Photo lighting made easy

[Jim Bremer]

Consider using a photo tent for nice balanced soft lighting. The one shown here is available for a little over one hundred dollars, but you can make one from a bed sheet. Go to B&Hphoto.com.

 

[Dr_dewey]

bed sheets not the best

My understanding is the photo-tent material has better colour transparency/transmission properties - its allows more of the light spectrum through than bed sheets - which will alter the colours in your pictures.

 

[john lucas]

Bed sheets and such do alter the colors but so slightly most people won't see it it. I use white Nylon in the studio but also have white muslin. Even some nylon fabrics have brighteners that transmit blue light. Even then I doubt that you will see it. When I measure them with my color temperature meter they are usually within 200 degrees kelvin from each other. This is noticeable on product photography but very hard to see on wood. Most people's monitors are off more than that. There fore I agree a bed sheet will work to diffuse the light for most people.
I taught a class at Arrowmont on photographing artwork a few years ago and we purposely shot using lights that were not dead on the color temperature and through several different types of material so we could show the class the difference. They were so close I had a hard time telling them apart.
In this digital age ,where it's so easy to make a minor color change like you might see if you used a material that doesn't produce dead on color,I wouldn't worry about it. Controlling the light and shadow to give the piece shape and show detail without bad hotspots or harsh shadows is so much more important.

 

[kwgeorge]

You know I have tried about everything to take good pictures of my work but still I am not happy with the results. I have bought a set of Smith Victor lights totaling 1500 Watts, I have built a PVC photo tent, I have used sheets, cheese cloth and a Chroma Cloth. I have tried 3 different Digital Camera a Fuji FinePix 6900, a Fuji E510 and a Canon SD300. I still can’t get this picture taking of my turnings to come out right, I am either too dark or the highgloss of the object disappears or the colors come out totally wrong. If I use a flash then the colors are right but the flash shows hotspots on the piece.

Any of you photo guys have any suggestions such as camera settings or such that I could try? Sure is frustrating.

 

[john lucas]

George Wood can sometimes be very hard to photograph. Especially if you use a high gloss finish. Shoot a photo of your booth with the lighting and then a photo of the piece and I will try to trouble shoot the problem. Sometimes we give the impression that this style of lighting or that style of lighting will work perfectly but in reality lighting artwork is a trouble shooting procedure. I usually have to set up the lighting as best I can, shoot it and then correct the problems. I photograph artwork at least 3 days a week and have learned a lotof tricks in the last 15 years of doing this.
You may be overlighting if you have 3 lights but it depends on how you are setting everything up. Feel free to e-mail me at johnclucas@charter.net

 

[rbagley]

A few things to keep in mind when lighting your turnings: whenever you shoot a glossy object, you will have hotspots. That's the nature of a glossy surface. You can control the position of the spots and the size and intensity of them. If you use a flood light thru an umbrella or similar reflector, the spot will be larger. If you move the light source farther away from the object, the spot will get smaller. If you shoot with light direct (no bounce or umbrella) the spot will be small and very bright. If you even the light across the object, the object will appear flatter than if you light one side brighter than the other. Do not concern yourself with how much or how little light you put on the object but pay attention to the balance. Film will increase the contrast of the light (make the light lighter and the darks darker) but the overall exposure (brightness) of the shot is adjusted buy your aperature and shutterspeed settings. The best way to set your exposure is with a 14% gray card. Set it in the same light your shooting and set your camera manually for the proper exposure with the card filling the view finder. Flesh also works if you have a helper. Remember - there is no right or wrong way with photography. There are just tools and techniques to use to aquire a desired outcome. If your shooting digital there are some very simple tricks you can apply with photoshop to make your shots pop. But that is info for another posting. Hope this helps.

 

[john lucas]

Good response. I'll add. I big light source produces soft shadows and big highlights. A small light source produces a small hightlight and hard edge shadows. You made a small mistake. It's not a 14% card but a Kodak 18% gray card. You can get them from www.porters.com The gray cards got started because this was determined to be an average scene that people photograph and light meters in camers were adjusted to be Zero'd when metering an 18% gray card. Art work, especiallly wood is almost never average as seen by the meter. This is why the Gray card exsposure is usually closer.
With the sophistication of light meters built into the cameras these days this is probably not true because some cameras have the capability to measure many areas and lessen the amount of exsposure information given to areas that read much higher or lower than the overall reading. Art work often falls into this category because it is usually lighter or darker than the average exsposure. Consequently the gray card still gives a better exposure reading.
Place the card in the scence so it faces the camera. Thin fill the frame with the card and take a light reading. This may require moving the camera. Be careful if you use the zoom instead of moving the camera because most zooms nowdays are variable aperture and if you zoom it may change the exposure.

