Tuesday, August 18, 2009

My Macro Photo Studio Experiment

A few days ago, my dear friend Aura send me two articles about taking better photos without spending a fortune. You can find the articles here and here. I just couldn't wait to try it and share my experience.

I went to BJ's and got one of those empty boxes they have by the register for you to put the groceries in. The box already had three windows so I didn't have to cut it. I looked through my gift wrap supplies and found white tissue paper. With the help of my assistant (my 8 yrs old boy), I taped the tissue paper to the open sides. Then, I went to Michaels and got the black and the white poster boards for .49 and .59 cents. I used to desk lamps that I got recently for $10 at BJ's. Here is the set up:



Unfortunately, I didn't really follow the step by step directions on this. I did not control the tungsten or white light balance. I tried using two lamps and placing them at the different sides and the top. Sometimes, it worked better with only one lamp on the side. Other times, it helped having one on top; depending on how much light was coming through the window in the room. My son was an excellent helper, holding one of the lamps for me. He also had a great time taking photos of his own things. I learned that using the flashlight is not always a good idea. It'll make the picture look yellowish.

Here are some of the pictures we took:






This one of the pink hat was taken outside with the sun on the side. I did controlled the white balance on this one (+1).







Here are some of the ones my son took:





He's been drawing a lot lately and he wanted to take a picture of one of his drawings.

I will definitely try to do this again.

5 comments:

  1. The photos look fabulous!
    My camera has a manual white balance setting where I can take a photo of something white (I usually use a piece of paper) and it automatically adjusts...

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  2. Great photos! You could probably brighten them up even more in a photo editing program. But for me, getting clear pictures with uniform, diffused lighting was the hard part, and I think you've got that down.

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  3. Super job, Larissa. I'm going to make one. It's great to photograph small things. I'm so proud of you. Your version of the box looks easy enough to construct.

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  4. I really liked looking at your photos and thought it was lovely that you could do it with your son.
    I also like your amagurami doll, very cute, I wish I could crochet more than a granny square.

    Found you in Ravelry.

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  5. Thank you so much for the comments!
    Leeanne, if you can make a granny square, I'm sure you can make an amigurumi. Seriously, It's easier than a granny square because the only stitch that you need to know is the sc. Try it!

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