I haven’t been making much sawdust lately, last Wednesday I had a carpal tunnel release so it shouldn’t be long before i’m back in the shop.

While I’ve been down I’ve been setting up to do product photography as a slde line and thought I would share some of my latest results.

First the fun stuff, I finally got around to hanging a bird feeder just in front of the patio door. I’ve set the camera on a tripod and sure enough, within days I had regular visitors.

Only problem is, everytime I move toward the camera, I scare them off, sigh… I did manage to get some shots by standing at the camera and waiting for them to return, but, geezz…. Haven’t got much patience for that :)

So I ordered a remote shutter release. I put the feeder in the center of the frame and anytime I’m in the house and notice them I can click away from a distance. The only problem is most of the shots have this big Red Feeder in them :) I did manage some shots with them coming or going and cropped out the feeder.

For now I’ll post just what I consider the best of the bunch.

The day I arrived home with the new remote release coincided with the most activity around the feeder I have seen to date, both before and after this day.

There were FOUR birds performing a ballet between the house and the bush, once in a while they would circle the feeder. I managed to catch three of them, the fourth is just out of the frame….

I call this “Executive Meeting”

Okay, back to topic…

The object of the shoot is a green hollow turning by Michael Hosaluk.

Manitoba maple burl circa 1985.

The lights are CF bulbs, the new energy saver fluorescent twisty type with a 5000k rating.

The two side lights have 65w bulbs in 10” reflectors with shoot through satin umbrellas. The main light camera right is a 4 bulb x 27w in a 16” reflector with nylon diffuser.

I figure I have a combined equivalent of 800w incandescent so it is important to have the shooting location as dark as possible. During the day I just hang large sheets of cardboard on the windows.

The paper back drop is “focus gray”. I cut the 9’ roll into a 6’ and a 3’.

Olympus E-510 with 18-180mm @ 105mm, 1/8, f 8, iso 100

I set the metering and focus to center point, just in front of the top opening. This will generally give me a cleaner image and I crop later to center it.

With such a slow speed I used a 2 second delay.

I developed the raw file with Master and did some minor adjustments and small crop in FastStone Image Viewer, a pretty good free editor.

NOTE. The photo set up shows the camera location for a shot with a 50mm lens, for the 18-180 the tripod is moved back to beside the main center light… the light stand on the far right is not in use…

And Michael Hosaluk’s turned vessel…

This next shot is very loosely related to woodworking, I needed a new avatar and head shot for a magazine I write for :)

Shooting yourself, with a camera that is, has to be the hardest thing to do. I thought I had a pretty good expression but…. And where did those chubby cheeks come from ? :)

And what the heck, dial up users are already mad at me :)

One more hummingbird shot and I’m outta here (big grin)

I call this one “Just hanging Around”

Cheers, Don

Seems that once you have your background and lighting down pat the next step is better glass. Keep in mind when I originally purchased my camera I didn’t consider it might be necessary to upgrade the lens. I did understand I may need a different lens for landscape shots for instance.

Through this process I’ve come across various sites that show images from one end to the other of the range of a particular lens. I’m just barely starting to understand what the different mm numbers mean. The f values are easy, the lower the number, the more it costs :) And the more desireable it is for image quality and low light shooting.

Still, I wanted a concrete example I could relate to so… I sat myself down on my lawn chair on the front deck and took a couple of pics towards the road with the extreme settings of my lens. The distance is about 300’. Nothing fancy here, just hand held snapshots on auto mode…

So, this is the original lens, Zuiko 14-42 f 3.5 – 5.6

And the zoommmmm…...yeeha…

Now, if I can talk myself into or out of upgrading this lens it’s going to cost ~$500 brand new. The camera with one lens and a memory card was $675. I should just kick my a** back into the shop and quit fooling around :) But this is way more fun than watching TV on my down time.

The upgrade would be a Zuiko 14-54mm f 2.8 – 3.5, on ebay they’re going for ~$300 – $400. I’ve read a number of reviews that say this is a better/best lens for shooting my work, without getting a second mortgage… since I don’t REALLY need it right now I’ve set myself a limit of $250 and am bidding on gently used lens. Don’t you just love that term :)

So off we go on another adventure. I want to be able to get close up shots of the deer, etc. that wander through my yard and also have the ability to zoom in on landscape, etc. type shots.

At this point I’m not really all that sure what I need but I bid on a Zuiko 40-150mm f 3.5 – 4.5 and was outbid at the last click, sigh… Bid again on a Zuiko 40-150 f 4.0 – 5.6 and win for $107 plus shipping. Brand new in the States it’s a little over $200 and in Canada I’ve seem it as low as $285.

