Keeping dust off black plexiglas in photos?

[DKS]

You might also try black glass, from a stained glass supplier.

[Mark W]

Mark, I’m gonna get a piece to try.

Here's two great write-ups on using various tiles.

https://www.diyphotography.net/granite-tile/

https://petapixel.com/2016/03/01/tiles-product-photographers-best-friend/

[tom mann]

 I picked up a piece of black granite today at Home Depot.  The amount of dust and scratches on it are minimal compared to the plastic that I have been using.

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 I will get some better pictures tomorrow but in the meantime here’s an overview of how it looks with an HO scale model.  The one problem that I remember having now and the reason why I stopped using a black stand is the amount of unwanted reflections from the top of the light tent and how that limited the amount of photographic angles possible.

[tom mann]

Here's how it looks:



There were only two little specs of dust that I removed with the healing brush. 

[mmagliaro]

The answer to keeping dust off: photoshop healing brush.

LOL!  I used that (in GimP, not Photoshop).  It worked wonders on my test photos, but I would like to try to avoid the
problem, at least most of it, when I take the photo.

[chicken45]

LOL!  I used that (in GimP, not Photoshop).  It worked wonders on my test photos, but I would like to try to avoid the
problem, at least most of it, when I take the photo.

I don't care if that's the name of the program or not. You can't say things like that around me and Ed. We're 12.

In other news, I've started writing my own firewall program. I call it "CuckOLD".

[mmagliaro]

I think I'm getting the hang of it.   My wife uses a glass cleaner that is ammonia free (so it won't ruin plexiglas) and it does a good job of getting off all the annoying little marks, fingerprints, unexplained "stuff" stuck to it here and there.

I just used a soft cotton cloth to wipe across a lot to get rid of as much dust as possible, shot the photo, and then cleaned it up with the bandaid tool in GimP.  I will work more on this.  Mainly right now, I'm trying to focus on getting enough light on it without blowing out the white parts, getting harsh reflections off the brass, and getting a nice pretty reflection in the base.

I stood another piece of black plexi up as a backdrop, which I could tilt by hand to eliminate a lot of unwanted reflections.

[tom mann]

Looks great, but the cab roof appears to be blown out.  Expose a little slower just to the point so that it isn't (use the histogram or zebras on the camera), and then the shadows can be lifted.

Can you shoot in raw?  You'll get more dynamic range this way and more latitude for adjustment.

[mmagliaro]

Looks great, but the cab roof appears to be blown out.  Expose a little slower just to the point so that it isn't (use the histogram or zebras on the camera), and then the shadows can be lifted.

Can you shoot in raw?  You'll get more dynamic range this way and more latitude for adjustment.

Yes, I can shoot in raw, and I might try that.
I want to put a screen over the top of the model to prevent lighting from coming down hard on that white top.
I always do that at the work bench for my in-progress shots (just a piece of white paper in a simple frame I made myself).  It works wonders for keeping the glare off the top and letting plenty of light still come in from the front to keep the drivers from being too dark underneath.

I just haven't tried the screen over the top yet.  It might be tricky, because I expect I'll get a big ugly reflection of the screen in the plexiglas. 

[MK]

Use HDR function if your camera has it or do it manually but it can be a pain manually.  The newer DSLRs have it built in and it's wonderful.

That Novus 1 will keep it even more dust free as it treats the plastic with an anti-static solution.  Simple light dusting with canned air before shooting will take care of it.

[up1950s]

What you need to do is replace your flat white dust with gloss shinny dust . Or maybe an in closed photo box with positive pressure via heppa-filtered fan . Place the object on a turntable that can be turned by a crank thus minimizing dust . Maybe a search in the coin and jewelry trade might come up with a method they use .