will do just fine.

You want a light source that you can control and that will provide enough light, so sun light is not adequate because you can't exactly control it and also light bulbs in whatever room your in hardly provide enough light.


The other critical requirement is a tripod, it's absolutely necessary if you want to take your photography to the next level.

Certain cards require different angles for the light and where the camera is position and how far away it is positioned.

I don't know anything about phone cameras as I use an actual, standalone digital camera. The camera has various settings that will change how the lens is going to take in light, the shutter speed, etc... changing these settings can also determine the outcome of the photo and it's necessary to play with the settings until you get the right settings for the particular card, or cards you're shooting.

Here's some of the photos I've taken, you'll notice the backgrounds I was talking about used to compliment the card's colors, or the team colors and you can also see the difference in how much light was taken in by the camera when shooting from card to card.

Taking in less light here, but directing the controlled light source so that all the details were still captured:





Here you'll notice the card is bathed in just the right amount of light and the details are a lot more noticeable because of the contrasting dark background:





A great background goes a long way! Here the background also serves as a back light to really draw attention to the card.

[Rob 23]

I'm no expert and just use my phone as well but a few tips I could give would be:

Use natural daylight rather than your cameras flash and try to position the shot so your hand/phone aren't reflected on the card if it's say a chrome.

An extra source of light such as a little LED torch angled from the side can be good to get a nice shine on refractor type cards.

Also check out microsoft office lens app for photography. For image hosting / sharing check out flickr, imgbb and postimage.org.

Edit: what he said ^^^^

[belligerentfool]

Following this thread. Great photography tips here.

[salthill]

This one is great...
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1309710

And...
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1313561

Also search the thread titles for “scanner” for a ton more about using flatbed scanners.

[jwillgrails]

Originally Posted by salthill

This one is great...
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1309710

And...
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1313561

Also search the thread titles for “scanner” for a ton more about using flatbed scanners.

Perfect! Thank you

[jwillgrails]

Originally Posted by AbraCalabro

You'll want to get yourself a lighting solution, by that, I mean a light source. You never, ever want to use the camera flash, because that's glare and reflection city. Get a good lamp or a light box. Right now I use a lamp, because I like to incorporate background colors, patterns, or scenery to really set off the photography, but if you just want good lighting, a light box will do just fine.

You want a light source that you can control and that will provide enough light, so sun light is not adequate because you can't exactly control it and also light bulbs in whatever room your in hardly provide enough light.


The other critical requirement is a tripod, it's absolutely necessary if you want to take your photography to the next level.

Certain cards require different angles for the light and where the camera is position and how far away it is positioned.

I don't know anything about phone cameras as I use an actual, standalone digital camera. The camera has various settings that will change how the lens is going to take in light, the shutter speed, etc... changing these settings can also determine the outcome of the photo and it's necessary to play with the settings until you get the right settings for the particular card, or cards you're shooting.

Here's some of the photos I've taken, you'll notice the backgrounds I was talking about used to compliment the card's colors, or the team colors and you can also see the difference in how much light was taken in by the camera when shooting from card to card.

Taking in less light here, but directing the controlled light source so that all the details were still captured:





Here you'll notice the card is bathed in just the right amount of light and the details are a lot more noticeable because of the contrasting dark background:





A great background goes a long way! Here the background also serves as a back light to really draw attention to the card.

Those backgrounds are so dope.

[mindcycle]

I bought a light box recently and love it. It takes the work out of it trying to find decent daylight coming into the window, correctly positioned lights, etc.. You’ll still want a tripod and to move the lights in the box around on occasion but it makes taking nice looking photos a much easier process for me.

Some examples..

[mindcycle]

Originally Posted by AbraCalabro

A great background goes a long way! Here the background also serves as a back light to really draw attention to the card.

What do you use for backgrounds Abra? Those are fire!

[salthill]

Originally Posted by mindcycle

What do you use for backgrounds Abra? Those are fire!

I’ve been wondering that too. Are they prints/posters? Slides on a lightbox?

[rustywest]

Taking notes from this thread because my snaps are super shi*ty Tremendous Abra but one criticism, I get irritated when an image is too large and you have to scroll left to right. Am I just a lazy piece of sh*t or do other people feel me? Is there a sweetspot size?

