Light box? Please help!

[NorthIdahoLeather]

I am on a mission to improve my photo quality for my website, social media and other advertising. I am currently using an iPhone and outdoor props, which is all bad in the winter in Northern Idaho. Lol.  I am new to photography, but will be purchasing a DSLR and a good 50mm prime lense. My main question is lighting. I’ve seen some really nice light box setups, but being new, I’m unsure of what to get for the large items that I’ll be photographing.  The majority of my items are gun belts and holsters. These items seem quite large for most light boxes that I’ve seen and I’m also concerned about getting proper angles of these products in a confined space. To make the situation more complicated, I still don’t have a shop and I’m working out of a small corner of my living room in our tiny house. So, something that can be stored compactly when not in use would be ideal. 
In short, I’m not sure what I need or the best way to go about it. I’ll attach a small sample of photos of the items that I feel will be most difficult for me to deal with.  
I greatly appreciate tour help, tips, and advice. 

[toxo]

Haven't done serious photography for a very long time but here's a few ideas.

A busy background like the Navajo blanket is a no no when you want the featured item to stand out. If you have no choice regarding the background choose a setting that gives very little depth of field so the item is in focus but the background isn't. You have to be pin sharp with your focus with a narrow depth of field. A light box can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Are you talking natural light, or indoor light of which there are many types. Small items could go in a large ice cream tub with light bouncing all around from within or without. If you're thinking about a bigger, permanent set up you could use a large box with maybe a couple of moveable sides to direct the light. We've all seen the photographers assistant with the hand held reflector to direct the light. The colour of the inside of the box will affect the kind of light you end up with. As well as sharpness, look at the shadows. Do you want more or less detail in the shadows? In my day we used to say practice practice and then practice some more cos film is cheap. Digital is much much cheaper. Good luck. 

[NorthIdahoLeather]

1 hour ago, toxo said:

Haven't done serious photography for a very long time but here's a few ideas.

A busy background like the Navajo blanket is a no no when you want the featured item to stand out. If you have no choice regarding the background choose a setting that gives very little depth of field so the item is in focus but the background isn't. You have to be pin sharp with your focus with a narrow depth of field. A light box can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Are you talking natural light, or indoor light of which there are many types. Small items could go in a large ice cream tub with light bouncing all around from within or without. If you're thinking about a bigger, permanent set up you could use a large box with maybe a couple of moveable sides to direct the light. We've all seen the photographers assistant with the hand held reflector to direct the light. The colour of the inside of the box will affect the kind of light you end up with. As well as sharpness, look at the shadows. Do you want more or less detail in the shadows? In my day we used to say practice practice and then practice some more cos film is cheap. Digital is much much cheaper. Good luck. 

Toxo, thank you!!!!   I agree, the blanket was a REALLY bad idea. But I had to try it. Lol 

To answer the lighting question, this is a problem that I’m looking to solve. We have terrible natural light indoors and outdoors I can only find it 3-4 months out of the year. 
(I’m on north slope with a hill behind the house that blocks out the sun except for the peak of summer).  Even then, the lighting outdoors is better for photos than my current indoor lighting.  I’ve seen so many different styles of light and light box setups, I’m just not sure what would be best.  There a lot of great options for smaller items, but the larger ones have me questioning my plans. At this point, I think anything with a proper lighting and plain bright background  is better than what I’m doing now.  Thank you for your response. You bring up up some really great points that I will need consider.   I wish I had the space right now for something permanent, hopefully in the next year, but for now it will need to be something that is taken down and put away between photos.  I’ll probably try to make due with a white screen or  box from amazon or something with a couple of decent table lamps... 

Again, thank you for your help! 
-Jeff 

[fredk]

Buy three or four 'angle poise' light units. Buy a 'day light' colour LED bulb for each of them. Each bulb about 20w LED (not 20w normal!) Buy a pop -up light tent, box shaped, about 50 cm cube, or if you do really big stuff, 1m cube. Buy one good tripod

Light units, about £10 each. Bulbs about £3 each, Light tent about £25, tripod about £25

Set up; One light shining down thru top, one on each side shining thru the sides, the fourth set up next to the camera which is on the tripod. The first three lights will give a soft diffused light, the fourth you can move around for hi-lights and shadows

For back ground; the light tent will come with some cloths. useful, maybe. I use a piece of art card, pale grey, big enuf to go across the bottom and curve at the back up to the top. of the light box. The curve makes an 'infinity' back ground of the card ie there is no join between the floor and the wall

also, devote a space for this set up and use it a lot until you get used to it all

 

At the mo, my set up is an occasional table with the grey card clamped to it and curved up and jammed under part of the mantel shelf. Main light is day light thru a big window, using the curtain to control it, and using the camera flash to fill in. Camera for this is an old Fujipix S5000. My DSLR is packed away. Taken with my current set up:

[NorthIdahoLeather]

18 minutes ago, fredk said:

Buy three or four 'angle poise' light units. Buy a 'day light' colour LED bulb for each of them. Each bulb about 20w LED (not 20w normal!) Buy a pop -up light tent, box shaped, about 50 cm cube, or if you do really big stuff, 1m cube. Buy one good tripod

