Karen Shapiro on thu 31 dec 98
Hi Clayarters,
I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my pieces.
I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to get
an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
thanks and Happy New Year,
Karen in Sonoma
D. Kim Lindaberry on fri 1 jan 99
Hi Karen,
I've had to move my background back and forth between school (to take
photos of students' artworks) and my own. I decided I needed something
durable, that wouldn't tear and that I could clean. I settled on a grey
felt, which I loop over a piece of PVC pipe using safety pins. Not very
high tech but it works, ;-) I've been using the same piece for 3-4 years
now. You can get it at least 36 inches wide and as long as you need at a
fabric store. If it gets a little dirty I can throw it in the washing
machine, and if it gets wrinkled I can iron it. I picked felt because it
would stay flat and wouldn't reflect light like some fabrics do. It's
inexpensive to, especially considering how long I've been able to use
the same piece. If you want to see the results you can have a look at
some photos on my website. Most of the images of smaller pieces there
were done with the felt.
good luck
cheers
Kim
--
D. Kim Lindaberry
Longview Community College
500 SW Longview Road
Art Department
Lee's Summit, MO 64108
USA
to visit my web site go to:
http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/humanities/art/kiml/
to send e-mail to me use: mailto:kiml@kcmetro.cc.mo.us
Harry Verkooyen on fri 1 jan 99
Hello,
Go to a fabric store and get a dark gray to charcol cloth. Most pottery
looks great on that. 18% grey cards can be purchased at most cmaera/photo
shops. It's used mainly in B/W photography.
Michelle
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Karen Shapiro
Aan: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Datum: donderdag 31 december 1998 18:30
Onderwerp: Photo background
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi Clayarters,
>
>I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my
pieces.
>I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
>being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to
get
>an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
>By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
>thanks and Happy New Year,
>Karen in Sonoma
>
Jennifer Boyer on fri 1 jan 99
Hi Karen,
I use the same film and lights as you do, and I love the graduated background
material I got at Porter's Photo Supplies. It goes from black to white and gives
a professional appearance to the slides. It's called varitone jet black and
comes in 31 in by 43 in(29.75) or 42 in by 62 in(49.95) Porter's: 800 533 2001
Karen Shapiro wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Hi Clayarters,
>
> I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my pieces.
> I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
> being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to get
> an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
> By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
> thanks and Happy New Year,
> Karen in Sonoma
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer jboyer@plainfield.bypass.com
Thistle Hill Pottery
Vermont USA
http://www.vermontcrafts.com/members/JenniBoy892.html
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Milton Markey on fri 1 jan 99
Hi Karen!
When I photograph my ceramic ware, I use a beach towel as a background. I have
also used bed sheets, discarded material from a costume shop, and other kinds
of cloth. It is important that the material used be plain colored--no stripes,
plaids, or other two-or-more color combinations. I recommend staying with
near-white or pastel colors, so the background doesn't call attention to
itself. Right now, my setup includes a light baby-blue beach towel, which
works fine.
I also tried the grey scale technique. I found the color, though neutral,
conflicts with the color of some of my pieces.
Check the photos some of the other ClayArt readers offer in their webpages.
The best ones seem to have a darkened background (very little light hitting
the background), and a "high key" light off-center.
Experiment with different background colors and different textures. Like
ceramic art, often the best results in photography come from "pushing the
envelope" with the elements used.
Good luck to you!
Milton MiltonsLin@AOL.COM
Happy New Year from the Mojave!
Bill Aycock on fri 1 jan 99
an 18% grey is a standard for light reflectivity, and means that the
metering willnot be overcome by the background. actually, the reflectivity
of the standard, anglo, hand is very near "18%grey", and if you ever see a
photog looking at his hand through the camera, he is just checking the
ambient light level. Looking at a sheet of ordinary paper tells the camera
(lies to it) that there is LOTS of light; similarly, looking at a black
sheet says, "hey, its dark." "18% grey" is what camera meters are set for.
lots of photo supply houses sell rolls of background paper, in different
colors, stated to be "18% grey", even though they are really colored.
actual choice of colored stock should be carefully done, to provide the
right refections to the work being shot. Really, a mottled grey is a
pretty good choice for pots, but you shouldnt limit yourself to that.