This is a shot from the same location and same time as the last ones…

And not quite zoomed all the way, the picture was turning a little fuzzy at the extreme…

WooHooo, now where the heck are the deer? :)

Now this is where Murphy’s Law comes in, I also placed a low bid on another 40-150 mm f 3.5 – 4.5 and won it, sigh… Anyone looking for a 40-150 mm f 4.0 – 5.6 ??? :)

While I’m at it I should also show you this, I tried sneaking up on Max sleeping contentedly in the sun but he heard me. Told him “stay” and took a snap shot anyhow. (14-42mm f 3.5 – 5.6)

And then cropped and added a border. Would have been a much better shot if I could have got him to smile…

Phew, okay. I’m off to ebay, uh, I mean back to making sawdust….

Cheers, Don

Some background first, some of this information was included in a recent post but for those of you that missed it I’ll start from the beginning :)

Until recently I was having my pieces shot by a professional. He moved, sigh…

For archive type shots I was using a Kodak 2 mp P&S. For web stuff it worked fine and I even had an image printed in Fine Woodworking’s Readers Gallery. They must have REALLY liked the piece :)

I never liked the idea of the time and cost to have pieces shot so this was the perfect opportunity to take control.

After much research I purchased a Olympus Evolt E-510, two light stands, 2 – 65w CF bulbs, quartz bulbs for my 500w halogen work lights, a paper backdrop and a Velbon tripod. The CF bulbs are 200w equivalent and have a color temp of 4100k.

This was already way more than I had planned to spend so I have been experimenting with continuous lightling before purchasing strobes. BUT, the goal is to have magazine quality photo’s… all the time.

With my Kodak camera I found I had the best results at night, with the shop flourescent lights on and the camera flash.

My first tests with the new camera were at night with the shop lights on, a 500w halogen shined directly at the object, another 500w bounced off the ceiling onto the backdrop and the 65w CF bulbs on each side. The object is the worst thing I could find to photograph, a bar stool mock up finished with flat black paint.

All shots were using wrinkled white sheet until I determin where I want to permanently mount my paper backdrop.

Close but… so I tried some advice I received about using daylight. I didn’t really want to restrict myself to a specific time of day but if that’s what it takes.

This Olympus camera test is kinda backwards, the cloudy daylight is coming from behind the object and I have the two 65W CF lights on each side.

Much better results, we’re starting to see some depth and detail.

This led me to try some shots with two pieces I shot with the Kodak so I could see the difference.

This is late afternoon cloudy daylight with the 2 – 65w CF light stands with the Olympus vs night with shop lights and flash with the Kodak.

Kodak – Cherry Entrance bench with black leather seat

Olympus – brown leather seat

Walnut Trestle Coffee Table – Kodak

Olympus -

So far these tests have pretty well convinced me I won’t be permanently mounting my paper backdrop, it will need to be placed according to the lighting conditions.

Next step is to come up with an easy system to hang sheets over the windows for shooting with sunny daylight and acquiring panels to bounce light.

Stay tuned :)

Cheers, Don

The idea of using an oil combined with a film forming finish is not new; this is simply the one I have settled on after experimenting with a number of different products.

An ideal finish should be easy to apply, enhance the grain and figure of the wood and provide a reasonable level of protection from normal wear and tear.

The soft hand rubbed glow is a bonus. If you want a shinier finish, apply more coats.

While we are at it, wouldn’t it be nice to have an easily repairable surface that does not require stripping.

This is it. Just give the surface a good cleaning, scuff sand with a foam sanding pad and reapply.

The application method assures there is no danger of brush marks or sags in the finish.

It dries fairly quickly so dust settling on the finish is not an issue.

The ingredients are as follows -

25% pure tung oil (available at Lee Valley)
25% spar (exterior) varnish
50% paint thinner
Japan drier – one capful per Cup of mix

Roughly a cup of mix will do a coffee table sized project.

I use this finish often enough that I mix up a quart at a time, without the Japan drier. Then I pour off as much as I need and add the drier.

Only mix up as much as you expect to use in two or three days, the drier will cause it to gel after that even in a closed container.

For the first coat I place an 8” square of T-shirt right in the container of mix.

Squeeze it out enough so it isn’t dripping all over the floor and apply to the wood, keep going over any thirsty spots for ten minutes or so.

Then firmly wring out the rag and use it to wipe the project off.

All other coats are simply wiped on and wiped off, again with the same rag.

The idea is to build up thin coats.

I have applied three coats in one day but I recommend one in the morning and one in the late afternoon.

I apply three to four coats on legs, etc. and at least six coats on tops. This may sound like a lot of work but a coat only takes minutes, it is similar to applying a coat of oil.

I sand lightly with fine foam sanding pads after the first coat and again before the last coat. A rag slightly dampened with paint thinner makes a good tack cloth or you can just use the air compressor to clean the surface.

After three days or so I will rub down the surface with white scotchbrite pads, always with the grain.

If the finish scratches you can wait another day or so for it harden further or continue to use the scotchbrite and wipe with the grain with a rag slightly dampened with paint thinner, this will dissolve any scratches.

If you are having a problem with streaking on large surfaces on the last coat, let it dry and apply another coat thinned another 50%.

It will take a week for the finish to fully cure.

BEWARE – If you substitute ingredients you are on your own