Alright guys i've tried searching through the history here and online and need to turn to you guys for help. I am looking for a light box or light tent to purchase or build for a new photography project. I also would greatly appreciate any lighting knowledge for this work to be able to produce true colors. Any links, pointers, anything would be greatly appreciated.

-Brian-

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=79006&item=3873399065&rd=1

You will be hard pressed to build one cheaper or find one less expensive,

Good Luck

I just worry how white the whites will actually be in one of these...anyone have any experiences...thanks very much for your input Guy.

-Brian-

It depends on how much light you use and make sure you set a custom white balance. If you do all this then you can get brilliant white. Remember that light is diffused by the material (soft shadows) and it will bounce around the inside to provide a little less light fall off.

You just need to give it enough light. White will never be white in any situation if you don't hit it with enough light.

On a side note... I bought a pop-hamper (laundry) from Bed, Bath and Beyond which is the same thing for only $14. Target has then too but I didn't like that theirs had the word Laundry on the side... wanted to feel more professional than that.

Can you post a pic of the pop-hamper so we can get an idea of what you are talking about?

I went to bed bath & beyond, linens n'things, and container store yesterday in search of a pop up hamper that would work for a lighting tent, but couldn't find one that looked like it would work at any of them.

I'd love to see a picture of yours and any info you can offer would be great.

It looks just like the ebay picture just a little longer. I would take a picture but I cut it up to turn it into a diffuser (so cheap I can always pic up another if needed). If Bed, Bath and Beyond doesn't have on anymore then I would check Target and Walmart.

Imagine this but a little bit nicer in design (Circular openning) and all white.

You can also just make your own light table... just get some white and then diffuse your lights with a white material. If you look in the "show your studio" section you will see a few people who have done this.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12329920&RN=389

mmsean wrote:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12329920&RN=389

Yes, like that one but not mesh. Target and Walmart both have them in a little bit heavier fabric (only has tiny holes that let it breathe but don't pinpoint the light).

I saw the mesh ones, but clearly they won't work for this. I'll have to check at target.

I built my own from scratch, cost me maybe $10 for all the materials excluding the lights.

I bought some 1/4" diameter wooden dowels and a 1" diameter dowel. I cut the 1" dowel into short lengths and drilled holes into them to make corner pieces, then just slip the 1/4" dowels into them - no glue so it can be re-sized or transported/stored easily. I then drape a fairly lightweight poly-cotton blend fabric over the cube for diffusion.

Right now it's an 18" cube but could be made any size very easily.

thanks mike, got any pic's of the setup? How many lights do you set up for with this?

-Brian-

Brian,

If you want to go cheap

1) Get some PVC pipes and build a box
2) Go to Jo Ann’s (or equivalent) and buy some translucent fabric
3) Go to Home Depot and get 2-3 1000W flood lights

The key is to always get a customized white balance.

Here is a picture of my beat up light box:

BTW,

The umbrella and reflector are not part of the equation, just forgot to move away.

Thanks a lot Dennys, is the third light a top light or do you just use two on one side one on the other. sorry for all the questions just tryin to figure some of this out.

-Brian-

Brian,

Actually here is how I have been using it

(1) 1000W right side
(2) 1000W left side
(3) 500W behind (see below table) pointing at background from the back.

Hope this helps, sorry for the confusion.

Yes, sorry for bein such a pest, thanks for all your help.

-Brian-

Brian,

Yeah I have a shot of the setup.. VERY simple. I use two lights, they're cheap 250W clamp lights with 200W GE bulbs.

The pic below shows one lamp clamped to a bucket ( I did say it's a cheap setup, right?) but now both lamps are clamped onto tripods (also cheap) which works extremely well for positioning.

I move the lights around depending on what I'm shooting, right now it's mostly jewelry with insanely tight details so each piece requires a slightly different setup.

Here's a pic of the setup, and below that are some images of jewelry resulting from this setup, taken with my trusty G2 (ordering a 20D ASAP).

Well, I tried target and wal-mart yesterday and struck out on this one. I may go back to BBB today to have another look since I need something to shoot with today.

Mike Pipes- what is that grey you have the jewelry on?

Not sure what Mike is using, but if it were me it would be a 'grey card'..

It's grey foam board and the other side of it is white, so I can use other pieces of it to bounce light.

I ordered an EZ Cube from the website below. I like it a lot. It does cost a bit more than others but it seems to work for me. Also you were saying that you were concerned about using the white, well their website will answer a lot of questions that you might have. They also have some good tips.

http://www.ezcube.com/HowTo/

This looks very similar to the EZ cube at significantly lower prices. I may break down and buy one next time I need to do product type shots.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=79006&item=3876988263&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

FYI, I paid $90.00 for my 30" EZCube (grrrrr). The unit in the Ebay auction looks as good as, if not better, that what I have, at half the price.