Bill- looking out into a grey afternoon, on Persimmon Hill. (It was icy
white, this time last week)
At 12:20 PM 12/31/1998 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi Clayarters,
>
>I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my pieces.
>I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
>being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to get
>an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
>By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
>thanks and Happy New Year,
>Karen in Sonoma
>
>
-
Bill Aycock --- Persimmon Hill
Woodville, Alabama, US 35776
(in the N.E. corner of the State)
W4BSG -- Grid EM64vr
baycock@HiWAAY.net
CNW on fri 1 jan 99
Hi! Your work has a lot to do with the color backdrop that you choose.
If your work is normally dark then choose a lighter color backdrop, or
darker for whites. I use a light grey/biege back, my work is mostly brown
and red tones with some near black. What I see a lot of is the grey tones
and some graduated greys.
Making a drastic change in backdrop color will affect the look of your
portfolio. For example don't go from white to black. However moderate
changes shouldn't matter. As my photographer sister would say,"Try different
things, waste some film!" in the end it's the cheapest and the best way to
find what works for you. Once you've got them get some opinions from
friends.
Also some times heavywieght fabric will work and can be rolled up on a tube
for storage. Just like your art, experiment!!!!
Rick hugel on fri 1 jan 99
First a little background on the location of my studio. It is in the
suburbs of Tokyo. I rent a piece of land located on the really huge
grounds of a Temple. The whole area is hilly, forested with conifer,
diciduous, and bamboo and inbetween there are streams, bridges, mushroorm
growers, rice paddies, frogs, toads, ducks, egrets, etc. You get the
picture, I think. So I never use static indoor settings to take photos of
my ware. My display area is practically outdoors being protected only by a
clear plastic roof supported by wood posts. The walls are the natural
forest and bamboo groves. When I need pictures for ads, the nooks and
cranies of natural are my backgrounds: rocks, bamboo sprouts, moss covered
stone walls, rushing water, etc. The only light I use is that provided by
nature and the flash on my camera. I make no attempt to divorce my pottery
from its source - nature - and I try to show in my ad photos that pottery
is from the earth; that a little piece of nature is being used for display
or function to compliment the other parts of nature that are displayed or
served with it, on it, in it, around it. This is just my little concept.
I'm lucky to be able to be a potter.
Rick
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi Clayarters,
>
>I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my pieces.
>I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
>being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to get
>an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
>By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
>thanks and Happy New Year,
>Karen in Sonoma
Bob Wicks on sat 2 jan 99
Hi Karen:
I think you may misinterpreted the use of 18 % gray. That is used to measure
the light level with your meter to get the proper exposure. I seriously doubt
if using this for a backdrop would in any way be helpful.
Bob Wicks, Prof Emeritus Art/Photography
Ernesto Burciaga on sat 2 jan 99
It sounds as though you have it together. Craft brown isn't too bad
if it works for you. Try going to a good photo store and look at
their backgrounds. There is a good variety made by savage. Just
don't let it over power your work. Your work is the center of intrest
and the background should frame it and not distract.
good luck
Ernesto Burciaga
Philip Davenport on sat 2 jan 99
Karen:
Concerning the type of background to use for photographing you work-
I teach photography and ceramics in a high school situation and have
made my own background out of unbleached muslin cloth and dyed the
material with a black hot water dye. Instead of being black the
material is a dark gray which will go lighter or darker depending upon
how I light the subject and the background. The muslin is a great
material because you can drape it or stretch it out and make a smooth
surface and it stores well.
Another material you can get is background paper for photographic
purposes. It comes in many colors and has about the same weight as the
craft paper- in fact it is a little heavier.
Good Luck
Phil Davenport
Garland, Tx
John Hesselberth on sat 2 jan 99
Karen Shapiro wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi Clayarters,
>
>I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my pieces.
