Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Little Miss Muffet (a look at my photo box)


Hey everyone! Barbara (the owner and artist) at Little Miss Muffet asked us to share how we photograph our cards for blogging. Here a shot of my light box.  I have a pretty basic one made from PVC pipes. My dad built this one for me after I saw the one he was using. There are lots of online tutorials, here is one that is pretty similar to mine. I don't have the joints glued together, so it can be easily taken down when I need the space. 


Here is a photo of it in use. I cover it with a sheet to block the light from over head and from the window behind it. Next I turn the lamps on and angle them as needed. I take my photos with flash off using the macro (up close setting, the button on the camera looks like a tulip). My other photo taking life saver is using a tripod and timer. I not sure if it's just me, but I always have a little kick back from the camera if I'm holding it, blurs the photo for me. A tripod and time fixes that problem.


OK, here is my shot of the photo. Nothing great, but I am going to adjust that! For my photo editing I use a free online photo editor called Pixlr, it works well for me. I have PSE, but it find it complicated so I stick with Pixlr. 


The first thing I do is adjust the white balance, this really is the key for me. You can see the first photo looks so dull and yellow, but by adjusting the background to whiten it up, the colors really pop. I also always take the photos on an angle, that way you can see any dimension from a popped up layer and for me it seems to be the only way to capture glitter in a photo. 


Lastly I crop it down to get rid of all the excess background. That's pretty much it, I just reduce the file size and save it. 

The super cute image here is called Babe Little Star, this was my card for our anything goes challenge #90 last week, it's on for two weeks so you still can join the fun! My sketch is from Sketch n Stash #35.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! If there is anything I didn't explain well enough feel free to ask me.

11 comments:

Faye Wynn-Jones said...

This is brilliant Kathy, I have some tips. I think I need a tripod! x

Carolina Girl (Cely) said...

Darling card....have a soft spot for boys since that 's all I had...boys...haha I'd be lost with a little girl...haha Love your light box. Mine fell apart but I have something rigged that words. Yes, they can take up space. It's great that your dad made that for you. Thanks for the behind the scenes peek.

dawnmercedes said...

oh wow...what an awesome set up!! And your photographs are super...which is good b/c the worst thing is snapping a pix that doesn't show how awesome your card is. I need to make one of these these! Love it!

Jeni said...

Cool set up Kathy ~jeni :)

Melissa said...

This is great. Thanks for sharing your way of taking photos.

Unknown said...

Great post Kathy!!

Tracie said...

Thanks for posting this Kathy. I often wondered how you took such great pictures. Adorable card by the way.

Renee said...

Very clever! Love your cute card also!

Donna Mosley said...

Really great Kathy, love your light box.

Donna x

Imke said...

Super cute baby card, Kathy. Like the different colors and this cute little boy.

Barbara Sproatmeyer (LM2) said...

This is fantastic and I love the fact that you can take it down! :D I'm curious, is the white part on the bottom and across the back paper or white foam board? The white balance adjustment really makes a difference. Thanks so much - you've done a great job! *Hugs