I like to post progress pictures of the instruments I make on Instagram, below you will find the most recent. Clicking a picture will take you to Instagram.
Taking photos of violin family instruments is notoriously difficult! Unwanted reflections and busy backgrounds can make your beautiful instrument look awful. Getting the color to look right, and eliminating distortion can also be maddening. In this article, I will try to give you the tools to do the job well at several different budgets.
If you just want great photos, without the trial and error, I recommend contacting your local violin shop. Many will have photography as a service. Here’s our Instrument Photography offering.
If you enjoy a challenge and enjoy photography, read on!
$0-$50 Budget
If you have a smartphone and a wall, you can probably take a pretty decent photo of an instrument. If you have a white wall, even better! We just need a background that’s uncluttered, so if you have a different colored neutral wall, that’s ok too. If the wall is a wild color, the color can bounce back onto the instrument, causing a color cast on your instrument. You can also buy white foamcore sheets (or use photo paper) as a background.
You are also going to need a way to support your instrument while you take the photo. We want the instrument in an upright position, with the scroll pointed towards the ceiling. If you are taking photos of just the body, you can have a friend hold the instrument by the neck. Some people balance the instrument on a drinking glass, which can work in a pinch – but make sure to have someone standing by to catch the instrument if it begins to tip! Others have used fishing line to hang the instrument from the scroll. I’ve tried this before, but you will need somewhere to attach the instrument. If you are going to do this more than once, I really recommend making a photography support.
I made this support from scrap wood and acrylic sheets. You can also buy acrylic photography supports. Make sure to sand the top edge of the support, or you might scratch the instrument.
Once you have found a setup for holding your instrument in front of the wall, it’s time to address the lighting. Lighting is the most important aspect of a good photograph. For this budget, we’ll be using any 2 lamps you have in your home. Ideally, they need to have the same kind of light bulb installed. Shop lights (the kind with the long tubes) work great for this. We want even lighting coming from both sides of the instrument.
Place the instrument on the stand a few feet from the wall. Put the lights on the left and right of the instrument, an equal distance away. In my case, I used chairs to hold up the shop lights at the correct distance. If the lights are directly in line with the instrument, you can light the instrument with the least amount of bright spots/reflections on the finished image. You can play around with moving the lights forward and backward until you are happy with the result.
Make sure all the other lights are off in the room, and if there is a window, be sure to close the blinds. If you have light colored objects on your side of the room, they may appear in the reflections. In my case, the white walls and cabinets of the room did end up in the reflections.
Many phone cameras these days have a telephoto lens; if you have one of those on your phone, use it. It will give you the least amount of focal distortion. I used the “Expert Raw” mode on my phone’s camera app, with the 3x zoom lens. I use the “Raw” mode, because I will edit the photos later on my computer. I you won’t be doing that, I would use the regular camera mode.
Center the violin in the frame, and try to get a straight-on shot. You can tell if you are straight on when the front and back corners are all aligned. Adjust the exposure so that the violin looks right, and snap the photo! Here are my results with my phone camera:
Looks pretty good – especially considering the very low budget! I used photoshop to cut out the background (there were a few scratches on my wall), and to make a collage of the front and back of the violin. If you’re looking for a free tool, you can use GIMP or Adobe Express
Some of the reflections could probably be eliminated if I was able to darken my side of the room, maybe with a dark blanket.
$50-$100 Budget
The first thing to upgrade when budget allows is lighting. Getting lighting that is meant for photography makes a big difference. Something like this with reflective umbrellas will help get a more even light over your subject.
I would also recommend getting a white background, so that you can move your photography studio somewhere where there will be fewer reflections. I use my basement, which is very dark. I prefer to use paper like this as a background, instead of a muslin. Also, using a good quality white paper background (I bought mine from my local camera store) will help your phone (or camera) with choosing the right colors for the scene.
With these upgrades, the basic setup is the same. Here is the result:
This is starting to look really good! We’ve eliminated the unwanted reflections, which makes the details of the instrument much easier to see.
$50-$300 Studio Budget + Camera
Using a dedicated camera can really improve the quality of your instrument photos. Any modern camera from any of the major brands will give you good results. If you are using an ASP-C camera, you can get great results with a 50mm prime, or better yet a 50mm macro lens. For maximum image quality, I would go for a full frame camera with ~100mm macro lens. I use a Nikon full-frame camera with the 105 mm macro lens.
