Light box? Please help!

[Hardrada]

Do NOT bother with those light tents. Just DON'T. They're essentially useless. I've got one here that I've only used for tests and was never used again.

You can do plenty of things with one good light and foamcore sheets and mirrors.

For this pouch I used a single softbox to the left of the frame and a mirror on the opposite side, and a piece of black foamcore to the upper right corner of the frame to add contrast. 100 mm macro lens. Your new 50mm normal lens should be OK too, you just need to get the camera closer.

 

You don't need tons of lights, all you need is knowing how to use them: i.e. WHERE to place them.

For instance, when photographing items with texture, such as your tooled leathercraft, you need to place the light to the side or the subject so that the light falls across it (rakes it): this will bring out the texture. You can see that effect a bit in my image: had I placed the flash on the same axis as the camera, the crease would have been flattened by the light and lost.

You can even use window light till you get a decent flash or lamp. Here: Quick and Clean by Window Light (a bit verbose, but you can just follow along with the pics).

[NorthIdahoLeather]

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I definitely have a solid understanding for what I’ll need now.   For what we are doing, is a macro lense better suited than the 50mm prime that I was planning on?  Specifically, it’s the Nikon 50mm AF-S f/1.8G Nikkor Lens and will be paired with a D5600.  This was recommended by my sister who is a professional photographer, so I’m just trusting her here as I really don’t know anything other than what I’ve read. Dangerous place to be because I don’t know what I don’t know. Haha. 
Again, thank you all for taking the time to help this newby out. I greatly appreciate it. 

[fredk]

The Macro is well suited to photos of small wallets and things, but you are doing holsters, the 50mm should work out ok.

I use  +1, +2, +4 close-up lenses on my S5000. My photo above was taken with the +1 on. These lenses are a cheap way to get close-up. They are not so good as a prime macro lens but they are handy, especially as I can't change the lens on the S5000

If you do go for a macro go for one around 105mm and not the 50mm Nikon makes

A real cheap way of making a 'light tent' is to get a real big card box. Paint it white inside. Cut holes in three sides and cover the holes with grease-proof/baking paper. Aim your lights through the covered holes, shoot thru the normal flaps side of the box. Prop a bit of light/pale coloured card in for base & curved up back ground

 

[Hardrada]

Since your camera is a cropped sensor you'll have to place it farther away from the items already; thus, the 50mm will do fine. You can always get a macro lens later if it's really needed.

A roll of neutral grey seamless paper should come in handy. They're roughly the same price as the elcheapo Chinese light tents you find on Amazon and a 100 times more useful and versatile: Savage seamless grey background paper. Even better, the used portions from these papers are good material to make patterns for leather items.

You can use inexpensive diffusion sheets to soften your light so that you don't get sharp, defined shadows: White diffusion paper.

For the seamless you'll need some sort of background support. Those are not inexpensive (they're not terribly expensive either), so you might want to borrow one from your sister when she's not using it, or improvise one with a curtain rod.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Hardrada

[YinTx]

I've seen some pretty simple light boxes made with PVC pipe and cloth.  They come apart very easily for storage.  Low cost and effective, something I'll probably be making myself soon.  Look forward to seeing what you end up with!

YinTx

[NorthIdahoLeather]

Thank you all!!! I greatly appreciate the help and sharing of your knowledge.  I almost bought the camera today, but I found a great deal online that will save me $400. That translates into a pretty decent lighting setup. I’m getting excited. Haha. Thank you all!!!! 
-Jeff 

[LatigoAmigo]

1 hour ago, NorthIdahoLeather said:

That translates into a pretty decent lighting setup.

You may have seen this light box referenced in a post on this very site. It has some great features and is reasonably priced.

It is available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Portable-Foldable-Photo-Studio/dp/B01GIL6EU4

[fredk]

5 hours ago, YinTx said:

I've seen some pretty simple light boxes made with PVC pipe and cloth.  They come apart very easily for storage.  Low cost and effective, something I'll probably be making myself soon.  Look forward to seeing what you end up with!

YinTx

Unless you are gonna make a really special shape or size, its not worth it. A while back I priced up doing pvc pipes and cloth, it worked out well over 3x more expensive than a spring-frame pop-up 1m square. The cost of the cloth alone was 2 x the cost of the pop-up. Currently my 1m pop-up is in the back of my clothes wardrobe. Its 1m sq by about 5 cm thick (roughly 3 feet sq x 2 inches). No set of pipes will pack down that small. Also; the cloth on the pop-up is designed for photo use, other cloth is not and can cut the amount of light and can add a colour cast

[NorthIdahoLeather]

3 hours ago, LatigoAmigo said:

You may have seen this light box referenced in a post on this very site. It has some great features and is reasonably priced.

It is available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Portable-Foldable-Photo-Studio/dp/B01GIL6EU4

Yes!  I think this would be close to perfect. My concern is that I may not have the proper lens for taking photos through the holes provided. Is it possible to open the side and achieve the same quality of photos?   This seems like it would work well with an iPhone or maybe a wide angle macro lens!?  I’m sorry, I’m very new to photography. As I mentioned above, it was recommended to me to purchase a prime lense. I have just purchased a Nikon camera, so I went with the 50mm af-s f/1.8. 

[chrisash]

I think it varies on the product you want to photograph

With relatively small items Fred's solution is first class

My alternative is based upon your holsters which i think would be better outside with a clear field background or a impact background far away, reasoning is that its designed to be worn and that's how to show it off best. even good close-ups can be done outside with care. the background needs to compliment the main item and put in into context

Always use a tripod or other stand for the camera and use depth of field to your advantage

You can always use the light box for close ups for in depth detail to assist as required it's not a one option choice