All Shook Up!

With the epicenter of Virginia's 5.8 earthquake just a few miles away from my home, I am still shaking. The thunderous sound was long and rumbling. Thankfully, except to numerous historic chimneys, there was minimal damage across the region which hasn't had such an event since a 5.9 quake in 1897. It did leave a souvenir of its visit on my studio wall!

Photography Booth Details

To build the photography booth described in an earlier post, I used leftover PVC pipe from my greenhouse. The most efficient way to build it would use:

• 8 tri-corners as shown here (i.e. 3/4" pipe)
• 1 or 2 sticks of PVC pipe that fits in your tri-corner pieces cut to lengths that accommodate the size of your paintings. Easy to cut with regular or hack saw OR hardware store will cut it for you. Pipe length OPTIONAL across bottom front.
• sheers (very cheap at big box department stores) to drape over to soften light
• backboard--could be cardboard--I used foam core
• lights with moveable necks for easy repositioning--I'm using 5500K compact fluorescent bulbs

No need to buy the PVC primer or glue. I dryfit everything so that it's easy to move OR resize for larger paintings. If possible, set it up on a wide table so that you can move the lights way out on either side (the table my set up on is too small). A tri-pod is essential. Dark passages are still tricky. To up my odds of getting a good photo, I rotate the painting 90 - 180 degrees taking a photo at each position and tilt the painting in various positions to eliminate glare. Interestingly, zooming out and snapping a photo (resulting in less of the painting occupying the picture plane) has been the best bet for some stubborn paintings. Be sure to eliminate light from other sources. Behind me I hang a curtain on a garment rack to block light from windows. I mainly use this setup for smaller paintings to post on the internet and simply use a Canon Coolpix camera.

Painting in a Series - Part 2

Shown here are three more quick studies of the same view shown in the previous post. These were painted on various afternoons.

Painting a Series - Part 1

Painting a series of the same view demonstrates how much nature actually changes in what at first glance is a static scene. I am still amazed as I look out upon the view in this painting how different it is at any given moment. I could likely paint hundreds of  ten minute studies like these of this same view and still have no two exactly alike. Lighting changes by the minute and weather and seasons alter it all. Painting a series results in greater visual sensitivity and shows the limitless scope of nature's views.

Photography Solution

When the heat wave descended upon Virginia a couple of weeks ago taking photographs outside became a real ordeal. The structure shown here made it much easier to take photographs of my paintings. I made it out of PVC pipes and elbows and draped it with sheer white curtains to soften the light. The compact fluorescent bulbs are in lamps that can easily be respositioned to avoid glare. The setup provides a consistency that makes picture taking a snap.  For how-to details, click here.