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How to Photograph your PYOs PDF for download: http://echoeslight.com/PYO/How%20to%20Photograph%20Your%20PYOs.pdf
What you need -Tripod!!! -very important to take steady photographs! It doesn’t need to be a pricey one.
-Two strong light sources. This could either be the sun outside with a dampener/in the shade and a mirror/bright white poster/lamp, two bright daylight bulb lamps, or two photography lamps
These are what I use. You can buy this set for as cheap as $70 on Ebay. Sometimes it’s worth paying with cash rather than in headaches trying to Macgyver a lighting set up with dampeners. 
-A Lightbox! I made mine with PVC piping, translucent white fabric, a piece of plastic sheet for bottom support, and a strip of Black Velvet I found at Walmart for the back and bottom (and maybe some safety pins to pin it on). You can go to your local Home Depot and ask them nicely to cut you 8×14” pieces and 4×15-16” pieces of 1” pipe and ask for 8 matching 3 way corner joints (or longer cuts if you want a bigger box). You’ll need special adhesive to put them together. Make sure to measure the cut of your plastic sheet carefully to fit on the bottom rail from the inside.
Mine looks quite ghetto put together with band aid tape, but that’s because I move a lot, and I want to be able to take it apart, so the vertical pipes are not glued in. I store my box above the fridge!-A Camera. Now which camera is up to you, whether you want a..
Point and Shoot
Or a Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
The differences are Price and Quality. The more you spend- the better quality picture you’ll get. Here are examples:
(Disclaimer: I’m not biased for Canon, pick what brand you like!) How the Set Up Looks 
I live in a tiny suite, so my kitchen becomes my photography station once in a while. My lights and tripod fold up and tuck away in a small part of my closet when not in use. I use that TV table for everything so it travels.
How far away you want your light sources depends on how strong they are. It takes a lot of looking at your sculpture and flailing your dampener in front and away from your light source to decide what’s the perfect condition. Usually you want to aim to have as little glare as possible but still bright. I make sure the direct light path does not bypass the walls of my lightbox, but sometimes I’ll take the umbrellas off. Also a 3-4” long box taped on the edge of your camera lens to block ambient light can prevent your photos looking faded. I use a half-cut cracker box!
Move around lots! Look high and low to find that sweet spot angle on your PYO before positioning your camera in case you need to adjust your lights. I might adjust camera height every time I turn my windstone, but still think about consistency between the photographs as an album.
(also make sure your velvet is wrinkle-free or it will show up in the pictures. I pull the bottom out a bit so there’s no corner fold in the back)
Camera Settings The Point and Shoot
Every camera brand operates differently so I can’t give exact directions, but what you want to look for is the custom operation setting (not portrait or nighttime or fast objects, and definitely NOT Auto!). On my little Canon it’s called Program.
NO FLASH! Flash will just put glare all over your poor PYO with a non-professional set up (aka lots of other lights). Make sure your file size/quality is as high as it can be, and if you also have an artificial brightness setting (shown here as the measuring meter on the bottom of the screen) take it down 1 stop to prevent washing out your photo. You can rescue dark photographs, but if it’s white there’s no color information on the file to rescue.
The Digital SLR
The general setting I use is AV or Aperture Value. This controls the diameter of light entering your camera lens (which also affects focus depth) and automatically adjusts your shutter speed to accommodate. I use ISO 400 for the smoothest quality, and use a middle range F-stop (here it’s F14) to be able to have the entire sculpture in focus. If you are doing up close shots (for example if your unicorn butt is quite forward and the head behind) you can go as high an F-stop possible to have both ends in focus, or lower your F-stop to achieve a Macro effect where the non focal points are blurry. Note that the higher the F-stop the longer the shutter speed; this is why a tripod is so important to prevent shaking.
I also have the artificial brightness setting on this camera and use it sometimes, and again NO FLASH. You can also choose RAW file size for full quality photos, but because these aren’t for printing I just use the Large file setting and RAWs for detailed sculpts in case I need to reference that color scheme’s markings.
Video Composure is a bonus button on my SLR that allows me to see the photo before I take it. If you have this remember to hit the button again to get out so the camera can auto focus (mine doesn’t while in that mode).
Hitting the Computer (not literally) Now the part most of you might be afraid of: How do I edit my photos?
Not to fear though as there is an easy and FREE photo editing program called Zoner Photo Studio: http://free.zoner.com/I use it because it’s quick for loading large files and I can see PSD’s and RAW’s while browsing. Here is a screen cap highlighting all the features I use
Generally I start with cropping, then adjust levels or hit ‘quick fix’ if I’m lazy, and resize before I adjust sharpness, and add text last. Use your intuition on what looks true to the real thing.
I also use Photoshop for more advanced color adjustments/sharpening/image stitching for gallery pictures, but if you don’t have it/know how to use it Zoner works just fine.
**Make sure to watermark your photos**
Image theft is no strange concept these days and the folks at
Windstone Editions appreciate the extra effort if you do this. A simple
“Sculpture © WindstoneEditions.com”
is enough and it gives free marketing to W.E.! If you want to put your own name on it you can state “Painted by _____” or “Image and Painting © _______”
I use my domain name EchoesLight.com so they can find a direct contact email.Image Hosting I use my own website hosting, but you can use Flickr or Facebook to host sizable images (you just need to be sneaky in obtaining the image URL with a rick click). Photobucket tends to resize images too small.
Here’s the code to link to bigger previews for forum posting:
Replace “()” With “<>”
(a href=”yourimageurl”)(img src=”yourimageurl”)(/a)And that’s it! I hope this was helpful for you and that you can start posting amazing PYO pictures!
Excellent advice.Thank you for taking the time and trouble to do so.I’ll be honest,half of it I didn’t have a clue but I know where to start now and I can learn to do almost anything.Awesome idea. 😉
Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Toaster Dragon)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Thank you so much for this tutorial! I have a decent camera but only a rank beginner’s understanding of it. So this is wonderfully instructive!
I’ve also seen another method for building your own light tent/box (for a little bit cheaper), but am not sure if the website link would be a welcome addition. I can’t give my own opinion on it’s quality because I have yet to construct it (partially because of time, partially because of pinched finances). I can say it would be a bit less durable than the one you’ve shown though.
You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_nameI’d be interested to check it out. The PVC didn’t cost me more than $20 ($7 stick and 8 $1 ish connectors, though the special glue might not sell in small quantities everywhere).
I’d be interested to check it out. The PVC didn’t cost me more than $20 ($7 stick and 8 $1 ish connectors, though the special glue might not sell in small quantities everywhere).
Here it is as follows:
I still have to purchase the Bristol the instructor used for part of the construction, though I have everything else.
You can check out my work on dA & Redbubble!
https://prezaurian.deviantart.com/
https://www.redbubble.com/people/prezaurian?ref=artist_title_nameAh yes I made one of those a few years back! After a short while it started crumpling under its own weight and even hockey tape didn’t hold the stretchy fabric I only had at the time :S So don’t use stretch fabric and make sure you use a good strong cardboard to stand up to the cutting!
Hey, that is what i made, only i used tissue paper..and you know the rest from there.
Recently married to the ever lovable BiPolarBear (little John)
www.weaselsoneasels.com | www.facebook.com/weaselsoneaselsAs seen on This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN (2018) !
Always open for pyo commissions, repairs and fine artwork! Email me for current prices! awier(@)weaselsoneasels.comThanks so much for this Soulscape!!! This is a great tutorial and hopefully I can figure it out with my very limited camera knowledge!! Mucho appreciation!
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