My Photo Booth

My wife Leah mentioned something about my inexpensive but effective "photobooth" on a pottery forum somewhere and it has struck the interest of a few people.

Hi Cody,
I read your reply about the photobooth and I would love to hear more about it and how you set it up. I'm a tile artist from Israel and I would love to be able to take better photos of my work for my website. Thanks a lot and good luck with your work.

Hi, I am new here and while browsing discussions I saw the "drawer" solution. I would like to know how that works. It sounds creative :).



Here's how it works:


I went to the thrift store and bought a really cheap old dresser. The dresser is 48" tall, 34" wide and 18" deep. Then I went to the hardware store and bought a sheet of masonite that is 4' by 8' and 1/4" thick. While at the hardware shore I also bought a small can of flat gray paint and two lamp kits. A lamp kit usually comes as a bag full of parts.

First I took the drawers of the dresser out one of which I will be using later. Then I turned the dresser on it's side so that it is now 34" tall and 48" wide. As you might have guessed I painted the masonite gray with a rolling style paint brush. I screwed the masonite to the wall about 8' off the ground and then I screwed it to what is now the top of the dresser. I placed the dresser away from the wall that the masonite is screwed at my determined distance. I determined that distance according to what kind of curve I wanted the masonite to have.

The Drawer:
I drilled two holes, one in each side of the drawer, which I then ran my lamp parts through so that I had a two places on the inside of the drawer to screw in a light bulb. The bulbs I used are full spectrum bulbs which means that the light is more like natural sunlight and doesn't have any kind of yellow tint to it. I covered the inside of the drawer with white paper to help reflect light.


Finally I hung my drawer light from the ceiling. I attached cables, with hooks on them, on either side of the drawer. Then I hung chains down from a stud in the ceiling. This way I am able to move my light up or down so I get the perfect amount of overhead light on the piece I am shooting.



Although this worked good I found I was having some dark spots behind the piece, so I got creative with some tin foil. I made a tin foil lamp shade for an old lamp that I had. I set this lamp to the right side of my photobooth. Keeping the light turned on I adjusted the tin foil so that it would fill in any remaining shadows. I also put some tin foil on the wall to the left of my photobooth to reflect back the light that was coming from my floor lamp with the tin foil shade.

My Camera:
I have a Canon Power Shot 610. It is not the best camera in the world but it's not bad for a cheap little 5 megapixel. I use the built in macrolense for my camera. If you have a Canon just push the button that makes the little flower icon show up. I never use a flash. and I either use a tripod or try and keep real still when shooting. Dave Hupp says: "Manual focus your camera. Manually adjust your camera's exposure." I put the camera on auto and I adjust the exposure afterwards using the basic little photo program that came with my computer. I probably should learn to manual focus my camera. I'll have to get around to that.

I hope I have explained this alright. If anyone has any further questions please feel free to email.

*Special thanks to Master Potter Rhue Bruggeman for teaching me the art of the cheap photo booth.

Another Fund Raiser for Emme

Emme Ek, a 4th Grader at Forest Hills Elementary, was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumor.

Emme has been at Doernbecher Hospital for the last month enduring many surgeries to remove the high-risk tumor.
Eventually, she will have chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Emme's mom, Nicole, has left her job at West Linn Hairport, to care for Emme at the hospital and is uncertain when she will be able to return to work. Emme's big brother, Austin, a sophomore at Lake Oswego High School, also has been at his sister's side.

It's times like these when our community must come together to help a family that needs and is grateful for our support.

This is the second fun raiser for Emme. This is a good chance to help out a family that really needs it. Some of the pottery that my wife and I have donated was not auctioned off at the last fundraiser (see pics at this link), instead It will be auctioned off at a fund raiser taking place tomorrow night. Hope to see you there.

Where and where?

At The Hawthorn Theater 503-223-7100

1507 Se 39th Ave Portland, OR 97214

Thursday December 3rd starting at 6:00pm

There will be 5 live bands playing at this fundraiser. $10 at the door. So buy some cool homegrown Oregon art, listen to some music, have a drink, and donate to a good cause!


If you can't make it to the fundraiser and you still wanna help you can check out www.gooddeeds.org to find out where to send donations.