Since deciding to do this blog and document the progress of each painting, the thing I have struggled with the most is photography.

If you go back to the beginning of this blog, you may notice – I hope – the photography getting better and better with each post.

But still not great.

Good even light is not easy to come by. I tried a light box with my “good camera”. Getting it all set up every time I wanted a progress photo just didn’t work.

I have 2 good lamps in my “studio” but both cause “strobing” or white lines on the painting. I’ve tried different bulbs but haven’t been able to figure out what is wrong.

On a table by a picture window works when the light is right. But I want to take photos throughout the day as I work.

I finally found a “sweet spot” in the bathroom of all places. There are 3 lights over the bathroom sink that provide nice, even light so for a long time I was taking all photos there, placing the board that the painting was mounted to right over the sink.

Rate this professional set up!

I live on the 3rd floor of a condo but have a little space for a table and chairs outside. I started using that and moving a chair around until there were no shadows.

However, I found too many of the photos showed the paintings skewed – from not having the phone right over the painting and level. Yes, I do have an editor that will “unskew” a photo but that truly it is a hassle editing with Mac Preview then having to use another editor just for the skew. I’ve been spending almost more time editing photos to make them look halfway “right” as I have been painting. And that’s not fun.

But now I’ve found this. Surprisingly well made and heavy for the price. The assembly directions were just stupid and I put it together incorrectly like 4 times until I got it right but when I got it all together, it was amazing.

I can tote it outside, set it up and go with no hassle. It adds about 45 seconds to the routine.

It is not sturdy enough for an SLR camera – just a phone but works well for that.

I usually set it up on a little outside stool that I have and I found that I can use the walkway crack as a guide to line up everything. Hey, silly maybe compared to a photography studio but it is cheap and it works.

So yeah, check it out. Perfect painting photo with one shot.

So if you have photography problems – about $30 on Amazon. Link here.