John's Photography Setup

Here are a couple of snapshots of my photo setup. It has worked well for me for years and it's easy to set up and use. 

The lights are strobe lights and they are bounced off the ceiling. Normally there would be large pieces of Foamcore between the lights and the pot, but then you would not be able to see what is happening. But it is important that the direct flash of the strobes be protected from hitting the pot to be photographed. It's also important that the lens of the camera not be able to see the direct flash of the strobe and this means even more ballasts of Foamcore. 

The ceiling, in my case, is slightly magenta so it's important to set the "white balance" in the camera before shooting or the photos will be slightly magenta.

There is a frame hanging from the ceiling and it is adjustable because it's counterbalanced by four plaster cast Dixie cups which are suspended from the ceiling. The Dixie cups have round eye hooks cast in them so that they are easy to attach to the rope which supports the frame, and there are two eyehooks in the ceiling for each corner.

The frame is of 1 x 2, and there is Foamcore stapled to each side, and it is painted black and the edges are taped with duct tape. It's easy to move up and down. 

Finally the background is Formica and it's a piece that started out 5 x 9 feet. These have to be special ordered but they allow you to photograph larger pieces.