Photographing your work

By Emory McLaughlin

All rights reserved 2009 © Copyright

There are several reasons for photographing your woodturning. The first is to maintain a record of your work. You could do this to show improvement or just to keep track of all the pieces you have made. Other reasons include applying for shows or placing your work on the web. What you intend to use the photos for will determine the type and size of the photos. If you are using a digital camera I would suggest using the highest resolution possible. And if you are using a film-based camera you need to decide on print or slide film.

Equipment needed

You will need a camera either digital or film based. Lighting allows you to choose when you will photograph your work as well as how it will look. You will also need a backdrop of some sort. You want the focus to be on your woodturning and not on all the clutter visible in the background. I would also suggest a tripod and a remote release. I will go through and explain the equipment and will give some examples of different setups.

Camera

Digital vs. Film

We have 2 choices when choosing a camera either digital or film based cameras. I prefer digital, as I am able to look at my images and adjust if needed before printing or having slides made. With film I have to decide if I will use print or slide film. When I have my film developed, the lab can scan the images on to a cd for you. Digital cameras produce images ready to put onto a computer. With a little work you can make prints, resize images for the web or even have slides made.

Camera settings

Today’s cameras will do auto everything. The more you control the easier it is to repeat results. The main adjustments I make are white balance and aperture. White balance is used to correct for the kind of lights you are using.  Once I get my camera and work piece set up I will turn off the overhead lights. That way I am just using my photo lights. I change the WB setting on my camera to the type of lights I am using. I use compact fluorescents and some clip on lights from the hardware store. I like these lights because they don’t get hot and they put out a good amount of light.

Tripods / Remote release

To get good pictures you need proper lighting and you also need to keep the camera from moving while the picture is being taken. This is true with film or digital cameras. Mounting the camera on a tripod is an important step and will improve your success rate more then anything else. Every time you take a picture the camera moves. Whether it is from you holding the camera or from internal parts of the camera moving it is easy to end up with camera shake. A tripod helps reduce this or even eliminate this. The second thing the will help is a remote release. By not touching the camera to push the shutter release you help keep the camera steady. If you don’t have a remote release you can use the cameras self-timer. Most cameras allow you to adjust the time. 2-5 seconds is good. You push the button and wait till the camera fires.

Lighting

Natural and artificial

The easiest and least repeatable things to do is taking your woodturning outside and take your pictures in the shade. The sunlight will be diffused and you end up with pretty even light falling on your work. There are no harsh shadows. The problems are the light is always changing and at night or rainy days you are out of luck

By using artificial lighting you can control it completely. Plus you decide when you want to take the pictures. Adding more or even brighter bulbs will add more light. Changing the angle of the lights will effect shadows or put hot spots on your work. By adding a diffuser you can change how the light falls on the piece. I typically use 2 lights placed close to my work at 45-degree angles with a light diffuser to even out the light falling on my work.

Back Drop

I want the focus of my pictures to be on my work and not on what ever is laying in the background. So for a background I use a piece of paper. I bought a big roll at a camera store and cut off what ever I need. I can use it several times until it gets wrinkles, creases or gets dirty. Make sure your backdrop is much bigger then the work you will be photographing.

Output

I like to save my digital images in the highest resolution possible. I save my files in tiff format since they don’t get compressed. When I resize them or send them to the lab they usually have to be in JPG format. Save a copy of your files so you’re original is untouched. This does take up more room on your hard drive but when you need a full size image you have one. There are 2 things that determine the size of a file. Image size (Length X Width) and the resolution (Which is the fineness of the details) measured in PPI (Pixel per inch) 72 PPI is good for the web and 300 PPI is good for prints or magazines.

Backups

You have either had a hard drive crash or will have one crash eventually. Backing up the information on your hard drive should be done on a regular basis. Burning CD’s or DVD’s is a good way to get started. You really only need your documents and photos. You should have the disc’s that came with your computer for all the programs. Another option is to use an external hard drive. These allow you to store huge amounts off your computer and still be able to easily access the files. There are also online options for storing your data. The nice thing about this option is it is off site. If something happens to your house your data is stored in a different location.

Photographing your work can be a useful and rewarding process. By recording images you have a permanent record of your work for the future.

Equipment List

Any digital camera will work. I posted the first 3 brands I saw on Amazon.  MOunt your camera on a tripod and use plenty of light. And don’t forget to back up your work.