# Photography Studio



## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

I just read a post by Todd Clippinger from about six years ago on how he sets up his photo shoots when taking pictures of his furniture. Pretty nice. I got to thinking about the projects I've seen on LJ's. Background for the project pictures range from the driveway to some pretty elaborate background setups. I think some of you actually have areas set aside for nothing but photo shoots. It would be nice to see pictures of those areas and get some tips on photo shooting projects. You know, things like indirect lighting, no flash, plain background, etc. Some of you guys border on the professional when it comes to shooting pictures for your projects. Like a nice looking plate of food, presentation is half the battle.


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## marcuscraft (Nov 14, 2012)

Photography is my other hobby I'm pretty serious about, ironically enough, I don't take the time to set up nice shots for my projects here. I use a canon 5d mkii and multiple strobe lights.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

This is one of my biggest weaknesses. I will be interested to see the tips posted here.

May I also say that Jeffro does some of my favorite photo shoots that I have seen.


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## Kryptic (Nov 8, 2013)

A good camera is key albeit the amateur photo contest for National Geographic is some times won with a camera thats near disposable.

I took a photographer course (several actually) and never use the "auto" mode. Bought a new camera, a few lenses, a few lights, a tripod and now take a thousand photos to get 1 good one. They call it the golden triangle, ISO, aperture and shutter speed. I doubt that helped ?


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

Make a lightbox out of cardboard or PVC tubing and a cheap white sheet, use a couple desk lamps, and you're good to go. Doesn't cost very much and it significantly increases the photo quality. You don't need a real nice SLR camera. I had a Canon 7D, but ended up getting rid of it since I didn't use it as much as I would like to.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

jmartel, thanks for the tip. I did not know about light boxes. There are many examples on the web. I'm building one.

LJers, show us your light boxes.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Here's a good how to…

http://m.wikihow.com/Create-an-Inexpensive-Photography-Lightbox


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## kdc68 (Mar 2, 2012)

Here's a good how to…

Thanks for the link….


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

One of the keys is to use indirect light. If you plan to shoot outside, shoot early in the morning or after the sun sets. Lots of people think the more light, the better. Not always true. Especially direct sun light.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

Juniorjock. That's basically the premise behind a lightbox.

A real simple way of thinking about it is to think about the APPARENT SIZE of the light compared to the object. On a bright and sunny day, the sun is a very small light source. Because of it's small apparent size, you get harsh shadows. On an overcast day, the sun lights up the clouds, which are an order of magnitude larger in apparent size to everyday objects, which is why you will see little to no shadow.

Same thing goes for man-made lights. By creating the light panels in a lightbox, you are increasing the apparent size of the light that the object sees. Instead of the small size of a lightbulb/camera flash bulb, you now have a much larger swatch of lighting panel.

It's because of this phenomenon that objects (especially reflective objects) look best in the 30min before sunrise and 30min after sunset timeframes.


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

Yes, I know what you're saying, jmartel. There are a lot of ways to get past the harshness of direct flash, sun, etc. Most of the time, I try to use available light, but if I'm shooting inside and need to use a flash, I usually try to bounce the light off the ceiling or a wall. I have a set of P.C. Buff White Lightning lights, but they take a while to set up and most of the time, not worth it for just a couple of shots. If you combine a good camera with good optics, a light meter and a set of lights, you can't go wrong (most of the time). That's the good thing about digital. Shoot until you get what you want and not have to worry about the cost of film and processing.


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

Going back to DKV's OP, there are tons of info on LJ about shooting projects and other things. Lots of good nature photos on here and even more on Garden Tenders.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

There are literally books (many of them) on this subject. But the simplest advice I can give you is to shoot *lots* of photos, from lots of different angles. Shoot some with flash, some with no flash, some with direct light, and some with indirect light. A few of them are going to turn out well, and you will learn what works best for you in the process.


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## Kryptic (Nov 8, 2013)

light is key

the lower the ISO, the less grainy the photo as it is "still" photography so light is crucial if taken indoors.

Shadows, most often in basic still photography are undesirable, as many strong features of wood should be shown, not hidden so aperture or depth of field pends to exploit what we want to see and what we dont. The lower the number, the less we see in the background, the higher the number, the more we see

shutter speed pend on the above and therefor a tripod is needed to avoid camera shake but as always, the reason why photos could always improve is because we fail to realize how much we need to learn to be good at it.

The combinations and permutations of what we want, are as limitless in photography as they are in woodworking rendering a correct answer to the question as accurate as defining the last number in pi


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## Kryptic (Nov 8, 2013)

like Charles says……….never take your finger off the shutter, the more you shoot photos, with 1/2 a brain, you should get better ? as most SLR's give all the info of the triangle being ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed, the smartest cameras give even more info rendering you with a a multiple choice answer, of evaluating the info, and making a change

if you shoot "RAW" you can even fix a picture that should of been trashed

have you ever tried "layering" ?


