Cheese A Day: Cheap Upgrades on the Photographic Front

Cheese Makers Forum FAQ Equipment part 1 Equipment part 2 History

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Cheap Upgrades on the Photographic Front

So far I have spent less than $20 upgrading the ghetto studio I use to photograph these experiments. Eight dollars went to a 500 watt halogen work light. Two dollars went to a small amount of semi-transparent fabric. And about ten dollars went to Cost Plus for three new, small dishes. Between that, not using a flash, positioning the lightbox under our skylight in the kitchen, and just a little bit of tweaking in Picasa, I think they are coming out much better. Not great, but a definite improvement.

Now I just need to find the effing tripod, which I swear has just up and walked away. I really don't want to have to buy another one, just because yet another thing got lost in the last move.

2 comments:

TrevaMarch 18, 2009 at 4:47 PM
I was just wondering what sort of set-up yr using. The most recent posts look good, I think. Curtis may let you borrow his tripod until you unearth yours. Or you can train Brunhilde to hold very, very still. ...
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JaphrgMarch 18, 2009 at 4:55 PM
I'm using Picasa for cropping and a tiny bit of color correction, and crappy little point and shoot Canon (Powershot A590, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011ZCDKS/ref=sr_abn_?pf_rd_p=461946701&pf_rd_s=gp-center-4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=502394&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FHEAPR63EVXAHYTS537 ). The home made light box and that eight dollar halogen work lamp made the biggest difference, though I can't leave the lamp on for more than just a few minutes--it's so hot I'm afraid it's gonna catch the fabric on fire :D
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Cheese A Day by Jeremy Pickett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at cheeseaday.blogspot.com.

Kicking and Screaming into the Kitchen
The Weekday Vegetarian
Washington Cheese Guild
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Serious Eats
So Good
Schack Farm
Cheese Wire
FU Cheese
Cheese Forum
BBQ Bretheren
Savor PDX

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Ten gallon, all grain clone of the Wee Heavy Scottish ale Belhaven 90 shilling.

Theakston Old Peculiar
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Techniques

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Here is how to build a very large capacity cheese press for 10-20 gallon batches for less than $20 brand new. Warning--reading these instructions may result in an extreme obsession for Very Large Cheese (VLC).

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Using cheesecloth for pressed cheeses can be a little bit frustrating. Here is a technique that is really easy to set up and gives great results.

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