Best way to take pictures of Auto'ed baseballs?

[jbhofmann]

I want better pics of my autographed baseballs. Pics of autographed baseballs on ebay and buckets vary from stunning to downright aweful. Looking for some secrets on getting really good pics.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Lighting?
Background?
Flash/NoFlash?
etc.

Thanks,
Joel

 

[Brewer Andy]

Daylight (no flash), indoors (near an open window for the natural light), and use the "macro" setting on a digital camera (the auto settings you would use to take a close up still shot of like a flower or something). That always worked best for me. Sorry I don't have any left in my bucket but they always turned out good for me taking them this way right in the ball cube. Oh...and hold really really still or use a tripod

 

[nurvanna]

i set the ball on a water bottle cap - open end up. makes it easier to position however you want.
certain sodas or water brands use taller or shorter caps. so it's a matter of choice with what you choose.

*edit*

most of THESE & THESE were shot camera directly overhead. some with natural light and some with flash. ( pw: matadors )

 

[UMich92]

I do much the same as what Brewer Andy said. I use the Macro setting on my camera and I don't use the flash. Because I was having a hard time finding enough natural light in my house, I set up a dark background on the most well lit object in our house. The pictures below are using a dark blanket to cradle the ball under our pool tables lights. And yes, my wife wondered what the heck I was doing when I was propping a blanket on the pool table.

Alex

 

[Brewer Andy]

I do much the same as what Brewer Andy said. I use the Macro setting on my camera and I don't use the flash. Because I was having a hard time finding enough natural light in my house, I set up a dark background on the most well lit object in our house. The pictures below are using a dark blanket to cradle the ball under our pool tables lights. And yes, my wife wondered what the heck I was doing when I was propping a blanket on the pool table.

Alex

Wow! Great idea! Those look awesome!

 

[jbhofmann]

thanks for the suggestions

 

[nyc3]

Also dont try to hold the camera in your hands, use a tripod or make a tripod out of some books. Then use the timer mode most cameras have now a days and this will avoid any blurring from sudden movements.

 

[shuedini]

For a relatively inexpensive way to get good pictures of baseballs I suggest purchasing a lightbox. You can find them at Walmart. They look something like this:

That's what I used to get my baseballs to look like this:

Here is what they look like before being cleaned up in photoshop:

 

[GAbballplayer148]

I tested my scanner out to see how it worked...not too bad

 

[zep33]

I have a black square bookcase and use the waterbottle cap and photoshop to have them come out like this: