Shoot Better Photos
Shooting in a studio setting
Shooting photos with studio lighting and a backdrop is a precise and clean way to show off your work. This method of shooting photos will ensure a sharp looking portfolio.
Much of what you will see in portfolio photos are shots with soft lighting, precise detail, gray/white/gradient backdrop, and proper composition. This method of taking photos is aimed to show exactly what your work looks like. Opposed to photos for marketing purposes, (specifically platforms such as Etsy, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) marketing platforms, in many occasions, will not just put the emphasis on the piece of art, but also make the photo a composed work of art as well.
In other words, this way of shooting photos acts as a vehicle to show exactly what your work is, ‘marketing photos’ are a way to show what your art could be if purchased.
This page will be a start to finish tutorial on how to set up and shoot general photos of pottery with studio lighting and backdrops. There will be links throughout to other resources that relate to the topic of discussion, if you are looking for specifics. This section will not go over camera functions. Click HERE for information on camera functions.
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Here is a running list of things you will need to get started.
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- DSLR Camera or newer phone with a quality camera. I use a Canon EOS Rebel T3
with a 55mm lens.
- Camera/phone tripod stand
- Backdrop of your choice. I use a Flotone Gradient Backdrop, white to black
- A surface or table for your backdrop to rest on.
- Something to pin or hang your backdrop from.
- Lights. I use a DIY setup consisting of clamp lights covered with a nylon translucent diffusion material. You can buy soft boxes or umbrella lights as well.
- White light emitting light bulbs (5000-8000k)
- Padded weights, to hold your back drop in place.
- Light reflector board
- Packing tape and tacks.
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This may seem like a big list. But much of it you probably have laying around. And some of these things can be DIY and still be sufficient.
Setting up Lighting
Light coming from both sides and from above will minimize shadows and reveal as much of the piece as possible. You may want to play with how strong the light is, depending on your cameras light meter. Too much light, you will blast out detail. Too little light will hide detail. Better to have a slower shutter speed, as long as you are shooting with a tripod. You don't want to sacrifice your ISO or Aperture because of a fast shutter speed. Low ISO will insure good detail/less grain, and a narrow aperture will ensure a bigger field of focus.
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Your surface or glaze will determine how soft or hard your light needs to be. A matte surface will be more forgiving with harder light. However, a glossy finish will most likely require more light diffusion to eliminate big glares. Investing in a polarizing filter for your lens is a must. You can also get more diffusion by either adding more translucent material in front of the lights, or shining the light indirectly. If there is a spot that needs more light to show off detail, a reflector will be handy. This can be as simple as a white piece of paper or foil wrapped around a piece of card board. For other tips on getting rid of glares, click HERE.
Making sure that all other lights outside of your photoshoot are off is very important. This will save you a headache while editing later. If you have outside light influencing the shot, this will throw off color balance and will not show off the true color of your piece.
The lights you use should be a 'bright white" (3000-3200k) at minimum, but more perferably "daylight" (5000k). Make sure that you have ample lumens (around 2000 to 3000 per light). If you are shooting with bright white lights, your color temperature will be on the yellow side. You can compensate for this with your white balance.
*Example of a White backdrop*
Chase Gamblin, 2022
24K Gold Fire Glaze Starry Porcelain Pottery Urn Vase
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Setting up your Backdrop
Using a gradient backdrop vs middle tone gray vs white/off white - any of these tones are fine, and most of the time comes down to what you prefer. However, you may find that one complements your work better then another. In this section are examples of different backdrops.
What you need to physically set up your backdrop you will need something to hang your back drop on/to that will cascade onto a table. I use a cleared wall to tack my backdrop to, and set a table in front. You will also need some padded or soft weights to hold down your backdrop on to the table.
I cannot emphasize enough that taking care of your backdrop is very important. The more scratches/scuffs/stains/folds you make, the more editing you will find yourself doing. When using weights to hold down your backdrop, make sure they don't have sharp edges or course surfaces. Using a soft material, such a t-shirt or towel, to wrap the weights in is ideal. When wiping away dust, avoid using your hand. Use a very soft lint free towel, or simply blow off dust. When I tack the corners of my backdrop, I first put clear packing tape on the corners of the back drop. This will reinforce the corners and can prevent ripping.
*Example of white to black gradient flotone backdrop*
Larry Spears, 2022, Nashville, IN.
Photo by Dylan Quackenbush
(same pot from the picture on the top of this page)
*Example of mid tone grey backdrop*
Joel Pisowicz, 2022
(title)
Setting up Your Camera
Your camera set up is very important, both physically setting up, and setting up the functions on your camera. You want to make sure that you are showing off your piece properly. Having a tripod is going to be crucial when shooting in this setting. Your ideal camera functions are the driving reason for that. Once you have your camera set up on the tripod and pointing in the right direction, take a look through the viewfinder and see what your piece looks like.
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You should be trying to view the totality of your piece, you dont want to hide a foot or a rime. You typically will aim for the middle of your piece (when shooting pots, sculptural pieces may vary). I suggest trying to get the whole rim in the shot, creating a slim ellipse (shown in the image). This is especially important when your rim/lip is irregular, so you can show off the dynamics it.
Setting up the functions of your camera will sort of be a balancing act, and you will have to find the right combination for varying pieces. However, you want to make sure you are in the right range for each setting to ensure maximum focus, maximum detail, and correct color. These settings will vary to find the best shot.
Here are some ranges for each setting to consider.
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Small Aperture: most likely above 10, but the higher the better
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Low ISO: between 100-400
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Slow Shutter speed; most likely between 1sec-1/40sec (hence why you NEED a tripod)
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Appropriate white balance, or “custom white balance"
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Shooting in 'JPEG', Or 'RAW' if you prefer.
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Camera set to 'M' or manual: this will allow you to independently adjust setting without influencing them as a whole.
Now, you are ready take the shot! Take a look through your cameras view finder and make sure the light meter is in the middle and that you piece is well composed in the shot. Typically, taking three shots is my minimum (though I usually take more). I take one slightly under exposed, one right in the middle, and one slightly over exposed. Taking multiple is a good idea anyways, just in case you bumped your camera and one shot is out of focus. You should reset your focus every shot and play around with where the focal point is. When using auto focus, your camera will show you where it is focused with small red blinking dots when pressing half way down on your trigger.
Shooting your photos.
If you are not shooting with a seperate trigger, you can go into your settings and shoot with a delay. This will ensure that your camera is completely still during the shot. If you are worried that you aren't getting everything in focus, you can take multiple photos, all focused in different areas, and layer them in Photoshop. From here photoshop can mask out/in different parts of each layer to obtain all points of focus. This is called focus stacking. For an in depth tutorial, click HERE.