Malone & Dean McRaine on sun 12 mar 00
Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking for a
easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?
Dean
Charles G Hughes on mon 13 mar 00
I use a charcoal gradated background from flo-tone. It was about $60.00
----- Original Message -----
From: Malone & Dean McRaine
To:
Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2000 8:40 PM
Subject: Photo backgrounds
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
> all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
> papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking for a
> easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?
> Dean
David McDonald on mon 13 mar 00
Hi Dean,
I asked the same questions to the people at camera stores about
alternative background material for photo shoots a number of years ago,
and came up with the following solution; Formica! I ordered a 48"(I
think) wide length of dark grey Formica from Home Depot, and it works
great! It has a kind of semi matt surface, is easy to clean, it's
reusable, and it rolls up onto the wall above my slabroller for storage.
When I need to shoot, I unroll it onto the slabroller and set up pots and
lights, and shoot. Really works good, IMHO. David
On Sun, 12 Mar 2000 20:40:42 EST Malone & Dean McRaine
writes:
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable
> photos we
> all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The
> Wolf
> papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking
> for a
> easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?
> Dean
David McDonald
Limberlost Pottery
721 First Street
Prescott,AZ 86301
(520)778-7854 claydog@juno.com
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Paul Lewing on mon 13 mar 00
Malone & Dean McRaine wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
> all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
> papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking for a
> easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?
> Dean
Formica. Comes in a ton of colors and visual textures, it will last
forever, makes a nice even curve from table top to wall, and you can
usually buy a half sheet of it, which is 4 feet by 4 feet, a good size
for shooting pots.
Or adhere cloth to cardboard so it won't wrinkle. Velvet particularly
kind of soaks up the light and doesn't show wrinkles.
Paul Lewing, Seattle
Sara JH Ashodian on mon 13 mar 00
dean
i have used fabric for photo backgrounds
blackout fabric is relatively cheap per yard (theaters use this alot)
and also some fake leatherette material has grey facing on the back side
that works well
best of luck
sara
--
Sara JH Ashodian
Egg Rock Ceramics
Bruce Girrell on mon 13 mar 00
Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking for a
easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?
Dean
We get ours from The Set Shop. Try this link:
http://www.setshop.com/backgrounds/tabletop/varitone.html
The Varitone backgrounds are the ones that you see in so many pottery
photos. They are heavy duty plastic, but the surface itself is subject to
scratches, particularly from unglazed feet of pots. Place your pot directly
on the background and lift it vertically off. NEVER slide the pot around on
the background.
The Varitone #9 is the standard white to black gradation. I think it is
designed for electronic flash, as it always comes out with a blue cast for
me when I use tungsten or daylight, even with an 80A warming filter.
15 X 24 $10.00
31 X 43 $40.00
42 X 62 $53.00
Good luck
Bruce Girrell
in snowy northern Michigan hitting ^06 on the bisque yesterday just as the
propane ran out. Lynne was pouring warm water on the tanks to keep the
pressure up while I watched for the cone to fall. I love it when I get my
money's worth out of a tank. Going to see Gail Nichols today.
Chris Campbell on mon 13 mar 00
Dean wrote :
" I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking for a
easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?"
The way people get those wonderful publishable photos is by using the wide
paper with no wrinkles or seams. When you use it properly you can create
wonderful depth of field in your photos. It is the "good, professional"
solution.
If you handle it carefully you can use the same paper many times. I have
three colors - white, grey and black - and have had the same packages for ten
years and still have lots left.
Great slides are a most valuable asset when you are trying to make a long
distance impression. Read the current thread on film type - the Fuji is
terrific for pottery.
Chris - in Carolina - where the dogwoods are starting to bloom and everyone's
car is tinted a powdery pollen green.
Patricia L Porter on mon 13 mar 00
Dean,
my father was a commercial photographer gack in the '50's. As I
remember, He often would use yard goods ftom the local fabric store.
Back then that was usually Woolworths! He boughr several colors as the
need presented itself. Then for a texture contrast, he would buy crushed
velvet or cloth that could be easily draped. The whole idea was to
present the product in the best way and paer just didn't always fit the
bill. Sometimes the ideal is something out of the mind of creativity and
not that which is sold in photo supply stores. Remember that a stark red
plate might show better on a dark sharp plaid than on a neutral grey, or
that white draped gauze may present a particular shape better than a
stiff background of the same color.
That's my 2 cents worth at least 8-)
Pat Porter
http://www.geocities.com/windy_pines_2000/
pporter#4dv.net
pporter6@juno.com
Aurora CO USA
On Sun, 12 Mar 2000 20:40:42 EST Malone & Dean McRaine
writes:
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable
> photos we
> all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The
> Wolf
> papers are available in large sizes for large prices but I'm looking
> for a
> easier solution. Anybody have a good professional alternative?
> Dean
Tom Wirt on mon 13 mar 00
----- Original Message -----
From: Malone & Dean McRaine
Subject: Photo backgrounds
> ---------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
> all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
Dean..
The best I've found are graduated backgrounds from Porter Camera
1-800-553-2001. They also have all the colors and fabrics you might want.
