Photographing Your Work
Most people are interested in taking pictures of their work, for a variety of reasons. Whatever that reason, whether it be for a juried event, displays for customers, or just pictures to show to friends and families, good pictures make a big difference in how one's work is perceived. When it comes to selling work or getting into a juried show, the picture can be even more important than the subject of said picture. A person with mediocre work and good pictures will get into a show faster and easier than a person with great work and mediocre pictures. Of course, if you are going to doctor a picture to make your work look better, you will ultimately be called for an accounting by the recipient of your mediocre work, so the best solution is to have good work as well as good pictures.
Some things are easier to photograph than others. A bowl, for example, is much easier to photograph than, an entertainment center. Practically all small pieces and some larger pieces can be done using the following method. Very large pieces are best photographed in place, or at least with a background that is as neutral and non-distracting as possible. It is possible to go whole hawg and buy all kinds of lights, as well as a monstrous piece of seamless paper to do things like breakfronts, entertainment centers, etc, but then you are in the major league of photography as well as woodworking.
This setup is not complicated, and only moderately expensive. Depending on the camera, plain ole floodlights may be used, since most (if not all) digital cameras now have a white balance. Special bulbs only come into play if one is using daylight balanced slide or print film. My personal preference is to use daylight balanced bulbs for regular film instead of buying tungsten balanced film and then being limited in my processing choices.
In the picture above, the long blue paper hanging down from the wall is seamless paper. It comes in various sizes and a myriad of colors. It can be purchased, or ordered through many photographic stores. This particular roll is 53" wide and (I think) 25 yards long. The width will cover all my turnings, and a lot of other pieces as well. The length will last me for years. I forget how much I paid for it, but it was under $30.00. The lights were more expensive, but I wanted 1000 watts of flood light, and I wanted to be able to put daylight balanced bulbs in the fixtures. That set me back about $125.00. If you can live with 500 watts, the price is less than $100.00 for lights, and you can always upgrade the sockets later. If you have already blown your photo stash on a digital camera, regular halogen work lights will do just as well.
It is a good idea to pick a type of light and then stick with it. That will help you produce consistent results. Even so, the vagaries of digital cameras can conspire along with wood tone, light, and the phase of the moon to give you variable results. By eliminating as many variables as possible, you will increase the quality of the pictures you produce. Brighter lights will allow you to use slower film (sharper detail possible) or gain greater depth of field (the front to back area that is apparently sharp). However, if the light gets too bright, diffusers may be required to avoid "hot spots", those burned out white areas where the light was reflected right back into the lens. Even with low level lighting, glossy finishes are a pain in the rump to photograph effectively because of hot spots.
The stand (under the paper) is my trusty Black and Decker Workmate. One note of warning. If you are lazy like me and grab anything horizontal at hand for the stand, and the paper overlaps the stand as you see mine does, make sure you do not set things down supported only by paper. It does not have a lot of rigidity, and you will soon find yourself learning the art of repair and restoration on that newly finished piece.
The seamless paper rolls up into a large device patterned on a paper towel holder. It is semi enclosed to prevent (ha!) dust from covering it. We’ll see if that actually works. Everything else is stored out of the way until needed, and is easily and quickly assembled. The lights are set at opposing angles and different heights to minimize shadows. A little shadow provides depth. A lot of shadow makes for a less attractive presentation. The lower light on the left serves to light up the piece and the higher light on the right softens the shadows by providing fill lighting. Electronic flashes are usually not a good option, unless you have photo lights that illuminate the subject at the same angle of the flash, and then you have a secondary flash slaved to the main flash for the purpose of fill lighting. Then you are getting into WAY more money, and a more complicated setup. My digital camera uses a fusion powered flash, and is capable of buring holes through wood at 30 paces, so it is not an option for me in any case.
Not shown is the camera setup (because I'm using it, that's why!). If you have a steady hand and fast film, you can hand hold your camera, but a tripod is much better. If the camera is firmly fixed to a tripod, it eliminates one more variable, angle, or with some people, angles. You don't want the people looking at your pictures to suffer vertigo. If the camera is on a tripod, you can study your composition at your leisure, without having to balance yourself as you do so. Adjustments may be made to the camera or the subject and studied before commiting the image to film.
This is the result. Here is a simple bowl in American sycamore. Despite my fuzzy digital image, the grain can be seen as well as what little detail is there in the grooves at the upper edge. There is a little shadow, but not a lot. The seamless paper focuses attention on the piece rather than away from it. Personally I like blue, and I find that it is very compatible with just about any wood tones. Of course, I have yet to photograph (or turn) that piece of purpleheart Thomas gave me.
Here is a top shot. It does a better job of showing the inside of the bowl (grain, color), but does not show much in the way of form. Of course, if it were a jewelry box, there would be a lot more to look at. I did not have to move the lights for either shot, but in some cases, it helps to move the lights for specific angles and lighting effects. So there it is. It ain’t fancy, but it works, and works as well as paying for someone else to do it. In fact, one session photographed by a professional is usually enough to justify the expense of lights, etc.
Taking pictures is like turning, or any other woodworking endeavour. The more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more your abilities improve.
