cgardner
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 p.1 #23 · Building a Light Tent (Box) | |
I can't understand why some guys get their knickers in a twist about the advice others give, attempting to moderate the discussion by editorializing about what is appropriate or not about the advice of others. Third-party editorializing, not broadening the context of the question in the response, is what derails threads into non-productive tangents. If you don't agree with a suggestion or comment I have posted, contribute one which you feel is more effective, sans editorials about the appropriateness of my advice. You are not the moderator and if you stop trying to police what I and others do by editorializing about it you might not get so upset or indignant, thinking others arrogant for painting outside the lines you define. If you didn't ask the question, give the person who did credit for sorting out the advice offered to determine what works for him, even if you don't agree with it. 
As I read the full context of the question Carfur didn't just ask how to build a light tent, he asked how to build a light tent to photograph orchids. He also mentioned the desire to do it with minimal outlay of cash. While it is true Catfur didn't ask how best to illuminate orchids, I don't think broadening discussion of whether using a light tent to photograph flowers is effective is out of context, especially when someone is looking for the least expensive solutions. Its like someone asking "What size hammer do I need?" when the best tool is a screwdriver they already have not buying a new hammer.
Light tent and similar reflective strategies are ideal for photographing objects like metal jewelry, glass and automobiles where broad areas of white reflections are used to create the illusion of shape, but its not a effective strategy, in general, for flowers, even waxy ones like the example he posted. A small light tent with small light sources outside of it would likely produce similar highlights in places which don't reveal the natural 3D shape as effectively as other strategies not requiring construction of a tent.
That's not to say a tent wouldn't be effective in some cases, only that there are simpler and more effective strategies he might want to try before going to the trouble and expense of constructing a tent:
1) Bouncing light off wall and ceiling behind the camera combined with rim lighting from behind -- a strategy which mimics the natural model of sun as backlight and sky as fill. Mimicking natural light character and direction is good starting baseline whenever natural looking lighting is desired. What a three-sided tent strategy lacks is a diffuse source of frontal fill, provided by the sky outdoors and mimicked by bouncing off a large wall behind the camera as suggested above.
2) Bare bulb fill in a small white room combined with rim lighting from behind -- This is similar to the strategy above but adds a point-source frontal component and specular catchlights to the mix. Set up in a small, white room like a tiled bathroom with white walls or spare bedroom with any dark objects covered with a white sheet. Place a bare bulb source or hot-shoe flash with a StoFen cap over the camera to bounce fill around the room and create a small specular highlight on the front of the flower. Change the position of the light relative to the camera to control where on the flower the catchlights appear. Natural lighting puts them on the upper surfaces, so raising the light above the flower will produce more natural modeling. Add the rim-lighting from behind or side to create background separation and enhance the illusion of 3D.
Ultimately only Catfur can decide what works best for him. Worst case in offering alternatives to a tent is taking a few minutes of his time to try the various alternate suggestions to see if they produces the results he desires before heading out to the fabric and hardware store to buy rip-stop nylon and PVC pipe. Best case he finds a way to get the results he is looking for without spending any money. Either way he'll likely learn more about lighting.
Isn't that the broader goal of the exercise here 
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