Thread: Fold-away studio done at last.

Good job Vern, There's nothing like sunlight to bring out the grain in timber. You'll get good results on a bright overcast day as well.

Good job Vern. I am even lazier, I took a chair out into the shade of a tree and supported a sheet of card on two pieces of ply. Clothes pegs hold the card down. Photos still look rat shyte. Maybe the problem is with the driver???
Jim

Originally Posted by powderpost

Good job Vern. I am even lazier, I took a chair out into the shade of a tree and supported a sheet of card on two pieces of ply. Clothes pegs hold the card down. Photos still look rat shyte. Maybe the problem is with the driver???
Jim

Jim, if the colour looks like it's had the life sucked out of it, that's because the shade from sunlight has a distinct blue cast. This is because it's actually the blue sky that is the majority of the light source, not the much warmer (colour wise) direct sunlight.

Put 'em straight in the sun and use a piece of white card to make the shadows less intense: see here.

Originally Posted by powderpost

Good job Vern. I am even lazier, I took a chair out into the shade of a tree and supported a sheet of card on two pieces of ply. Clothes pegs hold the card down. Photos still look rat shyte. Maybe the problem is with the driver???
Jim

Been there, tried that! - problem was the chair was to small for a decent sized background card. You may have noticed my rig basically looks like an oversized ........... chair!

Originally Posted by TTIT

Been there, tried that! - problem was the chair was to small for a decent sized background card. You may have noticed my rig basically looks like an oversized ........... chair!

Thing is Vern, it's a very effective oversized chair. I've been thinking about this idea for myself lately. As a matter of interest, where did you get the foamed PVC from? I've been using thick, white cardboard which easily kinks and gets dirty. From this perspective, what's your experience with the PVC foam?

Ta in advance.

Originally Posted by Scott

Thing is Vern, it's a very effective oversized chair. I've been thinking about this idea for myself lately. As a matter of interest, where did you get the foamed PVC from? I've been using thick, white cardboard which easily kinks and gets dirty. From this perspective, what's your experience with the PVC foam?

Ta in advance.

I had the same problems with cardboard and the biggest sheet I can get out here is only A1 The foamed PVC is excellent because you can clean it and would really struggle to crease it. When new it could be a little shiny but that is easy fixed by wiping it with acetone . . or sandpaper! I got 2 sheets of 3mm and one of 6mm from our local window mob (rellies) who used get it as packers with the glass.
A while back I contacted a mob in Sydney who sell it as I was going to get some 1mm and 2mm sheets to try for templates etc - but didn't get around to it. Quite cheap - the freight to get it here was going to be more than the material . I reckon 2mm would be better suited for the backdrop but you go with what you've got out here!

Thanks for going to the trouble of sharing your ideas Vern

Originally Posted by TTIT

I've been mucking about with light tents and artificial lighting for my turnings for years now and finally gave up. Decided the best results I got were with morning light with the subject on white card but this was a pain to set up where the light was best at any given time. Came up with the idea for this rig which could have been made much easier from aluminium or light steel but what the hell, I'm a woodie!
About 700mm wide and 1400mm high, it will fit between the fridge and the wall when not in use but takes only seconds to put up. Mainly 25x30mm Bluegum, all corners are finger-jointed and epoxied so they should be stronger than the timber itself. The card is 3mm foamed PVC which turned out to be a bit stiffer than I expected so I had to add the little braces to stop it trying to fold itself up when the card is hooked over the front rail - the wingnuts just wouldn't hold tight enough. The braces have Allen head bolts in one end whose heads just drop into holes in the rails.
Quick and easy and at a good height for the tripod. With the white-balance set on the card before each session and in AV mode on it's highest value, my pics have improved dramatically. Hope somebody finds this useful or gets an idea for their own setup from it.

hi vern,
wow that is a great setup ,thanks for taking the trouble of posting
very interesting design,i might pinch that idea
thanks again mate
cheers smiife
woooops, forgot to ask what sort of light did you use for the photo of the sally bowl
or was it in the sunlight????

Originally Posted by smiife

.............woooops, forgot to ask what sort of light did you use for the photo of the sally bowl
or was it in the sunlight????

Overcast morning - worked a treat! I normally use the spare room on the eastern side of the house with the blinds open and my back to the window but as it was overcast there didn't seem to be enough light in there that day.

I used one for years of small-product photography = "sweep table."
How translucent is the sheet? Could you gel a back light?
Try as I might, I never had a table that would fold up effectively.
Your design looks conveniently simple.
Consider a horizontal sheet of glass, 6" up.
Poof! the shadow cast by the object is gone.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

I used one for years of small-product photography = "sweep table."

Bewdy Newc! - now I've got a name for it

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

How translucent is the sheet? Could you gel a back light?...........

Not very A halogen work light puts a yellowish glow through it. The 2mm stuff would be better I imagine - must pull the finger out and order some - one day

Get yourself bonded & insured. Then, you do photo sessions of people's valuables, anything and everything. Burn a CD and give them the camera chip. Home Insurance companies like this. In the old days, I'd shoot 35mm color neg and hand them the exposed film cans. Get those processed but don't waste $$$ on prints, stash the negs in the safety deposit box in the bank. Need the technical confidence to know that every shot is a winner. Glassware & metal are the toughest to light.
My table was 1m x 2m footprint, 1m high above the table frame. Tedious way to chase the cash.

Originally Posted by TTIT

Overcast morning - worked a treat! I normally use the spare room on the eastern side of the house with the blinds open and my back to the window but as it was overcast there didn't seem to be enough light in there that day.

Overcast light is the best, works like a giant light tent.