[Woodcarver] Photo Help

[Ramsey]

If you want a professional looking photograph on a budget, follow 
these instructions:

Set up a table or sawhorses against a wall in a room where you will 
be able to block out all of the the light or to make the room dark at 
night. You want to be able to control ALL of the light on your 
carving.  Too much light in the wrong place will cause the colors to 
be washed out or the carving to have too much glare in some areas. 
This why it's NOT RECOMMENDED TO TAKE PHOTOS OUTDOORS!

Go to a framing store and buy a large piece of medium grey poster 
board.  Bend the poster board so that has a curve at the back and is 
vertical against the wall at the top and horizontal against the table 
at the bottom.  Some thumbtacks outside the edge will help hold it in 
place.

Use a minimum of two lights that have swivel bases and adjustable 
arms.  Use CFL bulbs.  Natural light bulbs are better if you don't 
plan on processing your photos on photo software. The bulbs  should 
not be more than the equivalent of 40 watts incandescent.  The reason 
you need two or more lights is that you will need to direct the light 
from at least two directions to fill the shadows.  You will still be 
able to get shadows to show the detail but there wont be areas that 
are lost in shadow.  Cover the light bulbs with semi-transparent 
tracing paper taped to the lampshades.  This is to diffuse and soften 
the light.  Professional photographers have special lights that work 
essentially the same way.  Experiment with the adjustments of the 
lights.  Do not point the lights directly at the carving.  I 
sometimes point the lights at the ceiling to reflect the light off of 
the white sheet rock.  The ideal lighting will be much darker to your 
eye than what appears correct.  Sometimes it appears too dark to take 
a picture but don't be fooled.  EXPERIMENT!  EXPERIMENT!  EXPERIMENT! 
If the photo appears too dark when you upload it, experiment with the 
brightness and contrast.

USE A TRIPOD!  Set the ISO at 200 or less, and the highest resolution 
your camera allows.  Too high of an ISO will cause grainy photos. Set 
the camera on manual and don't use the flash.  Use the timed release 
to release the shutter so there will be no movement.  You will be 
taking the photo at a very slow shutter speed and any movement will 
cause blur.  Most digital cameras will set the exposure for you. Use 
a 10 second time delay to allow the camera time to settle down after 
you push the button.

I prefer to take under exposed photos and then work with them with 
photo processing software.  This allows me to enhance the brightness 
and contrast and adjust the colors and saturation.  The computer 
processing can take a bit of experience to master but it's possible 
to get quality raw photos with the photography techniques I've 
outlined above.

Take lots of photos, upload them to the computer and analyze the 
weaknesses.  Adjust lighting angle etc. and take lots more.  You will 
learn what works for you and what doesn't
-- 
Ron Ramsey
http://www.carvedbyramsey.com


Be sure to look at the incredible nature inspired art jewelry hand 
fabricated by my wife, Karen Olsen Ramsey.  It's worth the time to 
take a look!
http://www.artjeweler.com