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Season's Greetings to All! As this post's title indicates, this is a well thrashed horse being brought out for further examination: Recently, I got interested in violin/bow photography. Before I got started, I wanted to do my homework. A cursory search here on Maestronet brought me to Michael Darnton's chapter on instrument photography, so this is where I started. A little deeper searching was enlightening: cf. this recent telecentric lens post. A post on this thread suggests using a telephoto lens to photograph scrolls for templates, in order to reduce distortion. Tarisio's instrument photography guide has been commonly referenced, but seems to be down. Everybody was very complimentary towards it, which makes me wish I could review it! (Ditto a now defunct guide at J & A Beare's website.) While browsing the 2005 Reference thread on violin photography I found this Photoshop advice thread from 2004 with some still relevant information... This 2011 Thread on shiny instrument photography was notable for identifying two "camps" of instrument photography. Particularily interesting was an anecdote from Michael Darnton from his time working for Bob Bein. Apparently they had different ideals/goals for violin photography: Michael wanted more 3D detail, and didn't mind shadows (if I understand correctly) in order to get it. Robert wanted everything flattened out with lots of lighting, which brought out lines, etc., which was useful for identification purposes (IIRC). Of course, in an ideal world, it should be possible to get both! On a related note, I like a lot of the photos on the Music Museum of America's website. I also found this thread which includes a photo of a Vuillaume by Jeffery Holmes that I really like - I feel like it has great clarity, and I can imagine the arching of the fiddle based on the photo. Lighting seems to be key in all of the above discussions. Naturally, this is the area I have the most issue with. Most of the guides referenced above recommend using a pair of "hot lamps" set at an angle. However, (perhaps due to an EU ban?) it is currently well nigh impossible to find incandescent bulbs here in Europe. I do have a 500W bulb from West Germany that still has a little life in it, but because I only have one, it creates a lot of shadows, and not the good kind... In lieu of photo floods (which have the the side benefit of showing shadows and glare ahead of time), has anybody here used LED lighting for instrument photography? That seems to be the fashion here nowadays. From what little I have read about LEDs, they are efficient because they don't use the full spectrum of light. I would think that this would be bad for photographing violins - but what do I know? Any thoughts on Halogen lights? What are you using currently? Any suggestions for a settup available to purchase/rent here in Europe? Is there perhaps an analogue to the inexpensive Smith-Victor lighting sets available in the States? Something I could adjust/dim would be ideal. Cheers, Scoiattolo
