Show shots of your home studio here. Home studio shots are both informative and fun. Members are able to see 'behind the lens' on how you produce a shot for your gallery.
Share your ideas and techniques on lighting, equipment and setup.
I recently photographed an orange ping pong ball so that it could be used in compositions and manipulations as a sun. You can easily make an illustration of a yellow/orange circle to be a sun, but I wanted to provide a real photograph.
Here is the setup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30748724@N00/4445954493/
Here is the finished stock photo:
http://www.rgbstock.com/image/mlcgZZI
Great result!
Here is one of my early setups using a shooting table and incandescent lamps.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVKslkA
I think i have to make something like that for myself. Thanks for the idea, Chris.
Today I made a texture photograph of some art canvas. For this one I used all fluorescent lamps. Here is the setup with the front lamp off. The color in the room has some green in it as I had the blinds open for the setup shop and the sun was hitting the leaves of the bush outside.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PqmhTEi
Here is the result that I uploaded: http://www.rgbstock.com/image/mlRcaSC
Post processing was difficult as the brightness and contrast varies wildly depending on how it is viewed on the screen. The thumbnail is much darker than when zoomed in. The detail of the thread raised the file size to over 8 MB.
I used a 50 mm prime lens for the shot.
Here is the setup for my newest shot of a small children's school chair. I was happy to be able to obtain an all natural white background with some shadow under the chair.
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsBq9cA
I had an extra front light that is not on in this picture.
The result: http://www.rgbstock.com/image/mlYX5zM
Chris, if it is not a secret, can you tell me what sort of light are You using? I have recently started to experiment with isolated objects, but i was never satisfied with the final outcome.
I am using Verilux full spectrum fluorescent bulbs 40 watt. http://www.verilux.com/fluorescent-tubes/fluorescent-medium-pin
I have two pairs of 4 footers above the table. (A front one and a back one) Sometimes I have them both on or I may just one (the front or the back one on) depending on the object or angle.
I also have a loose set of 4 footers that I can position from the front or the side for added light and shadow effect. A single bulb 2 footer is used on the table in from of the object for extra front light. (often diffused with a FotoFlex translucent disc.) You can use tracing paper as a diffuser but the discs are easier to handle and more uniform than tracing paper.
The fluorescents cast soft shadows and adequate illumination. They don't have hot spots common with incandescent "hot" lights. They don't burn your diffusers and heat your subject either.
Make sure you get full spectrum bulbs. Daylight bulbs aren't as good. You want true full spectrum bulbs for proper color. Verilux invented them in 1956. Luckily, I can get them locally.
You can mix flash with with the fluorescents but not with incandescent. You can not mix incandescent and fluorescent.
Get a 18 percent neutral grey card for setting custom white balance. It works better than white paper.
I did a photo of a large gold picture frame yesterday.
Here is the actual jpg version of the setup shot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30748724@N00/4491551012/sizes/o/
I used the RAW image version of this same shot to make the final shot for rgb:
http://www.rgbstock.com/image/mmIHR16
For doing larger frames like this I put cardboard in the picture space then draw a line cross corners to locate the center of the frame where I tape a focusing target. This target looks like a shooting target, but for smaller targets I use fine graph paper with black lines on white. You can make the graph paper with PhotoShop or go to http://www.printablepaper.net/.
I finish by erasing the the cardboard and outside the frame with PhotoShop.
Hi Cris,
When you shoot an object (such as @7) what is the white surface you use - paper or cloth? Any particular kind?
The paper I use is bright white photography background paper I got at the local photography store. It comes in a role made to hang from a background rack and is 4.5 feet wide. This paper is guaranteed to be white and has a texture and reflectivity that makes clean looking shadows.
Butcher paper tends to be too shiny and slick but is cheaper and not as wide.
I also had a roll of white art paper my brother got me from the art store, but it had a slight warm hue to it although the package said it was white. When I adjusted my shots to make the paper white, my objects turned blue.
I just decided to get the product made for photography and pay the price and that turned out to be the best decision for working under full spectrum fluorescent lights indoors.
@ Cris, you are getting some great results!
I just got some photo's through here @ RGBStock made in a mini studio upstairs. Due to some flashing problems I had to keep some piece of cloth before the camera flash so it wouldn't distort the stuido flashes :-)
The result you can fine @
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mw8Sao0/High+Heel+Boots
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mw8Sahy/High+Heel+Boots
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mw8SakM/High+Heel+Boots
I took a photo of a simple acorn today. This is the lighting setup that I used. I elevated the tent close to the light and added a light from the side.
http://screencast.com/t/NGRmNjQ1OTc
All this for a simple acorn. But I think it turned out pretty good.
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mALeHI6/Acorn
Hopefully some people will find this photo useful.
interesting setup, neat result
DIY Photography has an extensive series of home studio projects to help you make your shot in your limited home space without buying the expensive equipment.
Lots of lighting projects, tips and tricks.
http://www.diyphotography.net/taxonomy/term/153