Woodwork photography

I've been photographing some woodworker friends' pieces lately. These are all lit with Speedlites and I'm working toward doing this kind of thing professionally for use in their portfolios or guild submissions. Constructive criticism would be great, thanks...

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Another piece:

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And one more:

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Very nice but watch your angle you can see your umbrella reflection in the glass on the second piece.

Yeah, I'm not overly fond of the the way the umbrella looks in the shot, but I couldn't think of a better way to light it that also revealed the fact that the door is made up of multiple panels and effectively convex. I think a square softbox would give specular reflections that indicate "curvature" and ultimately look better than the umbrella spokes for this piece.

I would have shot the first piece from a little higher angle and off center, show the top. The third piece is just a mess with that art glass in there. Just my opinion, but the glass ruins the whole thing for me. Nothing you can do with a camera will help it, except maybe shoot it with the doors open. I also would have shot it from a higher angle.

It might help your learning process to study some furniture shots out of a catalog or even the Sunday suppliments. See how they do it. That's what I'd do. You know those guys are already good enough to make money at it.

I actually shot these pieces from multiple angles. I guess I could just post the whole gallery for more context: http://hochstetlerphot​o.zenfolio.com

I was going to suggest a picture or some other addition to the frame in that first one. I see you got it in one of the shots.

I had a two car garage turned into a wood shop and at one time had build a few things for paying customers. I don't think I got as good as this guy though. Not sure what got into him with that swirled glass though. It totally defeats the purpose of showing the face or the pendulum.

Nice work of nice work...

I think catalogs such as Pottery Barn, Hardware Restoration, etc. and some of the furniture making magazines would be good sources of inspiration and ideas. Because flash can give unpredictable results on highly polished surfaces and glass, maybe you should experiment with just light reflectors and longer exposures on a tripod mounted camera.

Setting aside the minor lighting issues already mentioned, I think taking these shots from a slight offset angle and not straight on would be better. It would give more volume and presence to the pieces. They look kind of two dementional without a little of the side showing. JMHO...

Thanks for the feedback. Catalogs are a good idea. I'll looks at more images in places like that and see what they have to offer.