Post by TimeArtPiece on Feb 9, 2019 4:45:31 GMT -8
The photos and videos for my collection site and the My Collection thread are made on a budget and several people have asked me to post some information about that.
My 'photo studio' basically consists of a set of LED work lamps, a cheap light box, a motorized watch stand and a camera on a tripod. Details are down below and links can be found in a blog post on my collection site (I wasn't sure if I'm allowed to post those here).
Light box
3 x IKEA TERTIAL work lamp USD 15
3 x IKEA LED bulb 1000lm 13W 2700K USD 7
Light box from eBay USD 13
The lamps are mounted to the wall and can be freely positioned around the light box. As reflections are always a problem when photographing watches, the lights and the camera are positioned so that the reflections are minimal at 0 and +-45 degrees.
The light box is foldable to about 22cm in diameter and in the upper position the lamps serve as the workbench lighting.
Watch stand
WeMos D1 Mini (ESP6288) USD 3.15
5V Stepper Motor 28BYJ-48 USD 1.83
5V 3A step down voltage regulator USD 1.14
2S LiPo battery USD 8
Watch holder USD 0.50 with custom made adapter
Can to house the stepper motor
Custom made Android app
The watch stand is controlled over WiFi with an Android app. It can turn continuously clock or counter clock wise, rotate relatively in 5 degree steps or it can be positioned at 8 predefined absolute positions. Two positioning sequences can be programmed so the stand could for example turn clock wise 45 degrees then counter clock wise 90 degrees and then positioned absolutely at 0 degrees.
The stand is something I just put together to make life easier and it is not a finished product nor for sale - at least not in its current version. With about USD 15 it's cheap and not that hard to build.
Camera gear
SONY Alpha (16-50mm lens)
Manfrotto BeFree tripod with ball head
Camera settings
Camera in manual mode (M)
Aperture: 18
Focal length: 50mm
White balance: 2700K
Settings photos:
Shutter: 1/4
ISO: 400
Settings videos:
Shutter: 1/60
ISO: 4000
Editing
The freely available image editor GIMP could be used to resize the photos, adjust the color, the brightness and the contrast. The photos of Time Art Piece are usually edited with Photoshop.
The videos are edited in the freely available editor DaVinci Resolve which is a great tool.
The results
My 'photo studio' basically consists of a set of LED work lamps, a cheap light box, a motorized watch stand and a camera on a tripod. Details are down below and links can be found in a blog post on my collection site (I wasn't sure if I'm allowed to post those here).
Light box
3 x IKEA TERTIAL work lamp USD 15
3 x IKEA LED bulb 1000lm 13W 2700K USD 7
Light box from eBay USD 13
The lamps are mounted to the wall and can be freely positioned around the light box. As reflections are always a problem when photographing watches, the lights and the camera are positioned so that the reflections are minimal at 0 and +-45 degrees.
The light box is foldable to about 22cm in diameter and in the upper position the lamps serve as the workbench lighting.
Watch stand
WeMos D1 Mini (ESP6288) USD 3.15
5V Stepper Motor 28BYJ-48 USD 1.83
5V 3A step down voltage regulator USD 1.14
2S LiPo battery USD 8
Watch holder USD 0.50 with custom made adapter
Can to house the stepper motor
Custom made Android app
The watch stand is controlled over WiFi with an Android app. It can turn continuously clock or counter clock wise, rotate relatively in 5 degree steps or it can be positioned at 8 predefined absolute positions. Two positioning sequences can be programmed so the stand could for example turn clock wise 45 degrees then counter clock wise 90 degrees and then positioned absolutely at 0 degrees.
The stand is something I just put together to make life easier and it is not a finished product nor for sale - at least not in its current version. With about USD 15 it's cheap and not that hard to build.
Camera gear
SONY Alpha (16-50mm lens)
Manfrotto BeFree tripod with ball head
Camera settings
Camera in manual mode (M)
Aperture: 18
Focal length: 50mm
White balance: 2700K
Settings photos:
Shutter: 1/4
ISO: 400
Settings videos:
Shutter: 1/60
ISO: 4000
Editing
The freely available image editor GIMP could be used to resize the photos, adjust the color, the brightness and the contrast. The photos of Time Art Piece are usually edited with Photoshop.
The videos are edited in the freely available editor DaVinci Resolve which is a great tool.
The results