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Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:40 pm
by LocksmithArmy
so i took a lamp...

broke the center part of the lamp shade out of the shade and installed the lamp element upside down.. using the prongs from the center part as a stand...
I cut a hole in a candy dish (with a white interior) big enough to fit the piece of the lamp sticking up above the mount but under the bulp...

then cut some plexyglass out of a picture frame in a circle to mount above the bowl for a place to put the item being pictured...

then took the lamp shade and put it over that (making a perfect stand for the camera while keepin in all light)

adding a piece of paper over the plexiglass and a lock to take pixs of... i came up with this

DSCN2504.JPG


its not even decent, much less perfect... you can clearly see the bulb under the glass AND the flash was so strong it still left shadows...

any tips (other than turning off flash) on how to make this thing more perfect?

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:51 pm
by mdc5150
If you have an adjustable flash you can bounce it off of other objects to get the light, but you still may need to diffuse it.

When I used to do B&W photography I almost always used bounced light.

If you do not have an adjustable flash get some white tissue paper (not tissue but like craft type tissue paper) and put a thin layer on. You may need to go to a couple layers until you reach the right light that you want.

As for the bulb underneath again diffusing the light somehow. I have a light that I bought at Lowe's for impressioning that has a ton of white L.E.D.'s Something like that might work.

One other thought, those white translucent cutting boards are thick enough that if you had one that was new you could use enough light and it would diffuse well.

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:06 pm
by LocksmithArmy
I moved the light furthure away... seems to work alot better...

I tore a piece of a dried out wipey (as in to wipe a babys shitty ass) over the flash... it did not do well enough.... BUT its not near as terrable...

DSCN2507.JPG


here is one with no flash... i like flash better...

DSCN2506.JPG

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:14 pm
by elbowmacaroni
Not too bad for a first go around....
Now some constructive criticism:
The light falloff from left to right is pretty bad, the backlight should be stronger and the front lighting a little weaker as well.

Check out http://strobist.com/ for awesome info on lighting in general, and doing pro quality diy lighting on the cheap.

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:16 pm
by elbowmacaroni
LocksmithArmy wrote:I moved the light furthure away... seems to work alot better...

I tore a piece of a dried out wipey (as in to wipe a babys shitty ass) over the flash... it did not do well enough.... BUT its not near as terrable...

DSCN2507.JPG


here is one with no flash... i like flash better...

DSCN2506.JPG


That is much better, but you still haven't totally blown out the shadows on the background... also, your white balance is off, but you can fix that easily in software. Heck you can edit the shadows out too...

I'm not picking on ya here, I've done alot of product photography and it can be a real pain in the arse...

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:20 pm
by LocksmithArmy
well ya figured out what im making it for ;)

but i dont have fancy software... nor would I know how to use it

i need a stronger light huh... that would blow out the shadows...
there is no front light... the flash is the front light... no flash looks bad... but flash is too much...

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:25 pm
by LocksmithArmy
pic of a pick....

Cliff Hand Prototype.JPG


i have a new idea... no flash... weaker front light...

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:36 pm
by mdc5150
1.jpg


A little light adjustment in photoshop.

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:40 pm
by LocksmithArmy
might I just email you all my photos before I post em ;)

I have photoshop cs3... no clue how to do that tho...

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:43 pm
by mdc5150
image/ajust/brightness contrast

All I did was make a little more contrast and a tiny bit more light. But yeah, you want a little help with some of the photos I can try to help you out.

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:49 pm
by mdc5150
2.jpg

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:57 pm
by Violaetor
To get shadowless photos, you'll need a minimum of 3 lights and a thin white cloth or paper 3 sided truncated pyramid with one light on each side.

Subject goes inside the pyramid lights go on the outside, shoot through the top of the open top of the pyramid without flash.

Too lazy? Tape a piece of paper to your lens body infront of the flash, and let it drape over subject while keeping it out of view. And you're done!

Re: Built a light box...

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:03 am
by Kezo
I'm thinking of trying this out. http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/?p=1721

Either that or maybe buy one of these, http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cameras-photography/a205/