Video: 2-D Art Copy Photography
First of all, is that an awesome quilt or what?Ditto the copy shot. Getting something like this to translate to a digital file is no small feat. It takes even lighting and attention to detail that borders on obsessive-compulsive behavior.
Ever wonder what goes into a large-scale, high-quality copy shot? Strobist reader Ben Peoples has posted a time-lapse YouTube video of his copy photography process. He clearly shoots a lot of 2-D objects for people. Or Peoples, if he is doing it for himself.
The basic techniques is even-field lighting with a pair of Alien Bees, But he also uses a speedlight on a nearby stand to direct a little kiss of light wherever he wants, for emphasis or texture. Nice.
If you wanna know more, watch the video. But whatever you do, check out the quilt at hi-res. It's awesome, as are Ben's copy art skills.
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by David, at 12:20 AM.
9 Comments:
I've got a very similar set up for Flat Art photography ... quilitArt.
I would agree: this is not easy.
Getting the light evenly to all four corners is a great exercise in learning about light.
The video was fun and actually verifies that my set up was right on target ... but, I used four lights aimed at each corner for larger quilts (8' x 10' and larger). Smaller quilts light easily with ben's setup. Well done.
@Bill:
I think 4 lights would work better-- in the video I initially had the lights much closer to the board, but then moved them out as I was getting a nice evenly lit spot in the middle.
This set up did give me enough evenly lit area to do the entire grey muslin (128"x120") dead flat, but I wasn't able to shoot much above f/8 @ ISO200.
Great video, I would say that this is the best way to light a quilt without strip banks. Strip banks are ideal in this situation.
I agree with matthew - strip banks are best. We shoot copy work all the time and I don't agree with the hand holding of the camera as good technique at all. That just leaves things having to be skewed later on in PS. Get things right as much as you can in the shoot so your PS is minimal.
Awesome video...and great copy images! I always enjoy watching another phtographer doing their thing...
I don't know why, but the hyper-active fan in the background cracks me up.... looks really pleased with itself to be cooling you ;)
Hey! I was going to say I loved the fan too! "Hyper-active" -Ha! That's it exactly!
Thank you for this great video Ben! Was that a commercially prepared color standard you were using?
BUT - who made the quilt???? I admire the photography. BUT - WHO?
Hey -- FYI, I accidentally deleted the photo from flickr. It is back up, but is of course named differently. New link is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benpeoples/2181946969/
Thanks!
Thanks for the tips on the Alien Bees! What happened to the video?
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