Photographing work

great blog, Don!
Fantastic shots—all of them!

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Thanks Debbie.

I need to remember in the future to keep the pic sizes down to 650x …

The right side of pictures are all clipped, sigh… :)

Ahhh, if you click on the picture it takes you to my photobucket albumn..

Cheers, Don

-- Don Kondra - Furniture Designer/Maker

Thanks! Great images. Are you using a white balance setting or does the 5000K light temp allow you to use daylight balance? And if you don’t mind, what type of 65W bulbs are behind the umbrellas. I used to shoot with strobes but sold that equipment years ago. I now use my “work lights” now when shooting for eBay and WOW they are HOT. I have my first project to photograph for LJ’s soon …

-- God bless! Freddo (Northern - NJ) Our Creator designed us to create - so use WOOD!

very welcome report well done thanks Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Thanks guys,

Freddo, the lights are CF, compact fluorescents. After having the lights on for a half hour I measured the temperature with a digital cooking thermometer and they were under 150 degrees F… Just a little too hot to hold your hand on them but cool enough they don’t burn the nylon diffuser.

I quickly abandoned using work lights, they were too hot and too yellow :)

NOTICE that these 65w bulbs are 4100k, the bulbs in the main light are 5000k. Normally you don’t want to mix light colors but I think these two sets of lights are close enough I’m getting away with it…

I just use an auto white balance, I do sometimes have to adjust the exposure and color when I develop the raw file.

Here’s a pic…

-- Don Kondra - Furniture Designer/Maker

Hey Don, those are great looking pics. Thanks for all of the information as well. This is something I need to kick up as is evidence from my current project pics. I did just get a piece of dark brown velvet and some work lights so i will get some Cf bulbs now and see what I can do with a minimal investment setup. Can you recommend some other inexpensive items that I can use? Maybe some low-cost diffusers if there is such a thing. Are the insides of your lights coated with something or is that a texture worked into the metal?

-- Joe, Indiana, http://www.crookedshack.com

I really enjoyed this post Don. Thanks for sharing.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

Trifern, glad you enjoyed it :)

Joe, I think you are going to find the brown velvet is too dark…. and it will suck up the light, but you should give it a try and see what you think. It is a personal preference.

I used to like the kind of picture where the object appeared to be floating in space but now I like a little bit of color. Right now I’m in a gray phase :)

For diffusers you are going to need something thin, even cheap sheets may be too thick because these lights are not that powerful. Try them without first, you may not have a problem with shine.

For deflectors white foam core is a inexpensive choice, available at office supply stores. Cardboard covered in tin foil may work depending on the situation.

My reflectors are aluminum and the inside is just textured. The pair of Cameron light stands without bulbs was ~$150. The four bulb light stands were bought off Amazon.com and were ~ $200 with shipping.

Cheers, Don

-- Don Kondra - Furniture Designer/Maker

Thanks Don for posting this important topic. Photographing ones or others works is an important aspect of woodworking. It allows the work to be portrayed in a more artistic way.

Good Luck, John

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Hay John,

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not picking on anyone here but I flinch everytime I see a coffee table shot on the front lawn :)

It really does not take a lot of planning to better present a project… but.

I still remember when the finishing part of the project was a chore, darn, I thought I was done, and now you’re telling me I have to set up to shoot a picture of the project too, geeez…. :)

Cheers, Don

-- Don Kondra - Furniture Designer/Maker

I’ve got alot of work to do now. I thought I was improving my posts by moving from the cherry table to a sheet of posterboard, but after looking at my most recent project I have to pick it up a notch. Thanks for the ideas.

-- Every cloud has a silver lining

Don, now I’ll just have to find another place to photograph my hall table than the front lawn!

-- North Texas