mtstick

I do almost exclusively Sports photography and currently traveled to Florida (from Minnesota)to photograph a woman's college lacrosse team. Having relatives in the area we stayed at their home. They are 87 years old and they have been wood turners for over 25 years. They have kept the first one of every set and asked if I could photograph their pieces.
Well I feel like I could do better and get prepared. I set them on a dining table, set them on the carpet, flash made them shiny, household lights made shadows etc. How would one shoot individual pieces? I shot with a canon 5d mk iv /Tameron 18-50 2.8

Brasspounder001 Loc: Erewhon

One problem I have with indoor shooting these days is the limited light spectrum of compact fluorescent and LED lights, making the use of flash mandatory. With this limited spectrum light it's impossible to get a natural looking colour balance. But I do like shooting things found indoors, some of it quite interesting and we hardly give it a glance most of the time.

10MPlayer Loc: California

I'm no pro but if I were to do it I'd get a couple of different pieces of cloth to use as backdrop. Maybe one white or gray and one black. Others can give more advice on lighting but I'd darken the room and use a small single light source to create some shadows and experiment with lighting the objects from different angles. And fill up the frame with the object.

mackphotos Loc: Washington, DC

Hi, I'm new to learning photography, but here's my very novice observation, maybe use a macro lens and an off-camera flash to bounce the light and/or diffuse the light. What say you pros, am I in the ballpark?

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

Windows can be a great source to produce Rembrandt type light. It might be worth a try.

Jack

Brasspounder001 Loc: Erewhon

Good ideas. The thing with a macro lens is it has a very shallow depth of field when in macro mode. Perhaps a wide angle, say between 18mm - 35mm would give sufficient angle of view when you are forced to be no further from your subject than a few feet. If you have a big window with lots of light then that solves that problem. If not, you'll need a strobe or some other source of light.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Be aware of the background in the samples you posted. How much do they 'help' the image - what have you got that would be better to use. Curtains draped over a chair, a black jacket, a white sheet, a nice drop leaf table ?

Think about lighting - early morning/late afternoon sunlight through a window or on the patio/garden. Lights bounced off the ceiling at a distance from where the object is....and brought closer as required to enhance the object. (one fit does not suite all).

Composition....objects 'in their place' or in isolation (filling the frame) If there are a lot of items and you want a 'collection' of images perhaps a 'portrait' series makes sense....if on the other hand you want a 'family history' series then 'as used' brings in a sense of 'personality'.

Slow down and think, discuss and plan....then look at ways to please those who are important. If that means 2 or 3 'kinds of image' then you will please everyone.

What lens.....what have you got?....try and see what works best for the situation.

Above all have fun and encourage your families in put. make it an enjoyable exercise rather than a chore. Chances are they will be pleased with 'however it turns out' so.... no pressure.

Star Shotz Loc: Weeki Wachee Fl

Gorgeous

Texcaster Loc: Queensland

For that size, a small light box will work. I've been learning studio work for instruments and furniture, still a long way to go. Wrinkles are a real worry with fabric and I'm going to vinyl.

How To Build A Photo Light Box For Less Than $10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6fnHEvLyAE

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Set them on a white or black table cloth. Use a tripod in daylight. Set camera to iso-100 and use a time exposure with a 10 second shutter delay to avoid shaking the camera. That should eliminate the flash and still get a clean properly exposed shot. Use Photoshop shadows and highlights to get the right details and midtone contrast.

Charles P Loc: Southern Central NY State

I use the Gary Fong Lightsphere for indoor shots like this. I have a powerful external flash mounted on the camera and pointed straight up to bounce the already defused light off of the ceiling. Nice beautiful soft light and no unwanted shadows or shiny spots. I just chimp to get the best exposure. The Gary Fong thing is kind of pricey for what it is, but in my experience it works great for a lot of indoor shots.

Grnway Loc: Manchester, NH

Bingo! I've also had to do some assignments and found that using an inexpensive lightbox, which is easily homemade, or some other type of diffuser, will work very well. It's take the "shine" associated with a hard point of light (i.e. flash) and soften it. That way, you'll be better able to show the texture of the wood without the distracting glare.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

I have one of these. It is the best background for shooting small objects. Just be aware that with a white background you may have to use some exposure compensation.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1054106-REG/cloud_dome_cdib24w_infinity_board_matte_white.html

cactuspic Loc: Dallas, TX

The light fall from a window (with no direct sun) is soft and one of my favorite light sources so long as you shoot a gray card and color correct. Play with your table surfaces such as wood, stone, cloth, paint surface, plexiglass to see what complements the turnings.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I use a 2'X3' white poster board, sit on table and support the back so it slightly bends in the middle. Place your object in the middle, use auto white balance, shoot close enough so that no edges of the poster board shows. Use exposure compensation to make final fine turned exposures as meter can be fooled by white back ground. Will look like something out of a magazine and you only have to buy one piece of poster board.