Homemade lightbox/product box

littlemonster

littlemonster

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Gemma
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Not 100% of the correct term.

Anyway I've seen 1 or 2 different home made ideas (with foam or cardboard boxes) but my dad is/was a joiner, and I found out he made my aunt one of these for her photography degree years ago!

Anyway I've had a quick play (errr... in paint... yes this side of things isn't my good side!) and come up with a rough plan, would it work?

Lightbox.jpg


Are florescent tubes a good way to go? It's what dad used back then but it was a while ago and it may have been an availability/cost issue :D

Also idk if I'd go with 18% grey i've just seen it suggested for under/over exposability reasons! Put in for ease really.

I know it's not pro but we always have bits of wood around so could probably have 1 for under a fiver :D


Thoughts?
 
I did these a long time ago with 1 flourescent tube on each side through the same kind of setup you drew, with 2 on each side you'll get really even lighting with no shadows.

Key_Wee_by_JackMcIntyre.jpg


Tomato_by_JackMcIntyre.jpg


Orange_by_JackMcIntyre.jpg
 
That looks good :D

Maybe 1 on each side will be enough then! Though if they can be turned on/off individually I guess it gives me a go to play with shadows and stuff...


Thanks! :D
 
I use off camera flash with mine, I think you may have an issue with the amount of light from fluorescent tubes, especially if you want to use small apertures to have sufficient depth of field. Depends what your photographing really, smaller objects will need much more light to get the depth of field.
 
I'm now thinking maybe some sort of studio style lights would be best - obviously I don't wan tto spend tons on this just yet, would sort of desk lamps do the job?

What sort of bulbs also? Incandescant, halogen, LEDs?

Not thinking of these lamps specifically but was thinking maybe something
this or this style? So they can me moved for different effects or used for other stuff maybe?


Sorry for all the questions!
 
I bought daylight bulbs, from tesco I believe. They have a blue glass but are pure white light.


Rob
 
Here we go again :)



Homemade lightbox, foamboard box held together with velcro dots so it's flat-packable. Left and right sides cutaway and filled with tracing paper. Lighting with 2 cheap-as-chips desklamps from argos and a couple of daylight balanced fluoro. tube bulbs. Not bright enough to work handheld, but with camera tripod mounted and tethered direct to laptop, it's still pretty good.
 
Well after much thought we got the bits today :) Dad's a joiner so the wooden frame is easy.

Went to a fabric shop and they didn't have any white muslin, however they had a blend stuff and it let through the diffused the light in a similar way to the muslin so decided that would do the job (I'm only "playing" anyway!).

Also got 2 x 500 watt halogen worklamps. I know it's probably overkill but they were the same price as 150 watt ones, and I can always stick a lower wattage bulb in, can't put higher in the 150s. And I don't have a tripod yet so will need all the light I can get! They're about the same cost as cheap desklamps (maybe a couple quid each extra?) and I can make use of them for other stuff too, bargain :D


Thanks for the help guys :D
 
2 x 500w continuous? Please shoot video when the box catches fire :D

Seriously, good luck and waiting for the results!
 
Definitely watch the heat those bulbs throw out. Could be dangerous if they're close to combustable materials. Otherwise have fun and share your results with us!
 
vaizki said:
2 x 500w continuous? Please shoot video when the box catches fire :D

Seriously, good luck and waiting for the results!
Click to expand...

I know the first comment was in jest, but, I tried with worklamps - think they were the 300w flavour, and they took 10 minutes or so to get to a stable colour temperature, by which time the sides of the box were uncomfortable to touch. After half a hour of working in a admittedly small (3m x 5m) room the temperature in the room was around 28degrees - those worklights are probably a more efficient radiant heater than they are a light! As I needed something that could be set up and worked on for a full day (taking wb product shots for a clients in house knowledgebase and online sales catalogue - say 900 products or so!) I decided to go for something a little cooler to work with.

If you really need to be handheld, buy a couple of cheap flashes and radio triggers ("flash in the pan" on here has just the thing) to use instead of the worklights - they also work really well with the diffusion box, and have the added benfit that they can overpower the ambient light.
 
I can't afford flashes currently - don't worry I'll be careful though! They're on their own stands so will have air moving freely all around which helps keep temperature down, and I won't be doing it for long at any time anyway :)


Edit: Forgot to add it is one designed for indoor or outdoor use so shouldn't get as hot as an outdoor only one!
 
TheBigYin said:
After half a hour of working in a admittedly small (3m x 5m) room the temperature in the room was around 28degrees - those worklights are probably a more efficient radiant heater than they are a light!
Click to expand...

Quite so, and the OP has 66% more power :)

The 1000 watts of energy has to go somewhere. A portion of it is converted into light (*), much of it into heat. And the light.. well it is absorbed somewhere, and turns into.. heat. Or possibly changes the atom structure of the encountered material..

I really agree on the flashes though, I'm getting a pair of YN-460 IIs myself for this and other assistive flash tasks. Don't want to setup studio flashes for just a lightbox shot..


*) Don't rip me apart on the physics, I simplified it just a bit for brevity ;)
 
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