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Step 4The setup
Turn the bucket upside-down. Drape a flat surface with a smooth, white cotton sheet. Flood the inverted bucket from above and behind with a light source. See how much better things are looking already.
The kind of light source doesnt really matter, as long as you dont set fire to the bucket, trip over the wiring or electrocute yourself. I used a studio lamp, simply because I already had one, but anything bright enough to punch through the plastic will work.
Try using electronic flash (strobe) if you have a separate unit. If you trigger it from the built-in (camera) unit, arrange things so that no direct, frontal light goes into the bucket.
The more powerful your light source is, the sharper your pictures will be without resorting to tripods, image stabilisation or other long exposure aids.
You can even add more lamps, because the plastic acts as both a diffuser and a reflector, preventing harsh, multiple shadows. Just dont let any of them shine through the hole in the front of the bucket.
Colour temperature (white balance) is a factor. Match your cameras settings to that of the light source if you can. Choose tungsten for example, if that's what the lamp is, or use A for automatic white balance if you cant.
Keep unwanted light out of the camera lens: use a lens hood. If you dont have one, ask someone to cast a shadow across the front element for you. If youre working on your own, set the cameras self-timer delay, to make time to do it yourself. If you can use both hands at once, work a cable release, or a remote control trigger, while you shield the lens with the other.
If you dont like a white background, use something else, like coloured velour or black velvet. Move the lamp(s) to the side if the new background blocks too much light from the rear, shadowing the foreground too much. If youre into computers, create a new background by using Photoshop or similar image editing software.
The kind of light source doesnt really matter, as long as you dont set fire to the bucket, trip over the wiring or electrocute yourself. I used a studio lamp, simply because I already had one, but anything bright enough to punch through the plastic will work.
Try using electronic flash (strobe) if you have a separate unit. If you trigger it from the built-in (camera) unit, arrange things so that no direct, frontal light goes into the bucket.
The more powerful your light source is, the sharper your pictures will be without resorting to tripods, image stabilisation or other long exposure aids.
You can even add more lamps, because the plastic acts as both a diffuser and a reflector, preventing harsh, multiple shadows. Just dont let any of them shine through the hole in the front of the bucket.
Colour temperature (white balance) is a factor. Match your cameras settings to that of the light source if you can. Choose tungsten for example, if that's what the lamp is, or use A for automatic white balance if you cant.
Keep unwanted light out of the camera lens: use a lens hood. If you dont have one, ask someone to cast a shadow across the front element for you. If youre working on your own, set the cameras self-timer delay, to make time to do it yourself. If you can use both hands at once, work a cable release, or a remote control trigger, while you shield the lens with the other.
If you dont like a white background, use something else, like coloured velour or black velvet. Move the lamp(s) to the side if the new background blocks too much light from the rear, shadowing the foreground too much. If youre into computers, create a new background by using Photoshop or similar image editing software.
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