New Lights and Some Color

Here is my new and improved light box photo. I found that my little desk lights weren't quite bright enough to show off my subject matter, so I got some clip lights and put in a daylight bulb so that all the colors were as true as could be. I also made sure to white balance my camera before shooting my subject and I added a nice patterned fabric beneath to make it pop.

The angle wasn't quite right when I clipped my lights to the sides of the box, but I didn't have any special light stands to fasten my lights to. To serve as stands, I tried clipping the lights to a couple bookends and it worked perfectly. They were easy to maneuver to get the lighting just right.

The Making of a Light box

A light box is something I've been meaning to construct for some time now. I get so frustrated when trying to take photos of things that I make in the winter time because of the lack of natural light. Everything looks dark and blah.

After a conversation today with miss Jen the Beantown Baker about techniques to improve her delicious food photography I decided to take on the challenge of creating an affordable, collapsible light box for people who may be short on space as well as cash. The problem I found with many of the affordable foam core light boxes is that every time you want to take it down you risk having the tape rip the walls apart. That in combination with the potentially frustrating assembly as one fumbles with the foam core like a house of cards lead me to the idea of a dove-tail like joint for the box.

This light box design cost about $4 for the foam core and another $1 for the poster board that I use to create a seamless background. It's quick and easy to assemble, tear down, and store away. I still need to find brighter lighting, I used two dim desk lamps to test, but it definitely has potential!

First I cut the foam core into 20"X20" panels. I then labeled each panel according to it's location on the box to keep myself from getting confused.
After I labeled my 4 sides I measured a 1" thick margin where each joint connected. Then I laid out the panels according to where they connected to the 'back' panel. Imagine the sides and top folding up at each joint and you can visualize how the box will connect.

With the joints touching I measured out 3" notches and drew my line across both panels to ensure that everything would fit together nicely. For someone who is less than precise when it comes to measuring, this is a great technique to ensure a good fit. I then shaded in the notches that I wanted to cut out with my exacto knife. I did this to keep from cutting out the wrong notch accidentally.

By tilting your panel up you can see where the notches fit into each other. The white ones, or tabs will fit into the shaded ones, the ones I cut out.

Once you cut out the shaded boxes to create your notches, you should be able to easily assemble the light box.

Here's the light box assembled. This will create 3 nice white surfaces to bounce light off of to create a nice even light source for product photography. The final step is adding a strip of poster board to create a seamless backdrop for the product. Since the light box is 20" wide with a 1" margin on each side I needed to cut my poster board to be 18" wide.

Again, I did not want to use tape which could tear the box and the poster board, so I cut notches into the poster that fit into the tabs on the 'back' panel. I set the poster's notches into the 'back' panels, then laid the 'top' panel on top of it to hold it in place. It worked out great.

Here are the 2 dim desk lamps I used to test the setup. I'd recommend getting a couple of those silver dome lamps with daylight bulbs to give brighter, better light. Here's a comparison of the light box set up vs. the flash on my camera.

(For tips on making this shot more appealing see updated post on lighting and color)

As you can see, the flash blows out the subject when you try to get close to it and creates a harsh shadow. It also flattens the image because the light source is only coming from one location straight on. The light box feels nice and soft and helps show off the contours of the subject by providing light from multiple angles.

Once I finished with the light box you simply pulled it apart and all of the panels lay nice and flat so that you can store it easily til the next use!

For other takes on the light box hack, check out:

Steph's light box which is made out of an old box, cloth, and poster board. This one diffuses light instead of bouncing it off the walls

and

Sara's mini photo studio which is made out of pvc pipe, white sheets, and poster board.

both turned out GREAT! Nice job ladies. :D

Adding To The Shop

After a bit of research on archival quality printing, I've decided to add a couple more items to my shop today. I chose to go with a few of the more interesting Ttv photos and an unframed print of the Wishful Thinking illustration.

I wanted to make sure that any prints that were purchased from me would resist fading and look nice and sharp. I'm looking mostly for prints that are guaranteed for 70+ years. From the bit that I've read, it's important to print on acid free paper to prevent yellowing, and use pigmented/archival ink to resist fading. I found a few online options that look promising. It took me a bit of time to sniff out these printers, so I thought I'd share them here to save anyone conducting a similar search some time. Here are my findings:

http://www.mpix.com/
http://www.iprintfromhome.com/
http://www.imagekind.com/
http://finerworks.com/
http://www.giclee-factory.com

I have yet to use any of these printers so I can't vouch for them. If you have used any of these printers, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I would really love to find a local printer to work with, I just am not sure where to start, especially if I'm not printing in bulk. If you're in the Indianapolis area, and you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I'll be sure to post any findings and reviews once I've discovered a printer I like! Yay for learning about print! It's a wide wide world and it's SO not dead.

The Results Are In!

My first attempt at printing with the gocco DEFINITELY didn't turn out as perfectly as I'd imagined it would, but isn't that the way with most first attempts? I set out to produce a set of prints to send out as Christmas cards and the experiment was full of lessons learned and questions I need to ask. Even though the prints didn't turn out as beautifully as I'd hoped they would, it was still fun to make. Here's a quick look at my process and my result.

First, I sketched up the initial design, scanned it in, then cleaned it up and played with colors in the computer. After a bit of playing, I finally ended up with this.I wish we had one of those little guys to take care of our shoveling for us! Least he has friends to make the work more fun.

