While attending Sewing Summit last week I slipped into Melissa's photography lecture a little after its start. Even though I missed the beginning it made me think about a few issues a lot of us bloggers face. Melissa joked about only cleaning her house when she needs to shoot, the inverse will often happen at home where I will shoot only on Monday afternoons because the house is at its cleanest!
More than sparkling surfaces, I feel that often what is missing is natural light. It's either gloomy, as today was or night time the only option for peace and quiet. Melissa showed us a few shots taken in such conditions, her famous student/basement room notably. Last night I set up an experiment of my own, with a tripod, a diffusing shield held precariously over my head, some wood boards and a basket of knits.
We have replaced almost every lights in the house with warm LEDs, in the living room six cans flood the hardwood floor. Armed with a reflector and a diffuser screen I was not able to minimise the shadows much. The warm wood boards underneath counterbalance the cold crisp light (even with "warm" LEDs) as the white boards seem to emphasize it (below):
Looking at those pictures doesn't fill me with cosiness, and the shadows need a lot of bouncing but if a little white/a little color corrected (above right) goes a long way I still would rather use the warm brown background. If Anyone of you wants to chime in on this subject, it would be most welcome!
Note: Melissa has published her lecture notes here.
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I prefer photographing in my back yard at dusk-ish or in the shade because the lights in my house make my photos off. AND I don't need to worry about an area being clean. ;) I also like using a micro photo box but with those you can't get a lovely photo with a wood floor beneath. I like your first photo.
Posted by: Lisa | September 27, 2013 at 11:29 PM