two kitties: Do-It-Yourself Photo Studio: Take Pictures of Your Art at Home for Free.

Many of the artists I work with tell me that they did not achieve commercial success until they hired professionals to photograph their work. When they can't afford it, they trade their art for professional photos.

I also believe in great photos, but I've been wanting to learn to do it myself. I've seen instructions for this DIY Macro Photo Studio pop-up on my internet travels, but never made time to give it a shot.

I made the photo box today, and I'm actually pretty pleased with the results. I put it together and shot about 16 photos in less than an hour. I made it with stuff I had around the studio. No money spent.

Compare this photo of "Egg Man" , taken in the DIY macro studio with the digital scan I'm using on my website. [I didn't crop the photo because I want you to see how the tissue paper lets light in on each side.]

I'm much happier with this photo. It captures the richness of the yellow, and the transparency of the encaustic wax without putting light through the wax as the scan did.

The DIY box seems to work best for small objects. I've never had good luck photographing this small piece I completed a few years ago. Lots of shiny stuff = lots of glare. The tissue seemed to cut down down on the glare, and overall, I'm pretty happy with this photo.