Thread: Lighting set-up

Thanks Peter, that helps.

The picture you've supplied shows the lighting from the side of the object, but are they placed directly above and infront of the object?

Thanks

Joe

Good point. The overhead light is directly over the top of the piece, slightly to the front and pointing back so that light is thown onto the top/front of the object - equate to afternoon light at about 14:00pm.

The front light can be straight on or to the side. The purpose of this light is to soften any shadows created by the overhead light. This light should not be as bright as the overhaed light BUT strong enough to bring out any details in the shadows created by the overhead light. A lot can depend on the colour of the wood as to the strength of this light. The lighting ratio for this can be from 1:2 to 2:3 (In the first case1:2 meas that the front light is half as bright as the overhead light and 2:3 means two thirds the brightness of the overhead light). The front light should not be the same brightness as the overhead lightas that would cause the image to be a flat. Some variation in shadows and highlights (brighter areas) will give a better perception of depth so shapes will display better.

You could add a third light to slightly backlight the object to further enhance the contours/depth of a piece. This is something I haven't done as yet (although I did do that in the photo of the Tababoui and Jarrah Urn and I think it adds to the photo).

Peter

Thanks Peter.

A bit of expert advice on getting the best from digital cameras would go down very well.

Dan

Peter....

I have used a white background in sunlight and fill in flash. I suppose with most digital cameras you don't have the control as with a genuine 35 mm or medium format film camera.
The biggest problem with the digitals is that they tend to be auto aim and shoot cameras and you have no control over the flash.
For the pictures of my work I still use film, then scan it into my computer.
Attached is an example done as I have explained in the first line. The file is only 17 Kb
Have fun
Cya
Joe

With the set I use you require a camera that can be operated on manual settings. I suppose that it you had anauto camera with "fill in flash" that may work ok. If you have an auto camera and use a white background you should use the back lit setting or snow as the white background will fool your camera's exposure meter. You will need to overexpose by 1 or 2 stops - the baclighting setting will do that. You will need to experiment. With digital that is cheap as you don't require to purchase and process film.

I'm lucky as I have a digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera with interchangable lenses and auto and manual exposures. Digital cameras of this kind have been very expensive but they are dropping in price. My Camera cost $8,000 when I purchased it 2-3 years ago but I've just orderd a new camera that out specifies it for just under $3,000 - not all aspects but definatly most of the important ones. Now Canon and Nikon have recently released high quality SLR digitals for under $2,000 (about $500 for a lens to suit).

On backgrounds a good colour that will assist you to get good exposures on most auto cameras in a neutral gray. Kodak produce what they call a 75% gray card that is supposed to be the standard on which most exposure meters are calibrated to. You can but background paper that closely matches the card. When I was printing colour it was the colour exposures were based on and also the colour most useful in ensuring that correct colour was achieved. On important jobs where colour was very important I would include a grey card (or colour scale, that included greys, if it was going to a printer) in the shot or shoot a grey card with the same lighting and camera angle etc. Anyway, depends if you would like a grey background. I had to photograph a snake the other day and we required accurate colours so I photographed the snake on the gray (grey??) card. It's the only example that i've shot recently so see below re what the 75% grey looks like in a photo. Colour is not 100% accurate but very close. Sorry about the amount of gray, that isn't there, but it's the only shot I ahve with a greycard. the snake is actually on the card



I think I will have a play around with my wife's camera a see if I can devise a system that will suit most people with a simple camera and a more accessable lighting setup too. I'm using quite a complicated setup, particularly to someone who is not really into photography.

Any way sorry if I've become a bit long winded but, I will have have a fiddle with the other camera and see if I can come up with a simple setup most people can use.

Peter

Little Festo,

the grey card from Kodak you are referring to is 18% grey; not 75%. All standard SLR film cameras have their inbuilt metering systems calibrated to this level as "normal exposure". The 18% grey card means the amount of light reflecting off the card.

When shooting a subject, the cameras' metering system will calculate exposure settings to shoot the subject based upon the 18% light reflecting of the subject.

This can be problem sometimes ie. when shooting snow scenes;
the camera will set aperture and shutter setting based on 18% light reflectance and the snow in the scene will turn out a muddy grey instead of white. In other words your picture is underexposed. For the snow in the scene to turn out white in the photo the aperture needs to open up 2 stops to allow more light in or the shutter needs to be altered to a slower speed.

All this comes under the heading "The Zone System" which was developed by the late landscape photographer Ansel Adams.
There are many articles on this subject on the web and below is the official Ansel Adams website.

I know I'm digressing from woodwork here, but I think this site is well worth having a look at for the stunning black and white landscape photography.

Ansel Adams

Also, check out this site:

Peter Dobre


Cheers,
Evan

I stand corrected. It is referred to as a 18% Gray Card. The reflection density is 75% - used to use this value when colour correcting when printing colour. Got my lighting ratio terminology wrong too - back to front should be 3:2 etc. Just as well I know what I mean - just cannot express it correctly.

Peter