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Hi, As you can see, I am not a great photographer. I was disappointed with the pictures I took of my work. They look a lot better!
Can anyone give me a few pointers on how to take a better picture? I would appreciate it...Thanks
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Hi Artistafemme,
Do you have a gallery where I can see what you mean? I tried doing a search in the gallery here, but couldn't find you.
What kind of camera are you using, and are you using the flash?
(unfortunately, I'm firing in the dark til I see some of your piccies)
In the meantime, follow this link:
http://digital-photography-school.com/h … light-tent
or this one:
http://l00pback.wordpress.com/2007/12/0 … the-cheap/
They both show you very much the same thing - how to build an inexpensive light tent - and both can be made as big or as small as you need. You can get good results even with a point-and-shoot, just remember to turn off the camera flash, and set the colour balance to tungsten (or to whatever lights you're using) - all will become clear when you follow the links.
Hope this is of some help!
Zyggy 
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It's ultimately up to your own personal preferences, but here's my two cents:
1. Natural light tends to give the most realistic results/shadows. Artificial lights, depending on the type of lights, and your camera's ability to compensate for them, can cause odd/undesirable, effects in your photos. Indoors, try taking photos with, and without, the flash, to see which you like better. A lamp, with a poseable neck, can also be useful for achieving the lighting conditions you desire.
2. Use a uncluttered background that contrasts well with your art piece. If your sculpture is primarily white, use a darker color, if it's dark, use a lighter color. If the piece is mostly green in hue, a green backdrop is probably not a good choice.
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Hi Jacquie,
Just got your email and had a look at your gallery - very nice pieces!
You can achieve better photographic results by avoiding using the flash (I'm assuming it's a flash that's built into the camera?) so that you don't get the harse shadows that sit on the edges of your work. As Patraw said in his reply, natural lighting is best - take your sculptures out into the garden on a good clear day and take pictures there. Or if you're after a dramatic lighting effect, position your work indoors near a window so that directional natural light hits it from one side. And if you end up with very dark shadows that way, position a large piece of white card/paper/sheet on the opposite side of your sculpture to the window so that some of the light is bounced back into those shadows. And again like Patraw suggested, keep the area uncluttered so that you don't distract the viewer's eyes away from your sculpture.
Best thing is to just experiment, and have fun!
(I tried replying directly to your email, but the postmaster threw it back at me, so this post is a cut and paste of what I said there)
Good luck
Zyggy
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This photography tutorial deals with action figures, but a lot of the advice is applicable to photography in general; I think you'll find it informative/useful:
http://www.figurerealm.com/customtutorial.php?ID=42
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