Tom Wirt
patrick conrey on tue 14 mar 00
My wife creates un-glazed scluptured forms and I do functional pots using
white clay bodies and spray light underglazes on the outsides and leave
them un-glazed.
When we photo our work, we drag out this black wool shawl we bought in
Ireland some years back. "tis a wondreful photo background. It absorbs
all light and the piece really stands out as it were floating in space.
So if you are planning to visit the "ole sod" for the Great Saint' s Day
(3/17) pick up one of those shawls that the women used way back when for
a coat and get "picture takin..."
vince pitelka on wed 15 mar 00
> ---------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Aloha all: I'm trying to get set up to take those publishable photos we
> all dream of and I can't find a source for background material. The Wolf
My favorite background is a sheet of 1/8" masonite. Paint it a nice neutral
gray using a paint roller with flat latex wall paint. Clamp one end to the
top of a table, and allow the other end to curve up against the wall. When
it gets scratched or soiled, give it another coat of paint. It is large
enough to accomodate almost any work, and long enough that you can light the
foreground and have the background fade to dark.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Janet Kaiser on thu 16 mar 00
Material is probably the better option because it is not shiny and does not
reflect either lights or flash. The best photos I have seen were done on
fine cheesecloth which was taped to the back wall and stretched to the front
of the table. The pots looked like they were floating.
Cotton cheese cloth can easily be dyed different colours and graded
colouring is possible by hanging it above the dye, putting one edge of the
cloth in and waiting for the dye to draw up through it.
I use white tissue paper... Not that my photos are anything like
professional! Tissue is just an easy way of avoiding a line across the back
of the image. Lots of colours available too. Even graded from dark to light
in various combinations.
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art, Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales
Home of The International Potters Path
TEL: (01766) 523570
WEB: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
EMAIL: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
Lori Leary on thu 16 mar 00
I have had good luck with fleece, bought at Wally Mart. I use either
gray or black, depending on the effect I want. Black is great for a
really dramatic slide, very sexy.
Just pop it in the dryer if it gets wrinkled. I have not had too much
problem with lint on the black, I am careful to put it away after I am
done. I have recently been taking slides for other artists, and flannel
is very convenient to transport.
Hope this helps,
Lori L.
lleary@sccoast.net
Pawleys Island, SC
Wynne Wilbur on sat 19 aug 00
Hey Everyone,
A friend of mine who is not on the list, is a bit bored with the
currently popular light-to-dark background in photos of work and is
interested in alternatives that anyone out there might be using. She has
colorful, whimsical work and wants something that is in keeping with the
spirit of the work without being dominating or distracting. In a
related topic, we have been discussing display alternatives to the
standard white or neutral pedestal. I'd love to hear what you are using.
Thanks,
Wynne Wilbur
Gainesville, FL
dibby on sun 20 aug 00
Hi Wynne,
I recently posted my website with some awful pics ( backgrounds) we took the
shots outside as we were in a rush to get them postyed as we were going on
holiday...days later a friend of mine Bernard Jaffa ( Teaches film at LA
film school) check out my website and was appalled by what he saw and
volunteered to shoot a few pots for me...He had bought a bird pot from me
previously and so took a pic and sent it to me ...I am in seventh heaven
right now..such a simple shot and it really sticks out on my site...he now
is coming up from CA (Cape Town- where he has a 2 nd home..lucky Bernie) so
as to redo all the shots..I am so lucky as he is a genuis at film...and I am
sure that he will not recommend the same treatment for you as he did for
me..first check out my site www.featsofclay.net and I am sur you will
notice a big difference ...the shot he took is smoke four of the Cape eagle
on the right at the bottom if you would like to email him ( he is very
helpfull kind of guy and I am sure that he will willing give advice) please
contact me privately and I will send you his email address...if you want to
veiw his website ( stunning content-there is a lot of South African Art- he
was born in SA hence the connection) it is www.thelittlestuff.com
All the best ,
Arthur.
----- Original Message -----
From: Wynne Wilbur
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2000 3:05 AM
Subject: Re: Photo backgrounds
> Hey Everyone,
>
> A friend of mine who is not on the list, is a bit bored with the
> currently popular light-to-dark background in photos of work and is
> interested in alternatives that anyone out there might be using. She has
> colorful, whimsical work and wants something that is in keeping with the
> spirit of the work without being dominating or distracting. In a
> related topic, we have been discussing display alternatives to the
> standard white or neutral pedestal. I'd love to hear what you are using.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Wynne Wilbur
> Gainesville, FL
>
>
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Audrey Cooper on sun 20 aug 00
Hi, I, myself, have been using the light to dark backgrounds. I suppose the
focus should be entirely on the piece of art and not on the background, so
the light to dark seems to be the optimal choice. In terms of pedestals,
there are antique pedestals that are very ornate, but those are quite
expensive. Maybe if you use the standard pedestal, but use a different
platform, like a handmade one, or layers of wood tiered like a staircase or
something along those lines, the standard pedestal wouldn't look as drab. I
am also searching for something more interesting, so I await all another
responses. Good luck. Audrey
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