Playing with a Cheap Lighting Setup

[BigRix]

I haven't been happy with my washed out photos as of late so I googled some home made light box set ups.

While I didn't do the whole nine yards and make a box, I was able to put together this dirt cheap set up.

With the addition of one more light I think I can get some good results.

Some clamp lights with Daylight CFL's wrapped in white muslin fabric and a piece of Bristol paper taped to a cardboard box.

Shot, as always with my iPhone4.







Some of my results so far.









Please share your lighting set ups. I think we would all like to see them.

[broknaxl]

WOW!! Thats some nice shots!! Seems to be working pretty good for you.

[grandpawj]

Nice pics BigRix. What is a CFL, and how many watts are the bulbs. I wanna try it cause those pics are sharp images with a soft background. It does look professional.

[keystonearms]

CFL is a Compact Flourescent Lightbulb. The funny looking spiral kind.

[Malysh]

The pictures look good, Rick. Nickel is particularly hard to photograph well and I think you did very well.

I know that compact flourescents are different than traditional incandescent bulbs are, but is it safe to attach the muslim directly to the lights? Can they catch fire?

[ralph7]

The pictures look good, Rick. Nickel is particularly hard to photograph well and I think you did very well.

I know that compact flourescents are different than traditional incandescent bulbs are, but is it safe to attach the muslim directly to the lights? Can they catch fire?

hopefully, yes!

[Malysh]

hopefully, yes!

Gotta substitute an e for the i.

[BigRix]

The CFL's are very cool so there is no problem with heat build up.

[cfllwsgn]

well that is coinsidence enough. i was googling diy light boxes & light tents myself just last night. the only thing that i got done last nite though, was to order a better camera. your approach looks quick + effective. and after seeing your results i'm wondering if my phone camera wouldn't have been just fine.

[beetle]

nice setup, nice pictures! I'll pass along a couple of tricks that have worked for me (I'm not a pro, just a amateur that has spent some time trying different techniques).

1) I find that overhead lighting works better than light coming in from the sides. Your muslim cloth on light technique is fine, perhaps try it on a swing-arm lamp so that you can position the light overhead.

2) Closer is better when it comes to the light. The closer you can get soft diffused lighting to the object the less chance there will be shadows and harsh spots.

3) Don't forget about your camera's "custom white balance" option. Even consumer class cameras should have this option. Basically you set white balance to "custom", point your camera at something that is white with your lighting setup, and press the shutter. This will help the camera offset any color tint that the lighting might be adding to the picture. Have you ever seen pictures that are extremely yellow because of the use of incandescent lighting? custom white balance will fix that. In theory most camera have "auto white balance" or (AWB), but it doesn't always work well.

4) Use a tripod. Tripods can be found really cheap now -- $20 bucks will get you one off of ebay.

Now, if you have a DSLR (digital SLR), then you have more control over your settings. as a general rule of thumb, use an aperture of f8 for maximum sharpness. There are lots of exceptions to this rule, but in general f8 will work well in most situations).

Finally, as an option to the light tent, you can also try softboxes. Cheap softboxes can be found on ebay as well -- $30-$40. I find that light tents work well for close up shots (where the gun is the only object), while softboxes work well when you are trying to photograph a "scene" (gun + multiple objects that give the shot a themed look).

For me taking pictures of a gun is (almost) as fun as shooting the gun itself