photo break

I have not gone missing, just busy taking photos and writing instructions this week. I need them so I can open my Etsy store for business.

I needed a table for photo shoots where I would not be battling for space with other activities so I built one. Nothing fancy about my table, just some adjustable legs from Ikea that I screwed to a piece of plywood. I added a small scrap piece of pegboard screwed to the back of the table. The pegboard is to hold up a seamless backdrop paper or cloth. The paper has a gentle and invisible curve in the photos. That way you can't tell where the paper ends or begins, no seams or table edges to show in the photo.

My photo backdrop paper is from the art supply store. I am using large paper sheets made for drawing on with pastels. It comes in a wide variety of colors and for less than $2.00 it is a great bargain. I can change backdrop colors in seconds.

All the overhead fluorescent tubes in my workshop are 5,000K bulbs I bought at Lowe's a big home builders store in the USA. 5,000 is a kelvin rating very close to natural sunlight. The photo lamps are also fitted with 5,000k circular fluorescent bulbs. The bulbs I am using are Longstar FE-US-30W/50K. If I were using regular incandescent photo bulbs the LCD screen on the camera could be ruined from the heat of the bulbs being so close to the camera.

I like fluorescent lights for the energy savings and the long life. There is no flickering or noise with the new electronic ballast. My workshop is a giant light therapy room, always bright and sunny even when the weather outside is rainy gloom or when I am working at night.