John Vaeth is our Vice President, an excellent woodturner and a retired professional photographer. He writes:
Master woodturner David Ellsworth once said “Value the photograph as much as you value the object.” I will be the presenter at our May meeting to give you helpful photography tips so you can have a permanent record of your masterpieces.
Woodworking and photography have long been two of my creative passions. As a photographic specialist for Kodak, I traveled and taught photography throughout the U.S. I also worked as a studio photographer, honing my lighting skills doing still-life photography and portraiture. I presented my “Photographing Woodturnings” IRD to numerous woodturning clubs throughout the U.S. as well as for Trent Bosch’s Virtual Woodworking Demo series.
My presentation includes:
•Equipment selection
•Backgrounds
•What to aim for in a picture - light direction and quality
•Composition
•Understanding lighting ratios
•Understanding depth of field
•Photographing glossy, translucent, and textured surfaces
•Finishing touches with image processing software
•Tricks for going beyond basic
I will show many examples of what I like (or do not like) in pictures of my woodturnings, and will describe how I achieve a specific result. My approach is to keep the process simple, straightforward and inexpensive.
Cascade Woodturners Association