Getting a good quality tripod is also recommended; getting maximum clarity depends on a steady camera. You will want to set your aperture to between f/8 and f/11, which will slow down the shutter speed of your camera.
With the exact same setup as before, this time using a proper camera. The aperture is set to f/11, ISO 100, and shutter speed 1.6 sec. The white balance is set using the white photo background in order to ensure the colors are perfect.
This is what we’re looking for! A good camera can handle the complex shades of violin varnish much more successfully than a phone. The lighting looks great here, very even with no reflections. This is what the instrument actually looks like, a very accurate portrait.
What do the pros use? $1000+ studio + camera
Our last setup worked great for a commercial violin with shallow arching, but what if you have a 300+ year old instrument with tall arching?
Tall arching makes it so much harder to get a photo without reflections!!! To solve the problem, we need more lights. Pros use strobe lights, which also help keep the shutter speed higher, decreasing noise and increasing clarity.
For instrument tops, we use 4 lights with umbrellas – in the NW, NE, SW, and SE corners of the violin. The more ceiling height in your studio, the better – getting separation between the lights and the instrument helps with reflections.
For instrument backs, we use 2 lights (no diffusion) directly above the instrument, another lighting the background, and one lighting the lower half of the instrument from a few feet back and directed through a honeycomb grid.
Here’s an example of a viola with tall arching. The first photo is with the $100 setup:
Notice the hotspots and shadows.
In the professional setup for instrument tops, we use 4 lights with umbrellas – in the NW, NE, SW, and SE corners of the violin. The more ceiling height in your studio, the better – getting separation between the lights and the instrument helps with reflections.
For instrument backs, we use 2 lights (no diffusion) directly above the instrument, another lighting the background, and one lighting the lower half of the instrument from a few feet back and directed through a honeycomb grid.
Same instrument, with the pro lighting setup: This one is shot at f/11, 1/160sec, ISO 100
Now the entire instrument is illuminated evenly, with no hot and cold spots. I used a white balance card with the final flash placement in order to ensure the perfect white balance. When the photo is edited, I double check visually to ensure the color looks correct with the instrument in hand.
Using strobes involves a bit more work to ensure the correct exposure, but you can set each strobe individually – allowing you to create a very even light over the entire image.
If you want to learn more about the professional setup, I highly recommend this article in the Strad about Robert Bailey
Listed below are a set of price estimates for common repairs from Gig Violins LLC in Madison, Wisconsin (note: prices for repairs vary by region, mostly due to cost of living considerations).
These are merely guidelines because the needs of every instrument are slightly different. We have listed these here to make the process more transparent and less intimidating for our customers. Please contact Gig Violins to talk about your instrument’s specific needs.
Luthier Nathan Giglierano runs Gig Violins LLC out of his home-workshop on North Gammon Rd. To protect his privacy, the exact address is not listed on this page but will be shared when making an appointment to visit. The map below gives a general indication of the location. Nathan’s workshop is a very short walk from a bus stop.
In part one of the article, I discussed the differences in construction between a baroque and modern violin. In part two I will discuss the setup of the instrument, including the tailpiece, tailgut, bridge, and strings.
The shape and design of the baroque tailpiece varied from maker to maker, sometimes simple and sometimes very intricately inlaid. The main difference between the baroque and modern tailpiece is the way that the tailgut is attached. On the modern tailpiece, the holes are hidden, running lengthwise through the material. On a baroque tailpiece, the holes are visible, running through the top.
Modern tailpieceBaroque tailpiece
For my instrument’s tailpiece, I chose to recycle an old fingerboard from a 150-year-old violin that was too worn down to be used anymore.
The tailgut on baroque instruments was made from gut, as opposed to nylon which is now standard on modern instruments. In order to secure the tailgut to the tailpiece, I used a fisherman’s knot. The Stradivari Stitch was another common method for attaching the tailpiece.
Fisherman’s knot, secured by a dot of glue.
If you are interested in purchasing a baroque style tailpiece, I now make them for violin and viola from flamed maple:
Baroque Tailpiece – Flamed Maple
Custom-made baroque style tailpiece. Made from solid flamed maple.
Comes with a synthetic gut (Kevlar) tailgut.
If you would like a specific one from the picture, please add a note to your order when checking out.
