Friday, January 4, 2019

Photo Studio Upgrade or how to set up an Art Doll Photo Studio on the Cheap


Did I ever tell you how awesome my son Jason is?   Not only has he grown up to be a great bestower of gifts, he also has grown up to be one of the kindest, most thoughtful, generous, and all around awesome man that I have ever met despite my parenting skills!

 Over the holidays he gifted me with two professional studio lamps with light bulbs and diffusers.    


Up until now whenever I did my photography for my online classes or photos of my art dolls I have used a make shift photo studio dependent upon how much light is filtering in through my studio windows.

Originally I used a grey mat-board to set behind whatever I was photographing in order to have my photos focus on the art doll rather than what was behind it.  Last year I broke down and bought some professional photo studio background paper to use as a backdrop for my photography.  I tried to tape it to the ceiling and the table I was using but it really didn’t work that well.  I wound up ruining quite a bit of the paper as a result.
 
curtain rod clips holding photo background paper
If you can see in the photo, Jason gave me the idea, to just attach some hooks to the ceiling to hold a curtain rod for the paper.  I used some curtain rod clips to clip the top of the paper on which works really well. 

In order to get that curved consistent background for the photos I did wind up taping down the bottom part of the paper to my table.
background paper held down with tape

My husband, Bob, brought me up some clips from his workshop to use instead of the tape.  I haven’t tried them yet but bet they will work like a dream.

On a really dark overcast day I tried to do some photography using the lights.  Before having the lights I wouldn’t be able to do any of my photography during overcast dark days, much less in the evening hours.  
Light with diffuser

When I put the light on behind me It was bright enough to get a suntan in the room but using the diffuser over the light kept the subject of the photo from being washed out which is what typically happened when I used room lights for my photos.  So I tried to take some photos with one light set up behind me while I worked on some photos for the Moulin Rouge class I will be teaching at AFICC in Ohio this April. 
light used as a reflector

I took the second light and used it as a reflector to keep shadows at bay while taking photos.  It worked like a dream! 
Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

Here are some pictures I took on an overcast day with my new photo studio set up.
Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. NIederer

Until next time……….

warm hugs,
Marla

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

P.S.  You can sign up for my live Moulin Rouge Dancers class at AFICC in Columbus, Ohio on April 25-28, 2019 by going to the AFICC website here:

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