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## Kryptic (Nov 8, 2013)




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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

I own a Canon G9 and am looking for a method to shoot pictures that will give me the most bang for the least amount of effort. I can appreciate the time and money some folks put into picture taking and the nice results…like the above cat photo. However, that is not me…no patience. It looks like I will try the light box method. I will use this thread to show the lightbox results and picture results. I am hoping that some critique comes out of this for me. Don't be bashful…I know Charlie won't.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Here's a pictorial portrayal of my approach to furniture photography.

Shooting small objects is pretty easy and inexpensive. For most inexperienced photographers I'd recommend light boxes over flashes because they are far less expensive and provide immediate visual feedback on the camera's digital display. With flashguns you have to take pictures to see what's happening.

I use a simple three light setup built from standard 4-tube florescent fixtures ($40 each). A lot of photographers will protest about this due to the unseen flicker effect generated by cheap florescent lights but it's a non-issue for me. Shooting at ISO 100 with shutter speeds of 1/15th of a second or slower means that the bulbs will cycle through their color spectrum several times during exposure and thus cause no noticable difference in the picture.

Besides the three lights, I have a roll of paper backdrop and some white, black and silver bounce cards (homemade with posterboard, foam core, paint and aluminum foil), a dSLR camera and a good tripod. A point and shoot camera with a good lens and a cheap tripod work fine but having better gear does open up more possibilities. Manual camera setting options are a must for the best shots.

Here's some pictures of the light boxes. Not much to the side lights besides a cord, hinged poster board and a hinged stand. The plastic diamond reflectors were replaced with white shower curtain because I liked the way it diffused the light better. The overhead light has a trolley and pulley system to permit easy positioning of the fixture.



















I only have one decent image of the entire setup so here it is.










The backdrop is curved to promote a gradual darkening of the background towards the top of the picture. The black cloth on the center light and the reflectors on the two side lights keep as much light as possible off the background and on the furniture. Too much light on the backdrop can cause the upper surfaces of the furniture to get over-exposed and turn white and blend into the background. Most people seem to recommend gray backdrops for easier shooting but I'm using white anyway.

The blankets are there in case I want to walk on the backdrop to move things around.

For really small objects, the overhead light is all that's needed.










I'm going after some bright highlights at corners and other high spots to bring out depth. It's important to get the chatoyance to show up as well. Rather than perfectly even lighting, I want some shading in corners to help the viewer see curves and other changes in plane. If the light is too even, everything looks flat. Sometimes it's necessary to use the silver bounce cards to put light in just the right places.

Glass poses a special challenge. In the picture below, white bounce cards were put in the path of the reflection seen in the glass so it wouldn't be dark. I also failed to notice until too late that I hadn't adjusted the white balance setting on the camera for use with florescent lighting. That backdrop should not have the blue-green hue. I can correct it in GIMP (or Photoshop) but prefer to get things right at the camera if possible. If I do use editing software, it's always in the attempt to get the furniture to look more like it does in person.









In the above picture, pay attention the different amounts of light on the three visible surfaces. This is done on purpose so the viewer can easily see that the cabinet has a top, a front and a side. If the lighting were perfectly even, the overall shape would look more like a flat parallelogram instead of a rectangular cube.

For large furniture, photo shoots start to get really difficult with the small setup I have. The backdrop isn't very big so for these images, I have to photoshop the background in. All the white stuff in the background is only there to help keep the reflection on the table top consistent. In the picture below, there's some good light in the middle but almost everything else is dull and drab.










After much toying with the backdrop using photopaper, bedsheets and white cardboard, the top looks reasonably even. The lights and bounce cards were adjusted to achieve the best possible effect. I wasn't totally satisfied with the shot but given the equipment, it wasn't going to get any better.










A few hours in GIMP provided a proper backdrop and eliminated the black spot on the table top caused by the "seam" in the backdrop.










One last tip is to use a remote switch or the timer function on the camera to take pictures. This eliminates any movement of the camera at the instant the shutter is going off. With this setup shutter speeds are very slow, the ISO is as low as possible and movement of any kind can ruin a picture. Also avoid walking around during the exposure if you've got a wooden floor instead of concrete.


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

My favorite Lumberjock photo's are the ones that are posted sideways or upside down. You know, I guess that's the new "cool" or something. And some people say: "I don't know why it posted that way". They have a camera and a computer but are too lazy to fix the photo so everyone else can view it properly. My camera "flips photos" sometimes but I don't post them that way.

And JAAune, I like your "go for it" attitude but if I ever find myself laying on the shop floor and taking pictures I will end it all….........................


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I have also been guilty of the cell phone camera craze. And most of the time, I have to tweak the pics or delete them and start over. I never take just one. Film is just too darn cheap these days! 

