How impotrant is photography to your work

[GBF]

I really struggle with photography but feel it is very important if you want to show your work to its best advantage.
The camera I use is a Cannon ixus about £110 00 it is very easy to use and gives reasonable results.
I use a grey to white graded background as recomended by Mark Sanger

Regards George

[bodrighywood]

Very important though I have a long way to go with it. I need to really get to grips with getting good photos, I know the theory up to a point but just need to discipline myself to doin it properly.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Where did you get the graded background George? Are you aware that I am trying to arrange a photographic workshop for our mutual organisation?

[GBF]

Of Ebay about ten yers ago John I will try and find something tommorow.
I will be there John 

Regards George

[bernuk1]

Where did you get the graded background George? Are you aware that I am trying to arrange a photographic workshop for our mutual organisation?

http://www.creativitybackgrounds.co.uk/     Not cheap,but quality-varitone backgrounds.
Problem is that you really need a dedicated area for photography and also a basic knowledge of post production techniques.
Photo Geeks have a good selection of light tents and lights etc.

Regards.
Mike.

[GBF]

As you say they are not cheap but if looked after will last for years

Regards George

[Paul Hannaby]

Calumet also do the graduated backgrounds. I have one I bought from there.

Whatever camera you use, I think the lighting is the most important part, especially if you are hand holding the camera. A tripod is definitely better. There are some good tutorials on the web on how to set up a basic "studio" I use a couple of lights, a background and a tripod. The lights I use are halogen "site" lights but any bright lights will do as long as they are all of the same type to avoid colour casts. I also adjust the photos in photoshop before using them on the web etc.

[Derek]

I agree lighting play a very important part when photographing you creation. I tend to do mine in the conservatory so I get even light all around and not like some where they do it by a window and get light from one side only, I am not saying that is wrong and can suit some pieces. I also try not to take them in direct sunlight which casts harsh shadows.
Mine are not for sales sites or anything like that but I feel I should try to make them look the best I can.
I managed to acquire a 10ft long roll of photographic studio backdrop in white which i cut down to fit in a cut down portable cloths rail. As it get dirty or marked just pull a bit more down and cut off the bad bit, seems to last for ages.

I use a Fuji Finepix F80 EXR camera so not anything special

It is the set up I used to take the photo of the truck

[Les Symonds]

I bought my graduated backdrop from Jessops http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/colorama/100x170cm-white-grey-colorgrad-background-90607/show.html, about 2 years ago, after shopping around for months. At the time it was the best deal that I could get, and is still very reasonable.
To me, the importance of good photographs is crucial and nothing despairs me more than to see pictures taken without any thought for the background. We've all seen images of proudly displayed turned items, photographed on top of the cooker, on a highly patterned qulit atop the bed, or on a floral table cloth. The message that this gives me is that the maker simply doesn't care enough to do anything about it!
In the belief that no one should ever have a moan without making a constructive suggestion about how to overcome the problem, at the very least invest in a £2 roll of lining paper, clear a small area on a kitchen worktop and stick a length of lining paper to the wall with a few blobs of Bluetac....it won't give professional results, but if your budget does not extend to more expensive equipment, then it will be miles better than some of the efforts that we see.
Les

[Les Symonds]

I've been disappointed with the results that I've been getting from my little Nikon compact, so I just invested in a used Canon EOS 400D and a 50mm f1.8 lense, bought from a very reputable dealer and fully guaranteed....the set-up cost me well under £100.
Here's 2 pictures of a sample batch of items that I'm making for a local church to sell to the pilgrims who visit. The first is taken with the old compact camera, the second with my new Canon....it speaks for itself.
My little photo-booth is  a backdrop from Jessops, a couple of day-light bulbs, one either side, and a clear Perspex box with a 60mm fluorescent tube in it, underneath it all so that the item I'm photographing gets side-lit, and under-lit.

Les

[Derwent Woodturning club]

Hi Les,
Thought you might be interested to know the key reason for the difference in your two images is that the second one used the camera's flash, the first one didn't. And the first one had a shorter exposure, and a higher simulated film speed (800ISO) which will also lead to the darker, grainier image, so I wouldn't blame the camera itself.  Have a look and see if there's a 'Fill in flash' option for the flash setting on the Nikon and I am sure you will get just as good pictures from it as the Canon, apart from a slightly better image resolution. Hope that helps.

Regards,
Paul