Taking pictures of relief carvings

[CarvedTones]

I need some advice. I am doing shallow relief in hard maple, which is very light colored and shiny. This is what happens if you take a flash picture:

A couple of attempts at no flash:

Once I get the thing finished, I plan to take some pictures for my web site (which has had a "under construction" front page for far too long ). It will have an oil finish, which should help. I will take the picture with a better background, like solid blue material (other suggestions?).

 

[MT native]

Andy, Nice carving by the way,
I have been having a learning curve lately trying to take pictures of some of my new carvings. Here are some of the things I've tried and failed/succeeded at:
1. I tried a light blue colored background but it was not enough contrast to see the wood easily (such as in your second photo).
2. I used a black background (such as in the first photo) but often found the contrast so great that it actually added more reflection to the wood, however it did make it much easier to see the edges fo the wood.
3. I ended up using a sage green background for light colored woods, set at least one foot behind the carving.
4. Lighting - check out the information on Lynn Doughty's Out West Wood Carving Blog site "Photographing Your Carvings":
http://outwestwoodcarving.blogspot.com/search?q=photographing+your+carvings
I now have a similar, but smaller, setup and it is working very well. I don't have the cloth diffusers yet but already I am getting better photographs.
Good Luck. Looking forward to seeing how the carving turns out.
Jane

 

[Mike Davis]

You need strong side lighting to make the relief show without getting a direct reflection. The best light is always natural daylight. If you can't use the sun then you will have to get at least one photo flood light or an off camera flash.

 

[Ed DelCogliano]

Hi Andy, I've taken many pictures of relief carving and found that having a light above and to the left of the carving is best. I also take all my pictures using a digital carmera. I use a setting of ISO of 400 so I don't need a flash. The flash really blots out the relief carving. Try different setting on your camera but don't use a flash. Regards Ed