Light units, about £10 each. Bulbs about £3 each, Light tent about £25, tripod about £25

Set up; One light shining down thru top, one on each side shining thru the sides, the fourth set up next to the camera which is on the tripod. The first three lights will give a soft diffused light, the fourth you can move around for hi-lights and shadows

For back ground; the light tent will come with some cloths. useful, maybe. I use a piece of art card, pale grey, big enuf to go across the bottom and curve at the back up to the top. of the light box. The curve makes an 'infinity' back ground of the card ie there is no join between the floor and the wall

also, devote a space for this set up and use it a lot until you get used to it all

 

At the mo, my set up is an occasional table with the grey card clamped to it and curved up and jammed under part of the mantel shelf. Main light is day light thru a big window, using the curtain to control it, and using the camera flash to fill in. Camera for this is an old Fujipix S5000. My DSLR is packed away. Taken with my current set up:

Thank you so much!!!  That looks  like a great setup! I like it. It makes your work really stand out. Thank you! I really appreciate your advice.  I’m a total newb when it comes to photography, but I’m looking forward to learning.  The results will be well worth the effort.
Thanks again!  

[fredk]

Remember; with your DSLR you can set very slow shutter speeds. Use that tripod, it'll be one of the bestest investments

Exposure is a balance of the aperture (the hole in the lens wot lets in the light) and shutter time (how long the light is allowed in). The exposure is determined by the amount of light and the ISO/ASA. With low light and a low ISO you just set a long exposure time. Use the tripod to keep the camera steady.

On my sample photo; The ISO was 100, the aperture f/8 and exposure time was 1/3 of a second - because the light was very low, ie not a lot of it coming in thru the window

f/8 gives 'depth of field' = how much front to back is in focus, and is the maximum on my S5000. Smaller number, eg f/4 = less in focus, bigger number, eg f/16 = more in focus

ISO, 200 is usual average, 100 or lower gives better quality, 400 and above gives digital break-up, a fuzziness. 

When doing a product photo use the lowest ISO you can, a medium f/number, like 8 or 11 or even 16, and then set a slooooooooow shutter speed, like 1 second, or 2 seconds. That tripod will hold the camera steady.

~~ one other tip, if your camera takes one, use a remote release, if it doesn't take one, use the self-timer on it. either of these will keep your hand off the camera and prevent any little shakiness due to your finger pressing the shutter release. I always use the self-timer on the S5000 as it doesn't take a remote release.

The grey card suits me. but you get a selection of three or four and rotate thru them. They'll only cost a dollar or so each. You can even mess around by using spray paints on the cards and doing wide fuzzy patterns, or a lightish centre and darker edges. . . . . more on that later maybe?

 

PS. My light boxes and lights are stashed away right now as I was . . . . um. . . 'reorganising' my flat -------  apartment to you

[toxo]

A lot of good advice there from Fred. I see you're using an iphone at the moment. When/if you get a DSLR you'll have much more control and there'll be settings on it that will filter any light so the pic comes out the way you want it. Take the pic with a few different settings until you get what you want. As Fred said a tripod is a must for sharp pics and keeping everything the same whilst you change things around. You'll eventually develop your own style and things will get simpler.

One thing I did enjoy playing around with was slave units. No doubt they're much improved and smaller these days. They enable you to use two or three or many small flashguns instead of boxes and diffusers and such. Each one attaches to a small flashgun and when the main flash fires all the others do at the same time (well they appear to fire at the same time before some Einstein picks me up on that.). As an example of what they can do, imagine you're in a church by the altar,  the light isn't great, the bride and groom are coming down the aisle with a long entourage behind them. Small flashguns hidden behind a few pews will have everything in focus right back to the church doors. Flashgun light is the same as daylight by the way.

[Smartee]

When I was making wedding cakes I had a few different color display boards like one would use for a science fair for a back drop. Worked wonders!

[Constabulary]

Regarding LED light - check out the VILTROX L132  or L116. its quite cheap, you can run it with accu (for outdoor) or AC and you can change the light temperature and brightness. Very cool thingy it is!

 

[billybopp]

Figure out what how big the largest item you'd like to shoot will be.  Add about 25% or 30% to that.  You don't want your items to be TOO close to the edge or top - and something always seems to come along that is bigger than you anticipated!  You can shoot smaller items in a bigger box, but it's really hard to go the other way 'round.   Search Amazon for Photo light box or Photo light tent.  Most all of them are collapsible and don't take up much space when not in use.  There are two basic types, hard sided ones which usually have the light built in.  I have a small one of these, the drawback is that the built in LED lighting is a little "hard" - and that's OK for some things.  I also havIe a much larger one 48", I think that is a fabric popup light tent, which I got with a lighting kit that has two daylight balanced continuous fluorescent lights on tripods, meant to shine onto the sides of the box for a very diffuse light.  I like that one more for most uses.  Mine is Neewar brand light tent, and it works just fine.  I do wish I had a couple more lights with it, and wish I had LED lights rather than fluorescent (LED was still pretty pricey at the time).  Folding that one is a little tricky at first, but you get the hang of it after a few tries.  

Hope that helps!

- Bill