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Home Made Photographic Sets

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Benji
Pro Critique
Sonshine StudiosOffline
December 10, 2009, 10:21:49 AM
I never buy manufactured sets. They are expensive and are dated after about three years, plus there is a good chance you may purchase the exact same one your competition just purchased.  Seniors want something new and exciting, so you must retire the "old" sets after about three years and replace them with new sets.  I like using styrofoam and plywood to build my sets. Styrofoam is cheap, lightweight and easy to carve into lots of different shapes.  The set below is retired now but is an example of how styrofoam can be made to look like just about anything.  The gears and nuts are styrofoam, the rest  is cardboard and plywood.

Benji
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 The-Machine.jpg - 121.64 KB - 125 views
 Shane.jpg - 120.85 KB - 127 views
« Last Edit: December 10, 2009, 02:48:36 PM by Benji »
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Benji
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Reply #1 - December 10, 2009, 10:25:51 AM
Another of my sets. The door was in the basement of this 1895 building so I "stole" it (I own the building) and set it into my styrofoam blocks.

Benji
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 1895-Door.jpg - 120.49 KB - 126 views
 Rachel2.jpg - 121.18 KB - 127 views
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Benji
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Reply #2 - December 10, 2009, 10:30:37 AM
My barn scene is made from rough sawn oak boards taken from the inside of an old barn that was being torn down. They were free. 

The lighting in the first image is what I used to light the second image (other than I shut off the kicker light at camera left.)  This is Evan my five year old grandson.  This image was taken last Saturday.

Benji
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 BarnScene.jpg - 119.39 KB - 129 views
 Evan-12-09.jpg - 136.45 KB - 129 views
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Benji
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Reply #3 - December 10, 2009, 10:36:58 AM
I built my "old railroad bridge" into a corner of my upstairs camera room, so it has two entirely different looks in one background. The stones are real, as is the rusty steel, but the steel is the same thickness as the steel in your car. I instantly rusted it by spraying Clorox bleach onto it. It went from shiney brand new steel to "old" rusty steel in about 30 seconds.  The second image shows the corner with the "rivets" which are styrofoam balls cut in half and glued onto thin plywood boards.

Benji
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 Amber2.jpg - 89.71 KB - 127 views
 Amber3.jpg - 140.79 KB - 126 views
« Last Edit: December 10, 2009, 10:39:48 AM by Benji »
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Tara
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Reply #4 - December 10, 2009, 10:37:18 AM
LOVE THEM~!  Those are so awesome Ben!!!  Can't wait to see them!  You're absolutely right about manufactured sets... 
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Benji
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Reply #5 - December 10, 2009, 10:51:59 AM
I call this one Savanna.  Several years ago I saw a doorway in Key West Florida and I snapped a shot of it and used the basic idea for this set.

Benji
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 Savannah.jpg - 129.32 KB - 125 views
 Kaila.jpg - 131.56 KB - 124 views
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Benji
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Reply #6 - December 10, 2009, 02:25:40 PM
This is my oldest set, a white staircase I saw in a fashion magazine years ago and copied somewhat.  It is actually two sets in one, stairs and what I call the cubbyhole under the stairs where the stairs meets the wall.

Benji
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 Sarah6.jpg - 109.89 KB - 113 views
 Amy7.jpg - 136.54 KB - 113 views
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Ginnypenny
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Reply #7 - December 10, 2009, 06:18:31 PM
What are the stairs made out of?
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Susie
www.definitionimages.com
www.charlesbarnardphotography.com

Ryan
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Reply #8 - December 10, 2009, 07:14:30 PM
Do you ever bring sets out of retirement after they've been out of use for a while or do you just toss 'em?  Recycle pieces maybe into new sets?
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Ryan

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Benji
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Reply #9 - December 11, 2009, 12:53:57 PM
"What are the stairs made out of?" 

Ginny,  they are "real" stairs but they don't go anywhere. I think my cost was about $300.00 for them.  They were manufactured to my specifications at the lumberyard, then I brought them here and assembled them in the camera room.

"Do you ever bring sets out of retirement after they've been out of use for a while or do you just toss 'em?  Recycle pieces maybe into new sets?"

Ryan, I've recycled a couple of parts from several of them but I have not retired any and then brought them back (yet!)

Benji
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Travis Minnig
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Reply #10 - December 11, 2009, 08:01:27 PM
What do you use to cut the styrofoam?  A regular saw is very messy and difficult to get clean lines in many cases.  I've always wondered if there's some type of hot wire method to melt through it instead of cutting it with a moving blade.  I've seen similar things in manufacturing of metal, but something that could do it in foam would be great for this type of project.

Travis
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Benji
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Reply #11 - December 12, 2009, 06:28:09 PM
Quote from: Travis Minnig on December 11, 2009, 08:01:27 PM
What do you use to cut the styrofoam?  A regular saw is very messy and difficult to get clean lines in many cases.  I've always wondered if there's some type of hot wire method to melt through it instead of cutting it with a moving blade.  I've seen similar things in manufacturing of metal, but something that could do it in foam would be great for this type of project.

Travis

Travis,

I have a styrofoam cutting tool that is a "hot wire" but I seldom use it as it cuts too fast IMHO.  I like my electric meat carving knife. It goes as fast or slow as you want to go and you can make a fairly sharp raduis cut if needed. That is what I used on the sprockets of the gears. After I cut them I took a small tin can that had about the same diameter as the sprocket, then I wrapped it with 80 grit sandpaper and sanded the sprocket smooth.

Benji
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Travis Minnig
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Reply #12 - December 12, 2009, 10:24:24 PM
Aaah yes, very good idea about the sandpaper.  Thanks!

Travis
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Travis Minnig Studios

BobEdens
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Reply #13 - December 14, 2009, 03:07:20 PM
You might want to keep the sprocket set, but "steam punk" it up a bit.
Steam punk is a "movement" that has been slowly growing for years, It will mushroom next summer when the next Pirates movie comes out. The bad guy is a "nemoy" like character.
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-----------------------------------
Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before. -- Mae West

Chattanooga Portrait Photographer BobEdens.com

Ginnypenny
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Definition ImagesOffline
Reply #14 - December 14, 2009, 09:03:40 PM
yesssss Steam Punk!

Spray paint it bronze or something.
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Susie
www.definitionimages.com
www.charlesbarnardphotography.com

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