Photographing Pottery- howto

[sour7lemons]

thanks for the diy tips!

[RakuBlue]

Yes there is an over head light but probably better to do this in the dark, or use natural light from a window. Good Luck!

[mothernature63]

Great info....thanks for sharing. Is there an overhead light, or only the light from the windows and the one coming off of the white board. I've put off the photography as long as I can (odd since I love it) Now you've encouraged me to get going. Again, thank you. Maria's Mountain Mud

[chrisgreeningpottery]

Many thanks for camera info - very useful.

Cheers,

Chris

[RakuBlue]

@chrisgreeningpottery

Thanks no problem!

[chrisgreeningpottery]

This is a great video and piece of information - many thanks for sharing.

Could you let us know what camera and flash you're using please?

Cheers, Chris

[RakuBlue]

@chrisgreeningpottery

Nikon coolpix the old one no flash hence the lights.

You dont need any more than 72 dpi for use on the internet remember!

Thanks Chris!

[DirtKickerStudio]

Just the information I needed :) Thank you!

[elainethepotter]

Thanks very much for bothering to do this - have just ordered graduated background vinyl, which was only £25, but I probably wouldn't have bothered if I'd seen your vid first!

[SharJoyC]

Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and tips. I used your background set up for my newest pics. It worked great. Took the photos outdoors, like that lighting the best. I put up a large cardboard behind my set to block out shadows. After trying many other techniques, places, lights, etc. This worked! Thanks again, Sharon

[RakuBlue]

Oh great you'll have to post your "how to" now!

[juneyb01]

Really good tips, thank you.  Regards, June from Worcestershire

[RakuBlue]

Thanks June

[PartTimePhotography]

Good stuff - I'll pass this along to all my newsletter subscribers.

[RakuBlue]

Great no problem!

[beckyleckey]

Great tips!! I'm currently in the process of thinking which pieces of mine to photograph for a scholarship and I wasn't quite sure how to do it, but this video really helped me! Thanks again!!

PS- Your work is amazing! I really like your style!!

[RakuBlue]

Oh great to hear that!

PS and thank you very much!

[roz3273]

Have you tried a black background? I drape a chair with black velvet, place the chair in front of a window and I like the effect

[RakuBlue]

Hi yes Ill try that!

[ThatLynnGirl]

If you have photo editing software already, to fix the orange, you could in fact use ambient light and just use your software to lighten the photo as necessary. You could try bouncing your spotlight off a white ceiling for different effects.

[RakuBlue]

Thanks for that I'll give it a try.

I also have lots of natural light so I'm going to try night time for the next shots!

[GindaUP]

Photography is something we potters should learn, it is just too cheep and easy nowadays to skip and ya just might have a good eye for some neat pictures. A must if you intend to enter exhibitions.

[RakuBlue]

Right on the button!

[RakuBlue]

Also here is the process condenced a little.

I wrap the pots up in organic material and soak with metal oxides, carbonates, sulphates and chlorides. Old pieces of metal and wires and place in a pit with salts and driftwood and wind damaged timber.Then burn the whole lot, and stoke, and stoke, and cover and recover the pots from this the next day.Clean, scrub, and polish with waxes.

[Mariathebigcat]

The pot was beautiful. How did you glaze it?

[RakuBlue]

Hi Mariathebigcat, thanks for your comment.

The pots is not glazed, in the conventional sense, its Pitfired.

Please look at my other video "Pit Fired Pottery -Flame Painted".

I will be posting more videos logging this process so keep checking!

[potpourripot]

Photographing pots is never easy because of the reflections and glares. Once I had been photographing some of my pots with great success and I was really happy with the pictures until I loaded them to my computer and noticed that nearly all of them had a reflection of my bright green shirt I had worn that day! The pots that I had been phographing were made of red clay and they had a very shiny transparent glaze on them, so it was almost like a mirror!

Best wishes from Finland, Hanna

[RakuBlue]

I guess thats why we are potters!

And yes I still have to remove some of the orange glare from the normal bulb when I upload them. Digital imaging is so easy but easy to miss things aswell.

Thanks Hanna keep going!

[credenza1]

good information. thanks.

[adlesk54]

Thanks for the information. I have had trouble photographing my pots indoors. I get a lot of glare and too much shine which washes out the color. Putting the light on the white board may do the trick for me.

Regards, Sue from New York

[RakuBlue]

I hope it does! And remember when you edit those be careful of the orange tinge from the lamp if its a normal one like mine!

All the best, Sue keep going!