Length: Violin 108 mm, Viola 120 mm.
If you need different dimensions, feel free to contact us.
The baroque bridge also came in a variety of shapes and sizes. I chose a model similar to the one used on the “Tuscan” Stradivari viola. In the picture below are a number of Antonio Stradivari’s templates housed in the Museo del Violino in Cremona.
Various templates for fingerboards, tailpieces, bridges, scrolls, and f holes.Modern Violin BridgeBaroque Violin Bridge
Finally, I chose to string the instrument with Gamut gut strings. Learn more about them here.
Here’s the final setup of the violin.
This violin is no longer for sale, but to see this violin’s twin, click here.
For my next project, I will be making a baroque violin. What exactly does that mean?
As instruments evolved through the centuries, various modifications became standard practice. As concert halls grew, so did the need for instruments that could play louder and be heard over large ensembles. The culmination of these changes is what we consider the “modern” violin. When we talk about baroque violins or violins with baroque or periodsetup, what we really mean is instruments with their original setup, before these modifications. By our standards, every instrument made by the Stradivari, Amati, and Guarneri families was “baroque” when it left the shop.
Why would we want to abandon these modifications? In time I will write a full post about this topic since this is beyond the scope of this article, but for now I will just say this: the modifications that made instruments louder also made them less natural to play in the rhetorical style of the Baroque, removing a layer of subtlety from the music in favor of projection. Much of this subtlety can be regained by using gut strings and a period bow (check out ours here!), but many musicians feel that having an instrument that is fully in period setup gives the optimal experience.
As I am building this instrument, the first difference I come across is the way that the neck is attached to the body. While later necks are morticed into the body, instruments made in the 17th century were attached to the neck with a nail (or later a screw). The neck attaches directly to the outside of the rib garland.
Neck clamped in place on the ribs to check fit.The ribs are removed from the mold and the neck is attached with glue and nails.
The next change is the bass bar. There is some debate as to the “typical” dimensions of bass bars on baroque instruments. Conventional wisdom says that baroque bass bars were significantly smaller than modern ones, though there are exceptions and historical examples of bass bars that are larger or the same as their modern counterparts. I decided to go a little shorter, and with a little less mass than I would typically for a modern instrument, though the change is subtle.
Baroque bass bar
Modern bass bar
The final change to the body of the instrument is the fingerboard. Because the neck is set at a shallower angle to the body, the fingerboard must be elevated by a wedge. This means that there is a large change in the thickness of the neck as the player shifts to higher positions. For the top surface of the wedge, I’m recycling an old fingerboard that was too worn down to be used on a modern instrument. Maple was sometimes used as a top surface for fingerboards (often with intricate inlay patterns) but ebony is more durable and won’t wear as quickly. Maple is used for the sides of the wedge and spruce fills the inside to reduce the overall weight.
Baroque style fingerboard wedge.Final result with the fingerboard attached to the instrument. Note the angle of the neck to the body, which is shallower on the baroque violin.
The first two violas I made were on the larger side, large enough that it was a bit challenging finding a case that would safely fit them (though I have now found a few good options, luckily!). They both sound fantastic, but are certainly designed for taller players. I’ve decided that my next challenge will be making a smaller viola for players looking for an instrument of a more manageable size.
For this instrument, I decided to design my own pattern using Kevin Kelly’s ”four circles” method, a tool for drawing outlines using geometric principles. The design I came up with is similar to the Conte Vitale Andrea Guarneri viola, though my design is recognizably different enough that I feel comfortable calling it my own.
My design for my small viola pattern.A few of my drafts (there were nine or so). The Andrea Guarneri viola I analyzed is up in the top left.New mold from my design.Using Italian spruce from the Val di Fiemme (where Stradivari ostensibly got his spruce) and European maple (from Slovakia, I believe).Working on another Kreisler model at the same time as the new viola. Viola on the left, Guarneri violin on the right. Plates jointed and glued together.Basic outlines are done for these instruments, in addition to the ribs.
The final varnishing and set-up of the viola is now complete! Check the pictures below for some snapshots along the way.
After the first layer of ground (varnish)Backside view of first layer.After all the ground layers have been added.Inside the drying UV chamber.Varnishing is done, and many days of drying have slowly passed. Now it’s time for set-up! These are all the parts that need to be added to make it a playing viola.Now for the glamour shots.Beautiful flame.
