Locust Bowl and lightbox info

[Dick Strauss]

Here is my first post with pics. A few people from our club (including me) made a light box. One of the other members has a nice digital SLR and offered to take the pics. Since I don't own a digicam, this is my first post with pics.

Well, here is the first/second piece I ever turned...it is a locust bowl 10(d)x6(h)x5/16(t). The finish is done with multiple coats of danish oil and buffed on the Beall system. Obviously I had a good teacher!
5483154832


John Hart,
this is the same one you saw when I bought the BS from your BIL...



FYI-Our lightbox design was based on this one:

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

If you want to save some money over this version, PM me for some of the cost/performance improvements we made.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Dick..... Very nice bowl..I like the form, wood and execution! ..great photos!

[David Walser]

Very nice bowl and nice pictures.

Any objections to posting here a description of the improvements you made to the lightbox? I'm sure many of us could learn from what you guys did.

[Rob Nolan]

Ditto to what Dave and Ken said! Awesome!

[Mark Pruitt]

Man, that is beautiful! I love the way you made that wood speak!

[Dick Strauss]

David,
I just didn't know if there'd be interest in the lightbox mods. The mods are very simple but will be very helpful after my post mortem...

1. Make it bigger than the 16x20 footprint suggested if you have bigger items:
Problem -as you can see in pic #2, we had a problem with unwanted outside light reflections when using a curved matte board background and a 10" piece. The curve of the matte board prevents you from placing items further back. These reflections can be a problem with lots of shapes.
Solution-make it at least 24"(shooting direction)x20"(wide). We shot in the 16" direction...it needed to be at least 24" to prevent the shop lights from being visible in the pics. If we had turned the box sideways, it would have made object manipulation difficult. A piece of cloth hanging over the front rim would have also helped cut down on stray light.

2. Use std bright (100W+) soft white bulbs or floods. Do not spend the extra money for halogens
Problem-the long neck halogen bulbs suggested in the article are $8 each and have a color temp of about 3600K. In addition, they are very fragile. We lost two bulbs during two shoots from the light getting bumped.
Solution-you can use incandescent bulbs (with a color temp of about 3300K) with a much lower price and more durability if you are willing to tolerate more heat. You can find them in soft white (built in diffuser) or flood varieties. This assumes that you can color correct in your camera or on the computer.

3. Use sheer curtains instead of bedsheets.
Problem-the bedsheets cut down on the light too much IMO but give nice flat lighting. You should be prepared for exposures of greater than one second. Unfortunately I felt it left the lighting too flat so that the curves of the bowls weren't accentuated properly.
Solution-use sheer curtains doubled up. We also put a piece of light diffuser panel (sold at the big boxes) screwed to the top and sides of the pvc frame. This allows plenty of diffuse light on the subject but still gives good natural contrast.

Let me know if you have more questions.


Take care,
Dick

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very nice bowl Dick! Your finish really brings out the grain! I like the border around your photo - nice effect.

Also, thanks for the lightbox info and your suggestions for mods. Hope to be able to put that info to use before to long.

[Fred LeBail]

Very interesting form, I like it ! Also thanks for the light box info.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dick very nice looking bowl. I do like the form. Nice job.

[John Hart]

Nice Pictures Dick!! 'bout time!:rolleyes: Yep...I remember the bowl well. Nice job.:)

[Jim Becker]

First one, eh? He scores with an undercut rim in a difficult form. Bravo! Nice!

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Dick, thanks for all the info very helpful. Great looking bowl as well Love that form.:)

[Tom Sherman]

Very nice Dick and I like the info on the light box as well.