I finally made a light tent! And some practice photos.

[Brian Effinger]

After wanting one to photograph my turnings in for a while now, I finally got around to making one Friday night. Yeah, I know, a really exciting Friday night! :p


138735

It is 18" tall, about 18" deep, and with the rails pictured here, it is about 26" wide. I used the cheapest white sheet I could find at Target ($7.49) and a couple cheap ($6.50) clamp lights from Home Depot. The lights aren't the greatest, though. The clamp doesn't hold to well so I had to reinforce it with a spring clamp. The light on the top (which isn't on) is Rockler's clamp light, which is much better, but it also costs $20. I am still a undecided on what to do about the lights - leave them as is, or take them back and get something different.

The bulbs are 45 watt 5100k fluorescent bulbs from Steve Kaeser Backgrounds. A little pricey at $8 a piece, but equivalent bulbs at HD are nearly the same price, and I believe these are probably better quality.

The background is homemade - sort of. I used photoshop to make a 24x36 picture of a grey gradient and took it to Office Max to print out. Unfortunately the only heavy paper they had was glossy, and this shows in the photos somewhat. You can see a reflection as well as the shadow:


138744

This is a 6-1/2" dia. x 2-1/2" high bowl of catalpa finished with danish oil and buffed. It is fairly thick at 1/2", but I think it is ok, because it is light, and functional (it is currently holding some Hershey kisses :)). I wish I could pick up the chatoyance of the wood in the photo. That is something I'll have to work on, if it can be done.

The next one is a rosewood vase, I think. I think it is rosewood, not I think it is a vase. It has no finish on it, just buffed with all 3 wheels. It also smelled like cocobolo when I was turning it, but I am sure that is not what it is, because I did not have an allergic reaction to the dust. It is 4" high and 2-1/2" in diameter.


138742

The last one is a small butternut bowl. It is 3-3/4" dia. x 1-3/4" high, finished with danish oil and buffed. Because of the angle of the bowl and camera, you can't really see the reflection, though.


138743

These three were taken with my inexpensive Canon point & shoot on some stacked books. Since the set up was on the floor at the time, it was too low for my tripod and 10d.

I did a little tweaking of the levels and curves in photoshop, then rotated when needed and cropped. I also added some simple borders with the stroke tool. I have been playing around with borders on few more bowl photos and will post them later.

I also have the #39 varitone graduated background from Photo Tech (on the recommendations of Steve Schlumpf and Neal Addy), but wanted to try the cheap homemade version first. Since I was recently made the photographer for one of the turning clubs (http://www.wnywoodturners.com/) I belong to, I wanted to have a background to take around and one to keep at home so it won't get damaged.

I have taken a some photos of a few more bowls, and I plan on re-shooting the turning posted above. I'd like to play with them and photoshop a little more. I'll be posting them soon.

In the mean time, please offer me any comments, critiques or suggestions. I am thick-skinned and can take it. ;) I've also got some knowledge of photography and a little of photoshop, so get technical if you want to. I can take that also. :) I really want to build upon and improve what skills I have.

Thanks for taking a look and putting up with a long post. :D I hope it all made sense.

Brian

[Steve Schlumpf]

Brian - looks like you have a pretty nice setup! I use the same type of clamp lights with 30 watt daylight florescent bulbs for lighting.

Seems like you have all the basics and the next step is to take lots of photos and find setting that consistently work with your photo tent.

About the only thing I can offer is to read through Neal's photo tutorial and try out all of his suggestions. It does make a difference! http://www.nealaddy.org/node/16

Work on getting your colors correct, crisp focus and crop to eliminate most of the background as most of the time it only subtracts from the subject.

Have fun with it!

[Brian Effinger]

Thanks for the help Steve, and the inspiration. I was looking at your gallery earlier today, and did notice how close you cropped the photos. I also have Neal's website bookmarked and referenced it throughout the process.

That reminds me, I forgot to give credit where credit is due. Neal Addy for his great tutorial and Bill Huber for the inspiration behind the light tent.

One thing I know I have to work on is my DOF (depth of field). It doesn't show in these photos, but it does in a few others I was experimenting with. Focus is another thing - they seem a little soft to me, but that could just be me.

Brian

[John Beaver]

Brian,

I'm not sure what watt light you will end up with, but be careful putting the lights too close to the sheet. You don't want to start any fires. Also, by putting the light a little farther away, it spreads out the spot and gives a softer light on the turning.

By the way, I really like the form on the first bowl.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Nice pieces and a nice setup Brian.

[Richard Madison]

Brian,
Your first picture does indeed show the need for greater dof. I think Neal covers this in his tutorial.

[Baxter Smith]

Looks like you are off to a good start with everything. I can appreciate the results but can't seem to get too enthused about doing it myself!:)

[Roland Martin]

Nice turnings & photos. I agree with John, the first bowl is great.

[Curt Fuller]

I think the photos look great, very professional. The turnings are equally nice too.

[David E Keller]

Nice work on the turnings... I don't know enough about photography to be critical.

[Brian Effinger]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. :)


Brian,

I'm not sure what watt light you will end up with, but be careful putting the lights too close to the sheet. You don't want to start any fires. Also, by putting the light a little farther away, it spreads out the spot and gives a softer light on the turning.

No worries there. I am using 45 watt daylight (5100k) fluorescent bulbs. For the amount of time I have them on, they don't even get warm.



Brian,
Your first picture does indeed show the need for greater dof. I think Neal covers this in his tutorial.

I should be able to get the whole piece in focus - just need to zoom in a little, increase the f-stop and decrease the speed.

[Gary Chester]

I sure wish my photo's looked that good, which is why no one has seen my work, but I'm getting there. And interestingly enough... I spent my Friday putting a new tent together as well.

In the past, I tried a sheet as you have but it didn't work nearly as well as yours... maybe I should have used a CLEAN sheet... gak...

[Bill Bolen]

Sooooo, that's what my photo's are SUPPOSED to look like!? Great pic's very professional...Bill...

[John Keeton]

Steve Schlumpf gets a whizbang new camera, Brian builds a photo tent.....

When you guys sucked me into this vortex, I thought it was all about woodworking tools!! Now, I find out I need to get a good camera, and build a photo tent!!:eek::D

Nice work, Brian!! Really does make a huge difference in the visual appeal of the turnings. I am convinced, however, that I don't want that much light and detail on my pieces yet!!:o Need to get a lot more finesse to my turning and finishing before I attempt to show the world what they really look like!!;)

BTW, I think I like the little butternut bowl the best, though all are very nice.

[Brian Effinger]

Bill, your's look good. I was referencing them for composition, so thank you too.

John, I thought you knew that turning required a lot of accessories! :D And you don't need a good camera. The one I used here was a relatively cheap $100 Canon point & shoot. Of course you could go the other way - my other camera was around $1500 for the body and lens. :eek: You could probably get a cheap tripod for around $10. The pvc frame and sheets set me back about $10, and you could use desk lamps or really anything for lighting - what ever you may have.

As for photographing your pieces, I am sure you have nothing to worry about. :)

Brian

[Dave Halter]

Brian,
I use a very similar setup for my photo tent. To solve the light mounting problem I lay a narrow board across the top to clamp the lights to. An addition benefit is that you can move them forward or backward on the tent to adjust the side lighting.

Dave