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Photo Light Cube
- Thread starter Merlinius
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- Simon
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Good quality and light cube (or tent) don't normally go together but I think it will be ok in this case.
When I first started product photography I made one by replacing the sides of a cardboard box with thick tracing paper. Line the other 2 sides with white paper. Shine a light through either side. Make sure the bulbs match and that they have a decent CRI (i.e. avoid cheap LEDS).
If the light is uneven then you might have to add a second layer of diffusion to each side, i.e. another layer of tracing paper some inches from the first. (At that point it might be simpler to invest in conventional softboxes but I'm guessing you don't want to learn lighting for it's own sake!)
When I first started product photography I made one by replacing the sides of a cardboard box with thick tracing paper. Line the other 2 sides with white paper. Shine a light through either side. Make sure the bulbs match and that they have a decent CRI (i.e. avoid cheap LEDS).
If the light is uneven then you might have to add a second layer of diffusion to each side, i.e. another layer of tracing paper some inches from the first. (At that point it might be simpler to invest in conventional softboxes but I'm guessing you don't want to learn lighting for it's own sake!)
Garry Edwards
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- Garry Edwards
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Simon (Juggler) has explained to you how light tents work (or are claimed to work), but you specifically mention a light CUBE.
A light tent has translucent sides and top, 2 or 3 lights are placed outside the tent and shine through the diffusion material. The results aren't great but are often acceptable to many people.
Light cubes though are different, they are cheaper to make and easier to use, with one or sometimes more LED lights placed inside the cube, and they generally produce even worse results.
So, if it is a light tent then the results may be OK for the pencil drawings but if it's a light cube then you would produce better results, and more easily, just by getting a couple of LED lights, putting your camera on a tripod, fixing each drawing to a vertical surface such as a wall and putting one light each side of the drawing at an angle of around 45 degrees.
A light tent has translucent sides and top, 2 or 3 lights are placed outside the tent and shine through the diffusion material. The results aren't great but are often acceptable to many people.
Light cubes though are different, they are cheaper to make and easier to use, with one or sometimes more LED lights placed inside the cube, and they generally produce even worse results.
So, if it is a light tent then the results may be OK for the pencil drawings but if it's a light cube then you would produce better results, and more easily, just by getting a couple of LED lights, putting your camera on a tripod, fixing each drawing to a vertical surface such as a wall and putting one light each side of the drawing at an angle of around 45 degrees.
Just to expand on Simon's comments regarding lights and CRI.
CRI (Colour rendering Index) is an indication of how complete the spectrum is of a light - 100 meaning it has a full daylight spectrum, standard LED's are about 80%, meaning they are missing bit of the spectrum - and so some colours will appear incorrect in photographs.
CRI (Colour rendering Index) is an indication of how complete the spectrum is of a light - 100 meaning it has a full daylight spectrum, standard LED's are about 80%, meaning they are missing bit of the spectrum - and so some colours will appear incorrect in photographs.
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Thanks, I hadn't kept up with that 'development'.