Question:
I am a coffee addict. What can I do, besides giving up coffee? I thought
I might try some of those teeth whittening treatments, like Mentadent's
or Colgate's whitening systems. Now I'd like to see if it really works.
It's hard for me to visualize slow changes in color, so I thought to
take pictures of my teeth at the day 0, 7 and 14. How do I make sure I
get consistent results? I was thinking to make some action plan, like
brush for 5 minutes, then use a small tripod and take macro picture of
my teeth. I have a Powershot A10. I also need to use the same white
balance, and same illumination source. My camera does not have manual
controls (like aperture or shutter) but it does have exposure
compensation. In order to make sure I have the right exposure, I will
take bracketing from -2 to +2 stops, in 1/3 steps. Then later I can look
at the Tv and Av of the picture (Canon's software records these somehow)
and choose the ones that have the save exposure values. Then I can open
the 3 iamges in some image editor (like Photoshop) and look at the
pixels value (RGB values).
Answer:
I think it might be helpful to include a standard in all 3 pictures.
Perhaps a paper stained (variably if possible) with coffee. You could
then compare the color of your teeth with the color(s) on the standard.
A consistent light source is, as you say, essential.
This is a perfect opportunity to use a gray card as a reference. Include it
in the shot and then balance the resulting images using the 'curves'
mid-tone eyedropper for color. If the brightness is way off you can eye
match the gray cards.
Always use the same light, and always use the same white balance (set it
to incandescent light or whatever you are using for illumination). Put
a gray card or a color reference card next to you when you take the
picture, as a reference.
Be advised that, if your camera doesn't allow you to force a specific
white balance, you may get inconsistent results from one shot to the
next. You'll have to try to correct them by hand.
Heres what Professional Photographer Dentists use..
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