Thread: Light Boxes?

I have a similar view to Les in that you don't really need a light box. I do things a bit differently to Les, however. I often use a piece of white plastic sheet or a piece of paper as my backdrop, with natural lighting (only on an overcast day to avoid harsh shadows) or a few desk lamps working well for me. Taking photos on an overcast day is the easiest option, however you may need to give the colour and brightness a boost in a photo editor such as Photoshop (or a free editor such as this one which you can use online: http://www.sumopaint.com/). It only takes around 2 - 3 minutes to edit the photo (or 10 - 15 if you are picky like me). I feel seeing as I only spent 1 minute pulling the plastic out of the cupboard and holding it up for the photo that an extra 10 minutes for editing won't really be wasting much time. Here are some before and after photos I have used using this method:

A vase of irises, using only natural light on an overcast day and using white plastic sheet for the background:

(Before)


(After)



And here's a photo of a model of a remote control for a Swatch® concept vacuum cleaner that I made for a uni project (I'm a design student). I used a piece of paper for the background and 4 desk lamps for the lighting (left, back, right and above):

(Before)


(After)



Duncan.

Les.

Quick question for Les. How do you stop your pens from rolling? The photo you posted was absolutely amazing. They are perfectly aligned. I have a problem of the pens not staying in the exact position because they want to roll right or left.

Thanks in advance. Timberbits.

I believe he mentioned Bluetack or similar, somewhere along the line?

Russell.

Originally Posted by timberbits

Les.

Quick question for Les. How do you stop your pens from rolling? The photo you posted was absolutely amazing. They are perfectly aligned. I have a problem of the pens not staying in the exact position because they want to roll right or left.

Thanks in advance. Timberbits.

I have all my pens trained to sit for photos.

Seriously, to get my pens to sit, I place a piece of Shelf Liner under my cloth background and then tell them to sit still while I take a shot.

Some times I will place the pen on a tiny piece of Silly Putty to keep it in the position I want for the photo.
The Silly Putty dose not cause any problems with the finish.


Les

Thanks for the heads up Les.

Timberbits.

FWIW, I think the one in the ad *is* from China (most of them are, in the beginning) but
perhaps the seller provides service that the manufacturer won't.

Also, there's inexpensive cubes at Harbor Freight I think an 18" cube was $22 or so.

Nothing wrong with shooting outside at noon, but that's not always convenient or
repeatable. The cube just helps keep things consistent if you haven't got a setup that
works for you yet.

Also, the price in that ad seems steep, but I didn't do a conversion to US dollars either.
The stands look to be very inexpensive and the reflectors are often $10 in a photo shop.
The light fixtures are often less than that ($2-$3) because nobody seems to use them
anymore. You might have to blow the dust off of them.

If you use lamps that are less than the 200-300 watt range, make sure you have a good
tripod and a shutter release. The diffusion material cuts out a LOT of that light, and you
need to be able to hold the camera steady. Some people can do it hand-held, but most
can't. I can't either. Just pressing the shutter button can move the camera and give you
a soft focus as you'll likely have a long-ish exposure time.

But once you're set up, it goes quick and it is very repeatable. So you know pretty
much what you'll get ahead of time. And if your camera allows manually setting a white
balance, you can use whatever lights you happen to have closeby.

salt or sugar on white paper also works to stop rolling
bye Toni

Never thought of that before Toni, good idea, Amos

Hey all,

I have been having trouble with photos with photo's as well so I have ordered this one from china http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Soft-cube-Light-Tent-Pro-Lights-Set-Photography-table_W0QQitemZ290275276993QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories?hash=item290275276993&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

What sold me on it was the acrylic stand. I like the reflection that it gives to the items. It also has the dichroic style bulbs (8 come with it!!!) so you can get them pretty easy from woolies. Tent (can be open front or fully enclosed), two light stands and backdrops. Oh yeah, free postage. Most of the others charge $20-30. Will let you all know how it is when I get it. It has to be better than what I do now.

Missus also wants to get a good digital SLR for Christmas time (Imagine that, SWMBO asking to get a toy that you actually want and need). I have a very good film Pentax SLR but they are seriously on the way out. Too much hassle developing.

BJ

Originally Posted by regulated

Hey all,

I have been having trouble with photos with photo's as well so I have ordered this one from china http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Soft-cube-Light-Tent-Pro-Lights-Set-Photography-table_W0QQitemZ290275276993QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories?hash=item290275276993&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Yeah that's the smaller version of the one I ordered. Mine was posted on the 11th, so we'll see when it arrives. Now I'm just annoyed I purchased a cheap camera that's not up to scratch for pen photography. Kids may get a new digital camera as a Christmas present, so I can upgrade to something better. Still a full digital SLR may be a bit of a stretch, unless I forgo a new Drill stand.

Anyone wanna buy a hardly used Canon A580?

Russell.

hey that camera will probably be fine. Just remember to use the timer function The problem with most digi cams is they get problems from shaking then the image gets all distorted. Put it on a stand, put it on timer, let it focus correctly then click. 10-15 seconds later you have a good pick. Just take five or six pics per pen, make slight adjustments to angles and lights and see what comes out. Quite often what you think is the best angle/condition isn't.

And remember the images you post up for customers only need to be .5-1MP. They don't want to wait for 10min while a 10MP pic is downloaded. Especially if they aren't really after that one. If they like a pen they may want more pics emailed to them then you can give them the big ones.


BJ

My light box finally arrived today.

Here are a few happy snaps that I will put on my web site when it is finally finished.

Huon box set, JNR Gent

I really like the black background and the reflection that comes off it.

Sorry for Hijacking the thread.

Timberbits.

Spiffy box, nice pictures. I think I like the white background best, but not sure. Very professional looking, in any case.

Well, apparently mine arrived - at the post office in Warwick, and I'm stuck in Brisbane

What do they do if you don't pick up yout parcel within their 7-day timeframe??

Russell.