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.

Kiln Conversion Questions

I got a great question from a fellow potter:

Cody,
Thanks for the step by step you did on the conversion of your electric to gas. I'm about to start the same process now and would like to ask you about a million questions (burner size, propane usage, pressure, burner location, etc). Anyway, would appreciate your feedback if you have time. thanks,

Here was my response:

For a burner I use the MR750 burner and pressure regulator combo such as the one shown at this link: http://www.wardburner.com/burnersparts/rakuburners.html

I use a 9 gallon propane tank. This size tank is the smallest tank that I am able to use to bring my kiln up to temperature. I am usually almost out of gas when the kiln reaches temp. My propane tank is also the biggest tank that I think I would be able to carry when it is full of propane. These two factors are what brought me to the decision to buy this size tank. A larger tank might be nice for you if you are in a situation where you don't have to carry your tank far, or you have a hand truck or something.

The burner location is about an inch away from the hole in the kiln. I prop it up on cinder blocks. you can kinda see it on the first pic at the top, and third pic from the bottom on this page: http://web.mac.com/codyo2/Site/My_Kiln.html

If you have any other questions feel free to ask I am glad to help. I would love to know how it works out for you. Maybe you will have some feedback that will help me, I am also kinda new at this.

CodyO

The CodyO Show is helping other potters :)

It feels good to pass some knowledge along to someone else. In this case "The CodyO Show" was able to help someone all the way on the on the other side of the country. So, from the Pacific to the Atlantic I was able to pass on the a skill first taught to me by The Great Rudy Seehaver (a master potter who inspired many) and that is the skill to throw a ceramic pumpkin and turn it into a jack-o-lantern. Check out what this NY Giants fan and potter was able to come up with for their unique and very cool looking Jack-o-lantern:

I know it's the Giants logo but if you blur your vision it kinda looks like two eyes and a mouth also. Well done! Can't wait to see it glazed. If you missed the episode of The CodyO Show where I showed how to make your own thrown ceramic Jack-o-lantern click here for a rerun. Lets see what you can come up with!

Jack-o-lanters questions

I got a great question from a fellow potter:

"I love your tutorial on how to make a pumpkin! I see that you completely close the top, but do you leave any hole for air to escape while it's drying? Is it not necessary to leave an air hole while it dries to leather hard? I know it needs a hole for when it is fired (which is accomplished with the carving,) but I didn't know if it was okay to leave it completely closed until you carve it."

Here was my answer:

"Thanks for your interest. I'm glad to help. Your concern about having a place for the air to escape is a valid concern. The danger is that if the clay is allowed to dry too fast, or of the clay is too saturated with water, cracks will appear. To remedy this you can poke a hole as you suggested, but I have found that as long as I cover the pumpkin up with plastic and dry it to the leather hard stage very slowly, it is just fine. Then when you make your first cut into the pumpkin you get to hear the pressurized air escape. It's kinda cool. Hope this helps"

I hope this helps others who may have had the same question. Keep the questions coming.