Cassandra Tippit

I appreciate all your feedback. I will look into the ring light and keep fiddling with everything else I have. Thank you for taking the time to teach me! 

These are the ones I tried to crop/straighten in photoshop. I also tried to brighten them up a bit, but have no idea if it made it better or not. The last one was just for fun. None were sharpened. 

So I am in a few facebook groups where we all make book art. Everyone's photos are taken with a phone (I'm assuming) ,have Moire, a bit of distortion to the pages, and that strange black coloring that never disappears, just moves around, no matter the angle. That's why I was trying to steer away from mobile pics, and see if I got better results with a better camera. 

I got a new tripod and a level for these set of pictures (although I still can't tell if I am using it correctly. do these look better?). I can't retake pictures of past books because I've already had to deliver them to the customer, so each set of advice you give me, I start on my new completed book. 

This one is a different type of fold, so the moire isn't as bad, but the dreaded black line is always there. I took hundreds of pictures and still couldn't get rid of it, even with extra light.  

I also used a good trusty protractor to get my angle better, like you suggested and placed a book under the backdrop to prop it up a bit. That actually made the most difference with the lighting. (the last one is without the book underneath.)

Most of these were taken f/8, iso400-800, 1/250

I tried playing around tonight, using a higher shutter speed, (around 1/250), f/8-f/10, ISO 400-1600. It seemed like no matter what I did, what angle I was at, etc, I still had moire on every single picture. I also am struggling with getting sharp images.  every single one was super soft. I tried using my Canon 50mm as well, but it didn't make a difference. The lights are as bright as the light box allows. 

I obviously have no idea what I am doing. sigh. 

Finally got to try out my light box and shutter release cable this evening. 

The first is a SOOC shot: 60 mm, 1/30, f/5.6, ISO 100 - The whites pages look great, no distortion. However, the letters look out of focus. 

The second is SOOC : 60mm, 1/11, f/10, ISO100 - the letters are better , but now the white pages are bad. 

Thank you for taking the time to respond! I have bought a lightbox (same brand as the kind you suggested, except the larger size.) It should get here next week. I have a tripod that I can use for now (hopefully it'll work ok, if not Ill upgrade). I have also been reading articles about using the manual setting on my camera and how to best take pictures for products.

Game plan: figure out what the hell I'm doing. Next, Use what I have (equipment wise) and see if it works. If not, start thinking about upgrading.

I'll keep ya updated!   

In 2012/2013 I decided I wanted to be a "photographer" , bought a Canon T3i and a few lens. Obviously that didn't work out for me, so here I am in 2020, not remembering even how to use the damn thing or if it's even "good enough" any longer. However, my new side hobby (book art) is kicking off and I really would like to be able to take decent photos to post on Facebook. So my questions are: Do I need to upgrade my camera body? If so, which one would realistically be the right choice? If I take any photos other than of books, they would only be of family. 

*Thank you Brian for your lens/lightbox suggestions! It was the "if you're not planning on upgrading, this should work" comment that made me stop and think..should I upgrade? 

Here is everything I have on hand:

Canon Rebel T3i body

Canon EFS 18-55mm lens

Tamron IF 28-75mm Macro

Canon EFS 55-250mm

Canon 50mm 

Yongnuo Speedlite YN560-II