The light tents are easy to make. I have a frame made from 1/2 inch pvc pipe. I can cover it with a sheet I bought at Walmart. The lights are simple desk lamps that shine through the sheet. That set up is good for small objects.

The larger ones are hard for me to shoot unless I take them outside. I don't have the room to set up in my house and the garage is full of tools. :-(

Good exposure, accurate focus and reduced background clutter can go along ways toward making a decent pic to post on the forums.

To make them better, they can be tweaked in a photo editing program, and cropped to help reduce the distracting background.

Lately I have been using Dropbox. When I take a pic it is uploaded to Dropbox. It is ready to view by the time I can walk into the house and sit at the computer. I use Lightroom to do my editing. Every now and then, I will use Photoshop Elements if I need to do some advanced editing.

Using Lightroom, I import the pics, then adjust the exposure, contrast, color temperature (if shot indoors), sharpness and sometimes, noise reduction. I also crop each picture and rotate the image if needed to prevent crooked backgrounds.

When I am through, I export the images to my hard drive with the longest side set at 1200 pixels. This will resize the images smaller so they can be uploaded to internet forums.

This has been working pretty well for me when I use either my phone or iPad. When I shoot with the camera, I pull the memory card and insert it into the card reader and upload the pics from there.

Hope this helps.
Mike


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I do use my phone camera (Samsung note II). I should get a real camera, but first I need to get a real set up to shoot the pictures.


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## dodahman (Jun 12, 2012)

Ahh, thank you, JAAune.
And for those of us that had to google *chatoyance* that word has been said on LJ before.

peace, T


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

@Mike: Lightroom is a wonderful tool, isn't it? I'm just not crazy about the whole import/export process. I wish it worked more like Photoshop Elements in that respect.

The bottom line, DKV, is that there is no magic formula to taking quick snapshots that will make your projects look beautiful. Photography, just like woodworking, requires time and effort to get it right. If you don't enjoy the process, you'll end up frustrated and disappointed.


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## DKV (Jul 18, 2011)

Charlie, now I understand. An incentive is required…


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## moke (Oct 19, 2010)

To be more precise, for puposes of googling and such, what you all are calling light boxes, are actually light tents. In commerical/industrial photography the use of the light sources as JAAune has shown are very nice, however a piece of white material (foam core, poster board, etc) can be used to achieve the same effect by bouncing light into it at angle so the light strikes the object being photographed.

One of the most popular thing being used in a commerical studio is spring clamps…..and we all have an abundance of those! You can set up lights and use cardbord/anything to create a light block. In Photography we call them GOBO's…short for go betweens. I have spent my entire life in photo studios, mine and many friends….the thing that might strike you is some of the things used and how they are "rigged" together. The end product is what counts.

The light sources are what counts. the only thing to remember, it is not good to use different types of light within the same photograph. Commerical people mix types of lighting to achieve certain looks, but as a whole it is a bad thing. Now Flash is made to be balanced with daylight….so using flash outside is often a good thing. But if you keep your lighting similar your camera can balance to an appropriate white. You can so some research on line, it is called "Kelvin Temperture".

As far as backgrounds, Photo Shops carry paper so you can set up a "seamless" background, or the same type as shown above. Seamless paper is about $50.00 for 107" wide by 20 yards, and $25.00 for 58" by 10 yards. It is basically over sized construction paper….we have gone to a 107" wide roll of plastic that is washable…it was 150.00 but well worth it if you are going to be using it a lot. The best thing about it is it is washable.
The paper is delicate…..Also you can cut some paper and wrap a piece of ordinary cardboard to use as a reflector or to bounce light off.
You can set it up with long dowels joined together and hung from the rafters, or buy a stand set for 100.00 to 150.00.

There are a litany of different ways to achieve good lighting…some easier thatn others but with practice all can achieve good results. If you are interested I can elaborate on some others, I have taught Lighting and Photography in many different settings.
I don't want to sound like the know it all….but I have worked 50 to 60 hours a week in this industry since 1974. If I have learned anything, there are many many ways to achieve most anything….this is just my .02.
Mike


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

DKV, that line of thought should lead to some interesting backgrounds for your project photos. I can hardly wait.


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## renners (Apr 9, 2010)

I took the first step and bought a decent Olympus camera off eBay and I've got a box of daylight cfl's left over from a little project, but as most of my jobs are built ins, I usually end up just taking a point and shoot along on installation. I used to work as an image retoucher for packaging so I rely on Photoshop to make my mediocre photography look less mediocre.


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## thesoninlaw (Jul 6, 2013)

Check out the project "Larger product Photography Cycwall" posted here on LJs by Panga Design. 
Dave


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

For what its worth…........ the main rule in photography is that - there are no rules. Do what the hell you want to. That's the only way to learn.


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