Photo Isolation for the cheapskate
March 6, 2007
You don't need fancy lighting equipment to create photos of small objects isolated on white, you just need Photoshop. Of course Photoshop costs much more than lighting equipment, but you can't win them all.
This method isn't perfect, but for a one-time investment of 99¢ the results are fairly impressive.
1) At a craft store, buy a piece of white craft foam. It should cost you around a dollar. Craft foam is great because it's durable, has an even surface, and is waterproof. If you can, go all out and buy the biggest piece they have.
2) My makeshift 'studio' is usually just a piece of craft foam on a chair in the greenhouse. I choose the greenhouse because it's fairly bright and the lighting is even. And it's cold outside. If you have a bright room to do this in, you're lucky. Otherwise you should do this outside. These tomater photos were taking outside.
In cloudy weather: Cloudy weather makes even lighting and soft shadows, though it can also make colours more washed out. It's best to use a tripod in cloudy weather/shade, because there is more chance of your photos being blurry in the low-light situation.
In sunny weather: Sunny weather makes dramatic lighting and shadows. The time of day will effect the shadows. The smallest shadows will be around 1:00 and the longest will be in the morning or evening. To soften shadows on sunny days, find shade.
3) After you've uploaded your photos, pick one. I'm going to use this one. I took this on the deck. It was a sunny day, but I was in the shade. You can use it to follow along if you'd like.
4) Let's paint the areas outside of the white backdrop with pure white. I do this now to make things easier when I adjust the levels.
