The Better Picture

Michael Huntley, the ed of F&C came round yesterday to take a few extra pics of the Elm Cabinet II. I'd taken plenty but had managed to get some reflections in the door glass and one or two shots were out of focus, so not quite good enough for publication. After a brew, Michael set up all the gear in the lounge so it soon resembled a studio, cables and lights everywhere. He'd brought with him a set of professional studio lights which he arrayed around the cabinet to take the shots..and I was most impressed! Michael explained that the most important thing is to get plenty of light on the subject and then shoot on the 'manual' setting at f20 and 1/160th or even 1/250th shutter speed rather than the 'auto' that I'd been using to date. However, the rather daunting prospect of spending nearly £300 on lighting gear didn't fill me with much joy until he explained that a much cheaper way of obtaining a good light source was to use 'site lights'...the only thing necessary to do is to alter the 'white balance' on the camera. This morning then, I had a look at the Axminster site and they had them on special offer (25% off) so now I've got four coming in the post which ought to arrive later on this week.

After some nattering on the Interweb today, I'm now expecting an ever bigger parcel from the New World...can't wait!