Building a Lightbox

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jpwild

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I am about to build a lightbox from a cardboard box and white people. Of course it will be very crude. Just want to try and photgraph random objects like coins, a watch etc etc with one 580EX II flash gun. I will use it off camera and try it at various positions.

Is it a good idea to have the ceiling / room lights switched off or not during all of this? I know I've seen images of people with lights shining them though the paper on the box, but I want to use flash for this.

Cheers.
 
When the 580 flashes it will form the vast majority of light that the camera captures. As a result any ambient light (from windows or normal lights) in the room will almost certainly not show. So you shouldn't need to turn any lights off.

The lights you have seen shining through the soft boxes are modelling lights which allow you to see in a crude way how the light is illuminating the subject. These are not used to expose the subject when you actually take a photo.

A good experiment is to put the camera on a tripod and take photos ranging from 1/10th up to about 1/200th and you will see how the ambient light gradually disappears as the shutter speed increases.

Very simply when using flash aperture controls total light in, shutter speed controls ambient light.
 
Thanks for advice. I have one built, but cruder as I have no glue, so will have to do till I get clue and make it better. But shall give it a try anyway.
 
I think the best aproach is a cube with 4 sides missing, front, sides and top.

Replace the sides and top with an opaque material.

If you have any lamps available, point them at either side and use the 580 above.

Sorted!
 
Did someone mention Lightbox...

The Setup

Lightbox Rig by The Big Yin, on Flickr

The Result

Small Fixie by The Big Yin, on Flickr


Made from a single pack of white foamcore board (£10), a few self adhesive velcro dots (it's flat-packable) and 2 sheets of tracing paper.

Lighting by 2 dirt cheap bedside lamps from argos (maybe £4 each) and cheapo energy saver bulbs from Asda - mainly to keep the heat down :)
 
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Had a go and nearly blinded myself with the flashgun. Powerful little thing.

I was mostly doing it manual, and yet to upload results to PC yet as I've put battery on charge.

That's an excellent setup Big Yin
 
Dont mess around making on get one from Maplin £12 Clicky Anyway thats a light tent a lightbox is different :thumbs:

a03bl.jpg
 
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A light box is a light underneath say a glass topped box, so you can shine light up through, similar to what you view negatives on clicky image

 
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Back then it was using Canon EOS utility for tethered shooting, but since Lightroom 3 was released I tend to shoot direct into lightroom - allows fine tuning of exposures and colour balance to be done all in one.

Came in handy for a job where a customer wanted product shots of all their bits and pieces (think pipe fittings - pneumatic/hydraulic/gas/plumbing etc.) to be used in a internal knowledgebase application and eventually online sales catalogue.

Undemanding, horrible, repetetive photography - something like 600 individual shots - one setup, then click, replace, squint at the screen, repeat for the rest of the day.
 
TheBigYin said:
Back then it was using Canon EOS utility for tethered shooting, but since Lightroom 3 was released I tend to shoot direct into lightroom - allows fine tuning of exposures and colour balance to be done all in one.

Came in handy for a job where a customer wanted product shots of all their bits and pieces (think pipe fittings - pneumatic/hydraulic/gas/plumbing etc.) to be used in a internal knowledgebase application and eventually online sales catalogue.

Undemanding, horrible, repetetive photography - something like 600 individual shots - one setup, then click, replace, squint at the screen, repeat for the rest of the day.
Click to expand...

Just use a tripod and remote release :thumbs: no need to tether, why complicate things
 
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jpwild said:
Is it a good idea to have the ceiling / room lights switched off or not during all of this? I know I've seen images of people with lights shining them though the paper on the box, but I want to use flash for this.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

how many flashes have you got, if your using onboard youll get shadows, youll need more than one or reflectors to reduce them
 
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Just Dave said:
Just use a tripod and remote release :thumbs: no need to tether, why complicate things
Click to expand...


Because I was shooting 600 pictures, identical lighting, and exporting 800x600 pixel resizes straight onto the customers database server (my day job's the computer side of things :lol:)
 
forgot to say Marks example is a fine example of what can be achieved :thumbs: but still no need to be tethered, suppose its how you personally work, just go for basic then advance
 
Did some shots and were not totally impressed by them. More so due to my lack of knowledge of flash, but learned more things anyway so that's good.

Think I may buy the Maplin lightbox set. Dirty cheap and I don't really have anybigger boxes at home. So let me get this straight if I want to use just one flash my 580EX II I can place that behind the side panels to soften the light or bounce it off the inside of the box.

I don't need those lamps then?
 
My setup with the lamps doesn't use flash, works much better in a darkened room - for example - in the setup shot - i'd have closed the blinds and then drawn the curtains before taking a serious shot. It's best to have a single temperature of light to ease WB problems. I've also shot using the same box, using a couple of flash heads - nothing as fancy as a 580EX II - i'm talking something £70 from jessops and a yongnuo triggered with ebay wireless gizmo's, and it's been fine - I basically fired one flash into the box at 45degrees towards the backboard, and the other in front of the object to be photographed. It's not as easy to setup the lights - trial and error basically, as you cant see what if any shadows are cast. I suppose proper studio flash with the modeling lamps would be the best option for me, but for people who are used to the strobist methodology and are good at pre-visualising where a flash will go, it's easy enough.
 
Just Dave said:
Dont mess around making on get one from Maplin £12 Clicky Anyway thats a light tent a lightbox is different :thumbs:

a03bl.jpg
Click to expand...

that is crap... me thinks.
i got one a long time ago and have not used it since :(
the background that came with it is gray and blue...

but maybe i just dont know how to use it
 
muscleflex said:
that is crap... me thinks.
i got one a long time ago and have not used it since :(
the background that came with it is gray and blue...

but maybe i just dont know how to use it
Click to expand...

Well Ive had some great images come out of mine, Maybe you dont know how to use them properly, but its not rocket science, I do agree about the blue and grey BG but its easy to replace with white or black paper/card
 
You could just get a piece of A3 white paper and fashion a sort of infinity curve, eliminate all ambient and use a very long shutter speed then just fire your single 580 flashgunn multiple times from differing angles..gives the impression of multiple flash setup...:thumbs:
 
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