Studio Lighting-Professional But Inexpensive!

[Lynn O. Doughty]

As we've been discussing how to take good photos of our carvings, and as I had one that needed photographed, I thought I'd show you how and what I use to get good results every time!

Pictured in the first photo is my stand that I place the carving on. Actually, there are two stands there. The top one consists of two pieces of paneling seperated by a 1" wooden dowel painted flat black. I glued a piece of rubber on the small disk so the carving wouldn't slip off. You will see the importance of the wooden dowel later.

The next photo is what I use for lights. The big flouresent is a special photographic bulb I bought at a camera store. I think it cost me about $20.00. The two smaller ones I picked up a WalMart. You can buy a blister pack of three for about $8.00. The hair-net looking things are light diffusers. The one with the black netting is a commercial version costing about $9.00. The other is a homemade version my wife made. Works pretty good. Cost...nothing. made from scraps. The clip-on light I picked up at WalMart and the metal ring is made from aluminum ducting to hold the diffuser for the big light away from the bulb. No cost...made it from scrap.

The third photo shows my set up. I made my stands out of 3/4" PVC pipe stuck into plywood platforms. The big bulb is to the right as it gives the most light. The others set to the left and left-behind of the figure on the stand. A tripod sets in front, and you need a tripod to take really good photos, and behind the figure is a dark green posterboard.

Being on stands everything can move around and tilt to get the best lighting. I can change the color of my background by just using a different colored posterboard. They only cost a couple of bucks.

The important thing to note here is the space between the camera and the figure and the figure and the backdrop. Aside from the lights that's the most critical thing. Get the camera too close to the figure and the figure is distorted by the lens optics. Get the figure to close to the backdrop and you have a problem with the shadows. See that dark shadow the figure casts on the poster? That's caused by the camera's flash. DO NOT USE FLASH! A digital camera does not need one.

[Kenny_S]

Thanks Lynn, Great detailed info and pictures.
My problem now is space. With that is mind, I can figure out how to adapt it all to the limited space I have or find space in another room and make it all portable. Put up and take down.

[BobD]

If you use the PVC pipe, it's easily portable...jsut don't use glue on the joints!

Bob

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Let's take some pictures!

With a digital camera you can snap photos all day till you get what you want. I pretty well know the positions the lights should be in to get a good photo so I just place them there and take a test shot to see if I was right. I was!

THe first photo was taken with a dark green background. Now you can start to see the beauty of that 1" dowel. More on that later. The second was shot with a dark gray and the last a real light gray. Using those posterboards really makes changing backgrounds a snap. Just slide a new one in. One thing to note here is the difference between the lighting on the figure even though I changed nothing but the background. The camera, being automatic, adjusted itself to compensate for the lighter backgrounds. Note how the darker colored the background the brighter the figure.

I like the dark green background so, after loading my photos onto my computer and bringing that picture up in Paint Shop Pro I crop it to where it looks best, lighten or darken it if I think that will help, and lastly I use the program's "cloning" tool to dodge the black 1" dowel into oblivion. ZAP! in a moment it's gone and my figure is floating in space!

That's really all there is to it! Easy....inexpensive....and results you can count on.

One last thing. If you look behind the posterboard in the "set-up photo" you'll see a long gray roll of paper suspended from the ceiling. I bought that at the camera shop for about $35.00 and use it when I take photos of large objects too big for the poster board. Like a window blind I just pull it down and snap away.

[Tom-H]

Thanks Lynn. Lots of good information written and illustrated in a clear manner. This otta help folks get good photos. Tom H

[Irish]

Lynn, this is glorious aqnd generous of you to share. Your phots explain so much and your set-up is great.

Susan

(Now, if I can figure out how to turn all of this sideways to shot straight down onto a relief carving set up .... AHHH! .... )

[Just Carving]

Why not use the same set-up adjacent to a wall with a suitable background and hang the relief carving on the wall?

[Kenny_S]

Several different ways you can accomplish what you want Susan. Justcarving has a great idea Attach the background color to a wall, then attach a hanger to it and that is about it. That is one way.

Attach a flat black painted dowell to a cross piece over your photo set up and hang your piece from the dowell, then with the pc, crop out everything you don't want in the picture.
Lynn has opened the door on this. Many different possibilities.

[Mark N. Akers]

Lynn:
Thanks a bunch for sharing this with us,it has really improved my picture taking.

[Callynne]

Lynn, thank you so much for taking the time to explain this and show the pictures! I can't wait to try it. I looked today for poster board but couldn't find any at Wal-Mart at all and Staples didn't have any good colors.....orange....yellow.....purple.....I don't think they're going to work!

I'll be going out again tomorrow, JoAnn Fabrics and K-Mart are my next stops. Sure wished we had more shopping options close by!

Even if I don't find the poster board right away, the other tips were great and I can use them right now. Thanks again! Talking Deborah