My Card Studio

I got tired of bringing my cards all around the house looking for the best sunlight source so I decided to make my own studio. I took the sunlight lamp that was on my craft desk and created a studio. I replaced my desk lamp with a magnifying gooseneck sunlight lamp(provides light the appears like sunlight as well as magnify). I bought it recently at Office Depot for $24.99. (scroll down for the picture)

Two light sources on the left and right side provides better light but I had only one extra lamp. These lamps are rather pricey so I decided I'll make do with just one lamp. If you take a look at my cards, one side is always darker and it's because I only have one lamp positioned to the left of my card. I'm thinking maybe I should put the lamp in the center so it can light up the card on both sides. The problem with doing this is that it makes the cards appear flat rather than 3D.

Depending on the card, I'll use different designer pattern paper. Avoid overly busy designs. Neutral and small patterns are best. I'm currently using this lovely pattern. It's a little busy but not too much that it clashes with the card desgin. The beauty of creating a studio for your cards is that you can take pictures at night.

Picture taking tips for cards:

Avoid using flash on your cards and adjust your camera to take "macro" pictures if it has this feature. Macro allows your camera to focus on close ups. . .this prevents your close up pictures of your card from appearing blurry. Regular light lamps (as opposed to sunlight lamps) distorts the color of your card. . .if possible buy a "sun light" or "artificial sunlight" lamp. Okay.

Below is the magnifying sunlight lamp that replaced my regular sunlight lamp that I am now using for my card studio. Initially, it made me a bit dizzy to look at the image and a bit confusing because my hand and my brain had to adjust to what my eyes was seeing. However, after a few attempts. . .coloring fine details as well as blending the colors in were much easier and I did a better job staying within the line. I don't recommend using the magnifying lamp if you have a problem with motion sickness or vertigo.