[Woodcarver] photographing carvings

[Bill Judt]

Ron:

Thank you for the photo-taking tips. They reveal the experience  
you've acquired over the years to those of us learning the tricks the  
hard way.
No doubt, this will save us lots of time.

Bill
List Owner

My books are for sale at: http://wwwoodcarver.com/Books/index.html
W.F. Judt,
46 Harvard Cres,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
S7H3R1
PH: 306-373-6649
bjudt at sasktel.net
Website: http://www.wwwoodcarver.com


On 21-Jan-07, at 12:34 PM, Ramsey wrote:


> 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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