Thread: Lightboxes - Pirate style!

Originally Posted by welshwizard

I used to photograph miniature items occasionally for publication. Time pressure was never a really a factor. I used to wait for a bright overcast day, which would give flat shadowless lighting and set up a table outdoors.
Lightboxes are normally used to mimic daylight, but using daylight itself is less complicated and of course, cheaper.
If you do it for a living, obviously you can't wait for the weather.

For me, the diffuse lighting is only one factor. The other is getting a nice white surface reflected in the blade, so that whoever looks at the photos gets a clear idea of exactly what the blade looks like.

If direct light source is used, I have really good luck with parchment paper (for baking) or tracing (Vellum) paper placed infront of the light source. If one sheet is not enough, I will double-up or triple the paper.

With heavyly diffused light source, you can try to use the smallest aperature (i.e. pinhole) and long esposure time on your camera... sometime that helps.

Originally Posted by Hopper

With heavyly diffused light source, you can try to use the smallest aperature (i.e. pinhole) and long esposure time on your camera... sometime that helps.

I tried some experiments with different apertures vs exposure times. Other than depth of field I couldn't see any obvious differences... On a tripod I did exposures as long as eight seconds that weren't noticeably better than exposures of 1/250. In any case as long as the metering was equivalent, the lighting on the blade looked the same in the pictures.

Is there something else I should be noticing?

Originally Posted by HNSB

I tried some experiments with different apertures vs exposure times. Other than depth of field I couldn't see any obvious differences... On a tripod I did exposures as long as eight seconds that weren't noticeably better than exposures of 1/250. In any case as long as the metering was equivalent, the lighting on the blade looked the same in the pictures.

Is there something else I should be noticing?

The key here is you have to diffuse the direct light source with 2-3 sheets of tracing paper or turn your light source around and bounce off the light with a piece of white peper (or you can make this with simple white construction paper.)

I don't think anyone is really having trouble with the light source. The tricky part is what the blade is reflecting. No matter what you do with the lights, if your blade reflects non-uniform objects you will not get a clear photo of what the blade looks like. That is why I use the "white box."

You'll notice I have no fancy lighting. I don't even diffuse the light at all. It's just a cheap desk lamp in a white box. The key is the razor reflects a uniform white surface.