Lightbox Photo's.....I need some help (images included)

[Dal]

I've been having a little play around with a light tent today as I've had it for over a year and never used it :bang:.

I'll let the pics do the talking as I'm not having much luck with it at the moment.

Speedlight to the left and front of the light tent (inside the tent).

Speedlight to the left and front of the light tent (outside the tent).

Speedlight to the left and rear of the light tent.

Speedlight above in the centre pointing down to the light tent.

Setup of last shot.

I can't seem to get rid of the shadows on the fabric, do I need another light source on the other side, different backdrop? The fabric was ironed before being put into the light tent.

I think the last setup seems work the best but I think its safe to say I have very little knowledge of lighting setups so would really appreciate any help from anyone.

I'm not after C&C on the composition or anything, just the lighting setup itself.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and there is no PP work to any of the shots, just resized in CS3.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Light tents work by diffusing the light from a small light souce and making it bigger, which makes the light softer.
But the light tent can't make the light omnidirectional if it starts off coming from just one direction as your light does. It does bounce around a bit inside the tent but not enough to solve the problem.
So yes, you need more than one light.

It's worth mentioning that light from hotshoe flashes are ultra efficient (they have to be because of their very low power) because the reflectors are highly polished. all the light is very directional, which makes matters worse. You can make the light softer by firing the flash through another diffuser first, which makes the light bigger - any on-flash diffuser would help - or to make a big difference hang a piece of plain white shower curtain between the flash and the light tent.

 

[Just Dave]

I think you've done quite well, I would use a piece of white/black or a coloured paper underneath the object as the current material doesn't really work as its all creased

 

[Dal]

Light tents work by diffusing the light from a small light souce and making it bigger, which makes the light softer.
But the light tent can't make the light omnidirectional if it starts off coming from just one direction as your light does. It does bounce around a bit inside the tent but not enough to solve the problem.
So yes, you need more than one light.

It's worth mentioning that light from hotshoe flashes are ultra efficient (they have to be because of their very low power) because the reflectors are highly polished. all the light is very directional, which makes matters worse. You can make the light softer by firing the flash through another diffuser first, which makes the light bigger - any on-flash diffuser would help - or to make a big difference hang a piece of plain white shower curtain between the flash and the light tent.

Thanks for the quick response. I've still got the tent all setup so I quickly took this after taking on your comments.

I put a table lamp (only other lightsource I have) to the left of the lightbox and kept the speedlight above the tent. I dropped the power of the speedlight to 1/16th and fitted the diffuser dome to it aswell.

Is this more like what I should be getting.

Thanks again.

 

[Dal]

I think you've done quite well, I would use a piece of white/black or a coloured paper underneath the object as the current material doesn't really work as its all creased

Thanks. Only thing I have to hand is some white foam board So I took this quickly. Is this better? please excuse it doesn't fill the entire frame. I think black card would work better though but I don't have any at the moment.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Thanks for the quick response. I've still got the tent all setup so I quickly took this after taking on your comments.

I put a table lamp (only other lightsource I have) to the left of the lightbox and kept the speedlight above the tent. I dropped the power of the speedlight to 1/16th and fitted the diffuser dome to it aswell.

Is this more like what I should be getting.

Thanks again.

Your table lamp isn't doing anything. it's far too dim, relative to the power of your speedlight.

To make the table lamp have an equal effect to the speedlight you need to use your camera on manual. Set the aperture to whatever you're using with the speedlight, switch the speedlight off and set the shutter speed to whatever you need for correct exposure with the table lamp - it will be a very long exposure
Then take the shot with both flash and table lamp.

It still won't work properly though, because the colour temperature of the table lamp will be very low, resulting in orange/yellow light from it, whereas the light from the flash will be about white.

 

[Dal]

Your table lamp isn't doing anything. it's far too dim, relative to the power of your speedlight.

To make the table lamp have an equal effect to the speedlight you need to use your camera on manual. Set the aperture to whatever you're using with the speedlight, switch the speedlight off and set the shutter speed to whatever you need for correct exposure with the table lamp - it will be a very long exposure
Then take the shot with both flash and table lamp.

It still won't work properly though, because the colour temperature of the table lamp will be very low, resulting in orange/yellow light from it, whereas the light from the flash will be about white.

Never done that before so will go try that now, will need a few attempts at that I think lol. won't be long. I'm not too bothered about the colour temps at the moment. Want to get the setup right first so I can play around a bit.

 

[Just Dave]

I think it does look better on the white card black would in my eyes be better, or have you thought of putting it on a black reflective surface such as a plate, I did some yesterday on a black plate Clickt Here

 

[Dal]

Your table lamp isn't doing anything. it's far too dim, relative to the power of your speedlight.

To make the table lamp have an equal effect to the speedlight you need to use your camera on manual. Set the aperture to whatever you're using with the speedlight, switch the speedlight off and set the shutter speed to whatever you need for correct exposure with the table lamp - it will be a very long exposure
Then take the shot with both flash and table lamp.

It still won't work properly though, because the colour temperature of the table lamp will be very low, resulting in orange/yellow light from it, whereas the light from the flash will be about white.

I've done that to bring up the table lamp power and speedlight to the same.

This is the test shot with the speedlight at 1/16 power F8, camera is on manual at F8. Should I up the power of the speedlight to get the exposure as bright as when I do the table lamp? I also put a CTO filter on the speedlight so the colour temp isnt too bad.

This is the shot with the speedlight off and the camera set to expose the table lamp.

This is the combination of both shots above.

Thank again for the help.

 

[Dal]

I think it does look better on the white card black would in my eyes be better, or have you thought of putting it on a black reflective surface such as a plate, I did some yesterday on a black plate Clickt Here

Now that is pretty cool. Really like the effect the black plate gives it.

 

[Just Dave]

Hi Dal

I edit your image to get rid of the colour cast HYDM I know thats not what you want I think that all the advice you have been given I couldnt add to

Original photo Dal

 

[Dal]

Hi Dal

I edit your image to get rid of the colour cast HYDM I know thats not what you want I think that all the advice you have been given I couldnt add to

Original photo Dal

Thanks Dave, was gonna sort out the colour balance once I'd got my head around lighting setups.

Down side is I just dropped my camera while taking another shot. I think I was lucky enough not to damage anything though which is good.

 

[Just Dave]

yes Dal your better to get it right in the camera, and the advice you have been given is top notch, sorry to hear you dropped your camera and pleased its not damaged it Phew scary moment I bet

 

[Dal]

yes Dal your better to get it right in the camera, and the advice you have been given is top notch, sorry to hear you dropped your camera and pleased its not damaged it Phew scary moment I bet

I really appreciate Garry's and your help on this. I might look at getting Garry's book to help me out some more.

As for dropping the camera it was more a session of swearing at it like it wasn't my fault at all lol.