photo setup launched

[Steve Trauthwein]

I got the 500 watt halogen light today, man do those puppies get hot! I have set up the phrugal photo tent that Jamie Donaldson gave a tutorial on. I played with it for a couple of hours today and got some satisfactory photos. Still not the perfect shot but something to work from. The bowl is locust, the pens are European pear with inserts and rattlesake/antler.

Regards, Steve

Comments/Critics welcomed

[Jim Becker]

Very nice job! Jamie's Phrugal setup really works well...and is quite cost effective.

[Patrick Taylor]

Nice! Here are my comments:


Are you using top and side (white) reflectors?
Are you pointing the light up?If not, these two things will help improve your photos even further by reducing the shadows and lighting areas like the bottom of your bowl. Also, if your camera can do it, increasing the exposure compensation will brighten your photos even more and give your pieces that "glow". Great pens, BTW!

[Steve Trauthwein]

Patrick,

The shadows below the bowl was one of the things I did not care for. I did have the light pointing up and reflecting from sides top and front. May experiment with moving things around a bit.

I have a Sony 5.1 meg camera. On recommendations from other list I have the ISO set at 100 and +1.0 EV. I have never been much of a camera bug, but I am trying to get this down as good photos are so important to show a piece of work.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Regards, Steve

[Patrick Taylor]

Patrick,

The shadows below the bowl was one of the things I did not care for. I did have the light pointing up and reflecting from sides top and front. May experiment with moving things around a bit.

I have a Sony 5.1 meg camera. On recommendations from other list I have the ISO set at 100 and +1.0 EV. I have never been much of a camera bug, but I am trying to get this down as good photos are so important to show a piece of work.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Regards, Steve

Try changing the angle of the side reflector until the underside of the piece is more lit. Also, Jamie recommended to me that I ensure all sides are covered with a panel to capture all the light.


For camera settings, I use aperture priority mode, with the aperture set fairly high for good depth of field. I then bump up the exposure comp. to +1.3 or +1.7 depending on the piece, and I also use ISO of 100.

Really, your photos look great! Keep tweaking until you're happy. I agree that good photos are important to show a piece, and I've since found that I get a lot of satisfaction from a good photo as well. Happy shooting! :)

[Jamie Donaldson]

I got the 500 watt halogen light today, man do those puppies get hot! I have set up the phrugal photo tent that Jamie Donaldson gave a tutorial on. I played with it for a couple of hours today and got some satisfactory photos. Still not the perfect shot but something to work from. The bowl is locust, the pens are European pear with inserts and rattlesake/antler.

Regards, Steve

Comments/Critics welcomed

Dang- must be a damn big rattlesnake to have antlers!!! ;-)))
Are you using a moveable bounce card on the side opposite the light to reflect light into the shadows? Try a card (mine is usually 16"x20" mount board) that is flat white on 1 side and silver(aluminum) foil glued to the other- move it around until it fills those shadows to your satisfaction.

[Patrick Taylor]

Dang- must be a damn big rattlesnake to have antlers!!! ;-)))
Are you using a moveable bounce card on the side opposite the light to reflect light into the shadows? Try a card (mine is usually 16"x20" mount board) that is flat white on 1 side and silver(aluminum) foil glued to the other- move it around until it fills those shadows to your satisfaction.

Jamie, per your suggestion I've been using the white foam-core boards from staples (with the presentation supplies) and have had good luck with that as well.

[Patrick Taylor]

Oh I just thought of something else... I set the white balance manually using the white backdrop. It's a helpful tweak if your camera has that feature. Steve, your WB already looks good but I thought it might help others.