peek inside my diy photo studio



being able to work on my photography skills is one of my favorite parts of blogging
and today i want to share with you the little diy photo studio i've been working with lately
as well the awesome book i found that inspired it - the crafter's guide to taking great photos by heidi adnum



i had been trying to think of a way i could rig up a better photo area
especially since i had moved my sewing desk and the brightest window in our house was now free.
enter sweet photography book!

i snagged this book after seeing it somewhere online
and am so glad i did!
there are lots of diy tips for setting up a better photo studio on a budget
and lots of ideas on how to use your camera better, no matter how fancy it is.



since mostly these days i'm photographing small diy projects
i wanted a set up that wasn't too large and involved
and that would allow me to take clear closeup photos of each step of the crafting process.

i had a piece of big white paper and a little white mat board already,
now with a couple more tips from the book i knew exactly how i wanted to set everything up.



now i'm so happy with my cheesy little photo studio!

it's all set up on a north facing window ledge in our apartment.
i have a large piece of white paper clipped to the wall and weighted down as the background.
i'll also tape a piece of white matboard to the back of a chair and scoot it up to the side
to act as a light reflector.
this has been especially helpful on cloudy days, which we get plenty of here in portland.

since i'm a little bit short, most days i'll drag over another chair to stand on to get good overhead shots.
you should see the looks i get when people walking on the street happen to look up at our window, haha!



lastly, probably my favorite part of the the crafter's guide to taking great photos book
were the interviews with well known and inspiring bloggers and crafters.
it was really neat to see that most of them don't have fancy cameras or formal training
they just work really hard at practicing photographing what they love to do.

now i definitely want to play with my camera more this summer to keep working on my skills!

Comments

  1. I LOVE this! I need to figure something like this out, I just don't have a window with such a nice ledge. Totally going to go grab that book, thanks for the recommendation!

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  2. Great tips! I need to read this book! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. I've been going back and forth on purchasing this book and can't believe I didn't think of checking it out at the library! Just reserved it. Thanks!

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  4. Thanks for sharing! I'm heading to Amazon to get that book now! I'm also glad to see your little set up too! Similar to mine ;)

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  5. What a wonderful little photography corner :) I love how you had set this up and thanks so much for sharing, it has been really helpful :)

    thank you

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  6. so glad that you all are so excited to check out this book! it really is an awesome read and helped me tons :]

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  7. Wow! WHat a great idea, and your post couldn't come at any better moment! :) Thanks for sharing! I'm going to have to get that book somehow... :)

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  8. I have this book too! I live in a basement apartment so the light isn't the greatest. I usually have to move things outside, but then often the light is so harsh. Your setup looks easy, effective AND easy to take down when it isn't needed.

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  9. I had a bit of a laugh only because, I do this but on an even less grand scale and used computer paper. I love the poster board idea so much more! Computer paper has a flimsy rate of 10 on a scale of 1-10! Thanks for this ingenuousness!

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  10. Thank you for idea..a fan from spain!!

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  11. I neeeeed this book! Thank you for the recommendation!

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