This file is a collection of various messages having the common theme
photographing felt. The information is primarily
from the feltmaker's list. I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages
having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files
and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, most of the
message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made
in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as
to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please
respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The
copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information
is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Pat Spark, Manager of the Feltmaker's List.
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HOW SHOULD I PHOTOGRAPHY MY FELTWORK?
Wed, 20 Oct 1999. Wheat Carr. There is a
rather good book, Photographing your Craft Work by Steve Meltzer. Steve writes
for The Crafts Reports, does guild lectures, and Oh yeah, by
the way is a GREAT photographer. Not in those books, but something that has been
important to me in selecting the images to be used in a timely fashion was
spending *many* hours looking over contact sheets so that it became much easier
to select the "likely" final images more quickly and more inexpensively without
having larger prints made. Again, it may be necessary to work with a
professional color lab to get contact sheets, but in the long rum is well worth
the effort.
Last year The Potomac Craftsmen had a mini-workshop and guild program on
Photographing your work. The presenter, whose last name escapes me at the
moment, was also really terrific.
Over the last few years, he has developed a fairly decent following in this area
because Freddie *really* worked hard to find ways to best photo work. Even with
some exposure (pardon the pun) to professional/advertising photography, I had
forgotten how important it was to either bounce some of the light at about a 45
degree angle. This gives a wonderful "feel" for the texture of the piece by
creating slight shadows. How to direct some of your lights to the rear of the
piece, especially any 3D work really brings it to life, lifting it from the back
drop. He also spent a good bit of time showing us how he uses Black & White
instant photos to set up shots. B&W allows you to remove the emotional
distraction of color so all you see is values and can better balance the photo.
My brother used to do an entire contact sheet in black and white from his color
negatives - because if the photo is good (stands out from the background,
texture and shading is visible) in B&W, you can pretty much bet it will be
spectacular in color. I was delighted to find that my Sony Mavica FD-71 was an
excellent tool - set it to B&W, created excellent "contact print" sized shots so
that I could see how the lighting was working and then go on to retaking the
shots with the color film. BTW, although there are newer fancier version of the
Mavica, my PRIMARY reason for buying it was for use in creating web graphics AND
because of the 3x-10x zoom capability. Another important thing, INVEST IN A
TRIPOD - man, NOTHING is worse than to get the lights right, the color balance,
and then NOT be able to exactly duplicate the location and angle of the camera.
Wed, 05 Jan 2005 Jackie Fenton. I'm not a professional photographer, but after a lot of experimentation, this is how I take the photos for my felt items that are on my web site. I use a digital camera that already is a couple of years old. Nikon Coolpix 2500. They have much better ones on the market now and makes taking photos a lot more easily. With my current camera I TURN OFF the flash and set the camera to take portrait photo because more of my items are hats. I set up the items in a room with natural diffused light and snap away. I use textured brown paper as a background so the light doesn't bounce off. I'm OK with the way they come out, but my husband will put them in Photoshop and "fix" them up a bit. I found the time of day (with the right light) is most important because the light from the flash bounces off the felt as you seem to have experienced. There is also an article in the Crafts Report magazine Feb 2004 which talks about crafts photography which is pretty helpful. page 34. www.mirabelnaturals.com
Wed, 05 Jan 2005 Amy. For lots of good tips on tabletop photography (which is what we're talking about when we want to take pics of smaller items like figures or articles of clothing, etc.) check out this website. There's a FAQ, and a tips page and all sorts of good info: http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/TTS_FAQ.htm
Wed, 05 Jan 2005. Lori Flood. They key is to use lots of light but have it as diffused light to prevent shadows. This can easily be done by stapling sheer fabric to simple/lightweight wooden frames and clamping them somehow in front of your lights. I use a lot of ladders and clamps. Ladders are freestanding and you can clamp lights and screens all over them and move them easily. If you are outside take the pictures on an overcast day. Then the clouds act as your screens. Just be sure to not get your fabric to close to the bulb - it can 'cause a fire. I know this...don't ask why.