Next I split the colors into 3 separate black and white compositions to use to burn the screens for the 3 different colors I wanted to print. I needed to take the compositions and have them printed on the laserjet printers at Kinkos because I needed carbon in the ink. Laserjet prints contain carbon, but my home inkjet printer does not. The first printout is what I used to burn the screen for the light blue color, the second for the light green, and the third to burn the screen for the dark green. I wasn't sure if there was too much detail in my illustration or not, so I was very curious to see if the detail of the shingles and the texture on the wall of the house would show up. I was pretty impressed by the results.

Insert blue filter then screen. The blue filter keeps the print from fusing to the screen when you burn it.Screw bulbs into housing then fit into top of the unit.Press down firmly on the front of the unit which will cause bulbs to flash and burn the screen. (I added a little flare to this photo for fun, cheesy I know, but hey this photo just didn't do the flash bulbing step justic)Here's a closeup of the middle screen. Check out the detail of the thin windowpanes and the ironwork. Pretty cool that the mesh is fine enough to pick all that up.

Once the screens were all burned it was time to print. I didn't have the color blue that I wanted, so I decided to mix my own. First lesson, I should have started with white, then added the blue. It was impossible to get it light enough once I had all that blue on my screen. Even after I printed all of my papers I still had TONS of ink left on the screen. All the ink was good for a nice even print though.Once you ink the screen, you lower the plastic sheet attached to the screen and fit the screen back into the unit facing the same way as when you burned it originally. Next step, place your paper on the rubber base, lower the lid and press. Then just lift the lid, the paper will stick to the screen, then you just peel it down gently and admire your print!
So, the colors couldn't really be further from what I'd originally envisioned. I decided to just roll with it though and deal with the brightness. Honestly, I dont mind the saturation, that crazy fluorescent green is kinda fun. I think if the blue was just a bit lighter and the dark green just a bit darker I would have been more ok with the overall look of the print.

I also learned that registering 3 colors with this model gocco is super difficult. Lots of mess-ups for sure.

The final point of frustration I had was knowing how much ink to flood the screen with. It seems to vary from color to color. I dont know if maybe the inks I have are different ages or if it has something to do with the pigment, but the dark green gave me ALL SORTS of agitation. Whenever I'd peel it off the screen I'd end up with certain areas with a heavier ink buildup than others. I was running low on the dark green ink, so I wasn't quite as generous with it as I was with the other two colors, and I wonder if that might be the culprit? If anyone has had similar experience with this kind of trouble, please share! Once I ran out I threw some black ink on the screen and it didn't give me that trouble... or maybe it did, but wasn't as noticeable because black is more opaque.

Does anyone have any tips on cleaning the screens? It seems impossible!

Overall, the experience was fun, and I cant WAIT to get more supplies for another project. I'm still unsure if I want to send these prints out as Christmas cards, or if I should just get the original illustration printed at kinkos or something to send out. I feel like the quality of this first run isn't necessarily what I want it to be to share with others, but then again is part of the charm in it's flaws? You can CERTAINLY tell they're hand-made. I'll have to live with them a bit longer to make my final decision.

So that's my first gocco experience in a nutshell! Hopefully there will be more to come.PS: I'd also recommend having furry helpers near by to give second opinions on the prints. Mylo was super helpful, especially when he laid on my feet to keep them extra warm.

Printing with the Gocco!!!

Oh Gocco! I knew we'd be a good fit together. Why did I discover you so late?!!!

I've been having so much fun playing with my new toy! After finally finishing a 3 color print design for our Christmas cards this year I've begun the printing process. I don't want to give too much away til it's finished. I just wanted to share a quick progress shot that Alex took.

This thing the Gocco and I have, it's love. So simple, such quality. I'm desperate to continue our love affair! Why has Riso stopped making supplies?! If anyone out there knows of alternative gocco supplies PLEASE let me know. If not, maybe you knows of a similar printing setup that ISN'T going extinct. That would be great too.

I guess the only thing to do, for now, is just to enjoy the time I have left with my beloved Gocco.

I cant wait to see how this first print project turns out with all 3 inks! I'll post when they're finished.

My Etsy shop, La Grisette, is up and running!

I'm trying a little experiment. I've purchased many a hand crafted item off Etsy over the past couple of years, and I always thought to myself, "Someday, I should post a couple items for sale and see if there's any interest". Well, today was that someday. I've opened an Etsy shop online and listed my first item for sale. Sure it needs finesse (the look, the wording, the information), sure I need to add more items to sell (photography prints, illustrations, gocco prints, tshirts), but for now, it's a start. So without further ado, I present 'La Grisette' my little shop on the web. Just one framed illustration for sale now. More items to come.

New Basement Tees

The design and motion company I work for, The Basement, is in need of some company tees, so I put together this 3 color design. We wanted something other than just our logo slapped on a shirt, so I tried to integrate a bit of movement in the design to associate with all the motion work that we do. The plan is to print them on Alternative Apparel shirts (the perfect crew for men and organic scoop neck for women). We're hoping to get these printed and sent out to clients as holiday gifts, as well as for ourselves of course. I can't wait to see them finished, hopefully we can get them printed soon. Happy Wednesday!