[Woodcarver] photographing carvings

[Ramsey]

I have a few things to add to the thread on photographing carvings:

Ambient light can be good but it is also possible to get reflection. 
Try to photograph on a cloudy day so the light is diffused.

I prefer to to use lights because I can control the shadows.  I 
photograph at night or in a darkened room so that ambient light 
doesn't leak into the photo and cause blue streaks.  I use a digital 
camera because I can download the photos immediately to see if I need 
to make any corrections in lighting or angle.  I can also take as 
many shots as I want without incurring a high cost, and I can fix 
many problems on Photoshop.  I use standard 40 to 60 watt 
incandescent bulbs in several desk lamps with adjustable arms.  This 
is another advantage to digital because incandescent bulbs will cause 
yellowing with film but can be adjusted out with digital.  Special 
non yellowing photo lights are very expensive.  Tape tracing paper 
over the bulb to diffuse the light.  Be sure to position the paper 
away from the bulb and allow a gap for heat to escape so that the 
bulb won't cause the paper to ignite.  Position the lights so they're 
not facing directly at the carving.  Adjust them to bring out the 
dimensional quality of the carving.  Use a tripod and set the camera 
to the highest possible resolution and to a TIFF format.  Use the 
manual exposure settings and the largest  f stop that you can by also 
using a slow shutter speed.  This allows for the maximum depth of 
field thereby insuring that all of the carving will be in focus.  Use 
the time release shutter or a cable release to prevent camera 
movement causing blurred photos because you will be using a very slow 
shutter speed.  Bracket your photos.  Adjust your photos for 
brightness, contrast, hue and saturation on your photo editing 
program.  I use Photoshop because it offers so many options but there 
are others that are free or less expensive.

This technique works well for me.  Even when I'm able to photograph 
my work after it's been installed, I don't usually have the control 
over lighting that I have in my studio.  I can paste the studio photo 
over the on site photo to get a more representative image.  Most of 
my work is shipped across the country so I don't get an opportunity 
to photograph the pieces installed.  I'm able to "install" doors and 
mantels on Photoshop so the images can be viewed in a more accurate 
context that they would be in my studio photos.
-- 
Ron Ramsey
http://www.carvedbyramsey.com


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