Wed. 05, Jan @ 2005. Elizabeth Ferraro. There
is a book, Internet Photography for Dummies that is very good for the
inexperienced. Also if you have a photo supplies shop near you they will tell
you exactly what you need. We just went through that. Look at
www.applerose.com at our photos of
roving and yarns. If you think it is ok then all you need is two clip on shop
lights with reflectors from Home Depot for about $8.50 each. From a photo supply
place you need a roll of white background paper for about $35.00 and two photo
bulbs 250 watt. You screw in the bulbs and clip the lights to the backs of two
chairs and focus on the white backing. Place you felt object, have your digital
flash ready, turn on the lights focus and flash and then take one without flash.
That gives you a choice. Now also get a nice black wide piece of fabric to use
if you want a dark background. Do not leave the lights on except for a couple of
minutes when you are focusing. The lights get VERY hot and only have a life of
about 1 hour.
Wed. May 24, 2006. Pat Spark . I have been
gathering information of photographing my glass beads, but the information would
be good for felt jewelry too. Since Lark is asking for good slides or digital
photos, here are the URLs of the information I've found:
Photographing Beads Hints:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/10237/214/ "Improve your Glass,
Bead & Jewelry Photographs" by Dale Lynn
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/16432/483/ "Digital Imaging for
Glass Beads"by Lori Greenberg
http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/HowTo_page.htm Many links to
tips on this page.
Light Cube Information sites
http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent "Light Box & Light Tent"
by Bill Huber
http://missinggraymatter.blogspot.com/2006/03/light-box-project.html
"Light Box Project" by Jason Brown
I have just gotten a Light Cube (also called Light Tent or Light Box). For
smallish items this is proving to be wonderful. I actually bought a cube system
from Table Top Studio, but you can build your own from PVC pipe. I have been
very pleased with the photos I've been taking and because the cube requires the
use of daylight florescent bulbs, I can work anytime, even at night to get the
photos I need.
Monday, June 5, 2006. Leslie. These are
great links. Thanks for sharing! Also, check out this article on taking
professional product photos. I like that this person offers specific directions
on how to use Photoshop to enhance images. My photo setup at home is nearly the
same as mentioned in the article.
http://www.theswitchboards.com/articles_professionalphotos.html
WHO IS A GOOD PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER?
Sat, 13 Dec 2003 Lori Flood. A few people have
inquired off list about the photographer that does jury slides but also teaches
workshops on how to do your own jury slides so, with his permission I am posting
this to the list. His name is Tom McColley and he is located in West Virginia.
You can e-mail him at tmccolley@wirefire.com . He and his wife were basket
makers for many years and he developed his photography skills along the way. His
own jury slides have made it into published books and were used to jury their
baskets into ACC wholesale shows and the Philly Craft Museum Show (recently
discussed on the list). In a one day class from Tom I was able to make my own
"photo studio" with backdrop and lighting, and take slides at least good enough
to use with my first roll of film. I have a long way to go but this was a huge
jump up the learning curve. Since he is an artist he knows how to give artist
what they need to acheive good pics without having to become professional
photographers! If you go to my website you can see on my home page (dragon hat)
and on the gallery page (purple vessel) images that he took for me. The rest of
the pics with the same kind of backdrop were taken by me within the first three
rolls of film after the class. You can compare those to the wrinkled or
beige/grey background that I used for the shots before taking his workshop and
see what I mean. The branch idea for hanging scarves came from a clever person
on this list! Do keep in mind that this is now Tom's full time career and
business and that he is not in a position to give his talents away. I do not
know what he charges to do a workshop or your slides but I am sure that it is
reasonable. He is busy too but should get back to you in a few days! My website
is www.spinsterstreadle.com
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Page Updated: Feb. 18, 2008