>I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
>being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to get
>an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
>By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
>thanks and Happy New Year,
>Karen in Sonoma
Hi Karen,
I use and like a black to white graduated background. You can get them
from Porter's (1-800-553-2001) for $30-$50. For how to use it see my
articles in the March/April and May/June 1998 issues of Clay Times or
visit my web site as shown below.
John Hesselberth
Frog Pond Pottery
P.O. Box 88
Pocopson, PA 19366 USA
EMail: john@frogpondpottery.com web site: http://www.frogpondpottery.com
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and
hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless
series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." H.L. Mencken, 1925
Matt Alexander on sat 2 jan 99
Hi Karen
Any resonably well stocked camera shop should have (or be able to
order) background paper in any shade imaginable. I used to work in a camera
shop and we usually had about 8 shades of grey in stock most of the time.
They usually come in rolls 4 or 8 feet wide.
As far as 18% grey, that is important for determining the exposure,
but not so much for the actual background color. I often use a plain white
background paper - if you position the lights right you can get a nice,
smooth transition from white to black, creating a nice illusion of depth in
the background.
If you (or any other clayarters) have any other photo related
questions, feel free to e-mail me. I've shot artwork on a professional
basis for a few years now, and would be happy to pass along any info and
tips I can.
Happy New Year !
Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu !
Matt Alexander
Shiga-ken, Japan
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi Clayarters,
>
>I have a small photo studio set up in a spare bedroom to shoot all my pieces.
>I have been using a large sheet of kraft paper as a background for the time
>being, but am now looking for a better alternative. I've been advised to get
>an 18% grey background. What have all of you found to be effective?
>By the way, I use tungsten lamps and tungsten indoor film.
>thanks and Happy New Year,
>Karen in Sonoma
Bobbi Bassett on sat 2 jan 99
Karen
We are using felt as a backdrop for our slides. Light gray works for us... not
quite gray scale, but it works with our colors. Our daughter is a basket
maker and black felt has done the job for her.
We have mounted a window shade on the ceiling and attached the felt to this.
This way we can roll them up together and have them out of the way and dust.
Our photo setup is just off the studio and dust is always a problem.
Bobbi in PA
Sharon Pollock-De Luzio on sat 2 jan 99
In a message dated 12/31/98 12:26:15 PM
Karen in Sonoma wrote: "I have a small photo studio set up to shoot my
pieces. What have all of you found to be effective?"
Karen-
Credit for this goes to Steven Roberts who is a recent grad from UMass
Dartmouth where I teach the ceramics continuing studies courses. His slides
always look great. I followed his advise and it works well for me, too.
Film: Fujichrome RTP--a refrigerated professional tungsten film.
Bulbs: 3200 dgrees Kelvin tungsten. Steve recommends ECT brand for best
color. I just used what my supplier had and it works fine. 500 watt bulbs
offer best value. Shop around for price.
Paper: Most people select backdrop paper with a bluish-gray color which makes
their slides look blue. If you use Kodak Ectachrome you get even more
bluishness. Savage's Suede Gray appears slightly warm to the eye, but
reproduces nicely neutral in slides. It is light in value, so you can
control its darkenness in the slide easily.
Camera: Invest in a good zoom lense with macro or a long lense (110) with
macro. This will allow you to shoot anything and have it look
professional.
Good Luck!
Sharon Pollock-De Luzio in very cold RI.
Susan Goldstein on sun 3 jan 99
I am wondering where to get the graduated black to white background at a
reasonable price. I have been purchasing it from a photo store. It is very
expensive and only lasts during a few shootings because it scratches so
readily. Is there a more durable material then the shiny posterboard like
material I am using?
Thanks.
Susan
Richard Palacios on tue 5 jan 99
A trick I learned in photographing sculpture is that if two people shake the
backdrop while the photo is being taken, the background will blur. The =
piece
stands out and wrinkles in the backdrop don't show.
Mary Williams
Bruce Smith on fri 15 feb 02
I use an old movie projection screen picked up at a yard sale.
Simpley spray paint over the glass beads with acrylic matte paint.
I did mine a sort of gray-blue mottle. It works best if you keep the screen
a little out of focus. Very easy to store.
Bruce Smith
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