[Boldstar6]

Originally Posted by rustywest

Taking notes from this thread because my snaps are super shi*ty Tremendous Abra but one criticism, I get irritated when an image is too large and you have to scroll left to right. Am I just a lazy piece of sh*t or do other people feel me? Is there a sweetspot size?

No no Im sure many are on your boat on this. If im on my cp though, then not a problem.

Or just ctrl + mouse scroll down if on pc/laptop

[rustywest]

Originally Posted by Boldstar6

No no Im sure many are on your boat on this. If im on my cp though, then not a problem.

Or just ctrl + mouse scroll down if on pc/laptop

Wow, thanks for that advice! Never knew that function!? A 35 year old peasant here learning new tricks

[NERVOUS]

In my opinion, there are two very different paths you can go down here:
A.) Scanning with a quality CCD scanner (i.e. Epson V600, etc).
B.) Photographing with a quality camera and the necessary supporting equipment (i.e. DSLR, macro lens, lighting, copy stand, etc).

Path A provides a standardized method for digitally cataloging cards. Scanning simplifies the process of producing consistent, high-quality results; which is likely why it's the closest thing to a 'standard' across the hobby.

Path B provides more creative license to capture your cards -- especially refractors -- at their absolute best. Photographing allows you to incorporate a 'personal touch' with the right lighting, at the right angle, etc.

Just my $0.02.

To the OP, I look forward to seeing your Jason Williams collection in all of its glory... Best of luck!

[senorlaverga]

I use CamScanner for PC show off photos.

Here's my latest https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1320677

For me, I like CamScanner because it allows you to find the perfect angle to snap the photo, then will automatically straighten it out for you. Finding the right angle is key. You'd be amazed at how different the card looks depending on where you're standing.

Natural light is also key. Not direct, but place it by a window during daylight hours.

[mondogenerator]

i was gonna post a how-to but my method is linked above in one of the urls

office lens + light box + extra white front panel with small hole.

ie





etc

[Lancia Stratos]

I just downloaded Microsoft Lens and holy crap!

[AbraCalabro]

Originally Posted by mindcycle

What do you use for backgrounds Abra? Those are fire!

Originally Posted by salthill

I’ve been wondering that too. Are they prints/posters? Slides on a lightbox?

Hey guys, for the backgrounds, what I'll do is I will set up the cards on that tile, (it's not ceramic, I don't know what it's made of, some kind of really thick paper, or cardboard stock) get the angle and lighting correct and then I will search for background, or wallpaper that matches the colors on the card, the jersey, etc... and I will expand those to full screen/maximize the window and then I will snap the photos.

So for example, I was on a Bokeh kick for a while, so I would literally just type in Bokeh background and I would also type the color I wanted and I'd have a bunch of options to choose from. You can also move the background around so that the lighter parts of it will illuminate the magnetic holder and it's truly magical. You guys should try it, I really want to see what you guys come up with. (When you snap photos like this, the refresh lines on the monitor will show up, so you HAVE to blur that part of the image, use photoshop, or any other image editing program that allows you to do that.)

Mindcycle, I've been stalking your IG and you have some amazing photography powers. So I hope this helps out and we see some really mind blowing stuff from you.

Originally Posted by rustywest

Taking notes from this thread because my snaps are super shi*ty Tremendous Abra but one criticism, I get irritated when an image is too large and you have to scroll left to right. Am I just a lazy piece of sh*t or do other people feel me? Is there a sweetspot size?

I feel you dude, but I thought those images WERE the sweet spot size lmao, I have a huge monitor, so sometimes I will over estimate. You should see how huge these pictures are in their original size.

Originally Posted by Boldstar6

No no Im sure many are on your boat on this. If im on my cp though, then not a problem.

Or just ctrl + mouse scroll down if on pc/laptop

Thanks for posting this. Definitely the best way to work around big image sizes.

[RogerGodahell]

I've found the best light source is natural lighting during the day time. If you have to use artificial lighting then a light box works pretty good. You'll want to use something to diffuse the glare from the lights though.