 

[Mike Schwing]

Place the card in the scence so it faces the camera. Thin fill the frame with the card and take a light reading. This may require moving the camera. Be careful if you use the zoom instead of moving the camera because most zooms nowdays are variable aperture and if you zoom it may change the exposure.

Yet another good reason to go fully manual! (I did not know this, thanks)

 

[kwgeorge]

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. My camera has a section in the book on setting the “White Balance†with a sheet of white paper. Very much like the procedure described using the grey card. I have fiddled with that some with limited success up to this point. The camera has a built in flip up flash that I can not control the direction of. The camera also has a hotshoe so I am wondering if I should invest in a separate flash that I could direct more? I have tried orienting the lights in various locations and number of lights turned on. Currently they are in an opposing 45 degree angle to the front of the object with the camera being strait and in front of the lights. The colors and finish are much truer when using the flash but I have a large Hotspot. The tent is constructed of PVC and is covered with a sheet.

 

[john lucas]

KWGeorge The white balance setting using awhite card should get you pretty close to dead on the money for color balance. It won't give you the correct exsposure. You do need to use one or the other as far as lighting. Electronic flash and tungsten lights have 2 different colors. If you are using both that may be part of your problem. Electronic flash on camera is seldom the best way to get a high quality photo. it will often give you a good photo but will usually have a hotspot right in the middle of the piece and a harsh shadow right behind the piece.
The tungsten lights that you have set at 45 degrees will kind of work as long as one light is brighter than the other. If you are shooting through the sides of a photo booth the light will be too even. Ideally you want one side to be alittle darker than the other to create a more 3 dimensional look to the piece. You can simply aim one light less directly at the booth or pull one light further away.
If you are not shooting through a diffusion panel or photo booth then 2 lights will give you 2 hot spots and 2 shadows.
Feel free to send me photos of your booth and shot of your work and I will try to trouble shoot your problems. Send it to johnclucas@charter.net

 

[devonpalmer]

Good Demo Topic

Given all the recent buzz about Photography techniques here and other sites, sounds like there'd be a LOT of interest in Demonstration at the 2006 symposium, or maybe an add-on article (next in a series) to compliment the write up earlier this summer in American Woodturner (like digital editing/adustment, etc).

- Devo, Columbus, Ohio

http://www.devonpalmer.com/gallery/

 

[Mike Schwing]

Devon, I agree but am not sure how well understood/attended a digital photo editing seminar would be taken. I talked with Jamie about this adjunct to the photo taking seminars that have been done in the past while were in Kansas City. It might be a difficult seminar to put together due to software differences, etc.. but if done correctly (not sure how that would be), there would be great value regardless of attendance.

 

[Philip Streeting]

Lighting

Bounce flash can offer a soft light too. If you purchase a seperate flash unit or units and couple this/these to a slave flash trigger you can use the on camera flash to trigger the main flash unit/units and bounce off card or professional reflectors/umbrellas. If you semi-cover the on camera flash (with a piece of masking tape) you can provide enough flash to trigger other units without offering direct flash to your subject. This is a simple, flexible and low cost method of providing multiple lighting to your subject. You can also if you wish use tent set ups. In the UK it is possible to purchase small flash guns where one is direct flash the other has a built in slave, these could be used in a multiple lighting set-up (about £16 each). Colour gels could be introduced. Can give further info if required in the form of a tutorial on my site if there are enough interested. Look also for Magnaflash units, fairly expensive but brilliant for close up detail. Dulling sprays can be purchased to get rid of or subdue highlights. I use digital cameras by the way. A good alternative for paper as a seamless white background is a large sheet of white plastic which is normally used for printing garden labels. This is washable and can be rolled for easy storage without creasing and is the thickness of thin card, sheets can be obtained in various sizes. Bounce flash can also be achieved with special hoods over a flash unit attached to your camera for soft lighting.