Hobby Basics: Photo Lightbox (on a budget)

Posted by Man Boy Genius Monday, August 16, 2010

Another question I get a lot is how do I take my pictures? Well it's actually pretty easy. In the past I used a light box, but found that a lot of times the models I would need pictures of ended up being too big for the box itself.  So I ended up reversing the script a bit, and made the light work for me.

So to give me more space, I decided to diffuse the light at the source.  That way I can put pretty much any size model under the light, and it will fit. Win!

To set up my new photo booth, I mounted some clamp lights on an adjustable overhead shelf.  This gave me the space I needed with plenty to spare.  The best part is that all I did was buy some tissue paper, and attach it to my lights with a rubber band.  As for the light bulbs themselves I use some 60 watt GE reveal bulbs.  Now I can not stress this enough, the assembly WILL GET HOT, so its probably not a good idea to leave the lights on for extended periods of time.  

It will take some toying around with your camera, but try taking pictures using different settings till you get the best exposure for your liking.  The lighting itself should be impeccable. 

macro photography.

Lights.

Two cheap desk lamps with 30W (150W equivalent) Daylight 6400k Helix Compact Fluorescent bulbs. And my painting lamp with an 11W "Daylight" bulb. This is over the subject with the two desk lamps either side.

Camera.

Nikon Coolpix 3200.
Tripod.  (Cheap mini/short thing.)
Set white balance with sheet of clean white paper. Remove white paper.  Add blue or blue/white gradient paper - prop up against my painting lamp.
Lights on. Leave until warmed up. Mini(s) positioned on paper
Camera set to Macro, EV +1
Take photos with timer.  Varying the distances between subject and lens.

Image onto PC

Photoshop Elements software. Crop - but don't resize - yet.
Quick Fix - Levels and Contrast.  Sometimes colour but only if required.  (Sometimes, actually, no fix.  If the photo looks good enough.)
Resize.
Save for Web.
I avoid as much PS as possible.
Host on Photobucket and check to see how it will look through the web browser.

~END~

A note on image size.

I never post pictures wider than 800 pixels, and on forums that specify a smaller size I always stick to their rules.  If you post to a site an image that is too big it will either not display at all or suffer automatic resizing, with such pictures the distortion is appaling.  CMON, for example, allow only "Less than 600" so I resize the photo to 599.  The "Save for Web" option will reduce the kB - that is the actual file size.

The pictures below are 799 and 599 pixels wide respectively