Bathtub as white background

[mattyjacobs]

I don't know if anyone's thought of this before ... I was doing some amateur photography yesterday, and wanted a clean white background, to shoot something small (in this case, a strawberry). I was going to get some cardboard, but then realised that our bathtub is white, and is curvy ... so I gave it a crack!

Take one ordinary bathtub ...



Add the smallish object to be shot, lean over the edge, (i put my camera on top of a thick book, and put the strap under the camera body to angle it forward slightly) ... look through the viewfinder upside down to compose the shot, set the timer, click, stand back, and walla!



This was taken using the crappy flash that pops up on the canon.

Anyway, I don't know if this is 'Tips and Tricks' Worthy, wasn't sure where to put it, delete it if it's rubbish!

Cheers!

[Justin]

Good thinking! bit of a contortionist act to get your eye behind the viewfinder I bet...

[mattyjacobs]

yep. but I'm young and still (slightly) flexible...

[stubbsy]

Clever - did you clean the tub first

[gstark]

At our place the tub would be good to use as a black background.

Matty, for a good but inexpensive bacground, wander down to Office Jerks and grab some foam core board. Get some that's white on one side, and black on the other; buy two sheets of it.

You now have two white (or black) non-reflective backgrounds, as well as a pair of reflectors and subtractors to assist in lighting your shots.

[Geoff]

Good advice Gaz

[Yi-P]

Very thoughtful!!


But getting the camera and yourself down the bathtub and take pictures for an hour or two will be painful on your back i guess.

[mattyjacobs]

yeah, for an hour, that would be painful. in my case, I took two photos, about 10 minutes all up.

[sirhc55]

Clever thinking

[Reschsmooth]

Good work Matty. But you need a clean bath tub? Does that mean you have to clean the bath tub?

[Nogshale]

Cool idea, just one question why do you look though the view finder upside down?

[Alpha_7]

Cool idea, just one question why do you look though the view finder upside down?

Distance between the top of the eyes and the top of your head is shorter, then the distance between the your eyes and your feet. So in a tight space its easier to lower you head upside down into the tub (holding the sides with your arms) then it is to stand and be 1.7 meters taller then the camera.

[Nogshale]

Cool idea, just one question why do you look though the view finder upside down?

Distance between the top of the eyes and the top of your head is shorter, then the distance between the your eyes and your feet. So in a tight space its easier to lower you head upside down into the tub (holding the sides with your arms) then it is to stand and be 1.7 meters taller then the camera.

Righto, i thought he was just shooting from the rim of the bath tub, but i guess on looking at the picture the angle just isnt right for that.

Thanks

[Alpha_7]

You could be right too, it wasn't clear in the "lean over the edge" etc but I'm guessing by the angle of the shot.

[mattyjacobs]

yeah, what he said. so the camera is in the bathtub too.

and also, the shutter speed was such that I can't hold it still that long. If I had better light (or a better flash, or a faster lens) ... or if I knew photography better, then I could get away with faster shutter speeds. hence the need to sit the camera on a book in the tub.

[Yi-P]

This is where right angle finders come into the big rescue

[mattyjacobs]

yeah, that would be nice too.

and the 50mm f/1.8 ...

or a studio in the spare room.

but I'm not making money out of this, so the bathtub and a bit of bending will do!

[beetleboy]

I actually shot one of my last comp entries in the bath..it was disqualified cos I left my name in the EXIF (dah!! - didn't make that mistake the second time )

The bonus of the bath is it's a 180 degree cyclorama so you get great wrap-around lighting. The trick is to work subtractively and take light away from where you don't want it by using black reflectors - I find taping a black piece of cloth to the side of the tub works a treat!

[poompy]

i like the effect and makes for a cheap light setup, now if only i had a bath tub.

[mark]

Great tip... but with two messy kids in the house I think Gary's tip is the one for me.