Sample pictures supplied by Cloud Dome

What is Cloud Dome?

Lighting has always been the concern of photographers. Good studio photographers invest their money in bulbs, umbrellas, tripods, electrical wiring, backdrops, and countless other pieces of equipment.

"Tabletop" photographers like Cindy Lichfield, CEO of Cloud Dome, Inc., have been plagued by the challenge of affordable photography. "The lighting was often uneven, and photographing shiny and highly reflective objects proved difficult. I always got hot spots and shadows in my shots."

Upon consulting her dad, a meteorologist, Cindy realized that she needed something to evenly diffuse ambient light – something like a cloud. She started with a milk jug, a digital camera and some duct tape, and began taking pretty good pictures. After countless revisions, and investment in better quality materials, the patented Cloud Dome was born.

Made of high impact, non-yellowing, crack-resistant plastic, Cloud Dome evenly diffuses natural light over the surface area of the object being shot. High quality digital photographs can even be achieved in low lighting. Lightweight and easily portable, the Cloud Dome is outfitted with a camera mount to eliminate any stability problems. It's the perfect accessory for any photographer of any skill level aiming to achieve the highest quality digital photographs.

The Cloud Dome is perfect for capturing images such as:
Beads - Jewelry - Gems and minerals - Coins - Stamps - Artifacts
Items to sell via online auctions - Sports memorabilia - Fossils
Documents, stocks, bonds - Circuit boards - Foliage - Evidence
Items to be patented or insured - Structural damage - Food Plates
Forensic pathology - Archeological sites - AND MUCH MORE

This group of bead photographs were all taken at an International Society of Glass Beadmakers convention while demonstrating the Cloud Dome system.
 
The backgrounds were not added digitally, they are actually part of the original photograph. This saves a great deal of time, and doesn't require any special knowledge of photo editing software. The various effects were accomplished as follows: Placed on the work table, and centered under the Cloud Dome, was one of the Cloud Dome 24" square Background Pads. Placed on top of the 24" pad, and with its edge aligned through where the bead will be, or near it, was any one or two of the following differently colored items - Another 24" square pad to create a straight line color transition, an 11" Round Background Pad to create a curved color transition, or a strip or circle of ordinary colored construction paper. Placed on top of this flat stack of background media was one of the Cloud Dome Frosted Risers. A low profile riser produces a fast changing and narrow color transition, while the taller risers create a wider and more subtle color transition. All of these photographs were taken using the second tallest riser. A clear riser would not have produced this effect. The photographs were saved at 72 dpi and crunched to a small file size for fast downloading for the internet. At the sacrifice of a quick load time, save your photographs at a larger file size to create a better screen look and for printing. Other than reducing the resolution and file size, the only editing done to these photographs was cropping.

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