light tents and indoor lighting

[beastman]

I sell mainly small ceramics ornaments and antiques online. Only on ebay at the moment, but am looking to get my own website up and running in the near future, so I need some advice on getting professional looking photographs.

Ive been looking at the different indoor studio sets online, but Im at a loss what to get. They range from about £10 to £300. Is the price of the expensive stuff really justifyable? are the £50 light tents made from better material than the £10 ones?

I have been using a cardboard box with some A1 card in it for the background, and taking it outside on overcast days. But with the winter coming the sunlight is a bit rubbish, and i dont want to have to wait for the right weather conditions just to take photographs.

Any advice or pointers to some recommended lights and tents would be welcomed.

 

[DeadEye]

For small stuff just make your it yourself. use a large cardboard box and cut windows out the sides and tape on tracing paper then use desk lamps to light the paper. Or buy white ripstop nylon from a fabric store and frame it to the way you like.



Here are instructions

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

 

[beastman]

Ive seen a few of those home made ones. what would give the better results, tracing paper or fabric?

 

[DeadEye]

Here is a shot I did with above set up using tracing paper and desk lamps with standard 100 watt incandesant light bulbs.

The Ripstop would do better in my opinion as far a efficiency goes. But I already had all the above stuff lying around so it was all but free,

The quality " softness " of the light would be similar I would think

 

[beastman]

Hmmm. I'll get me some tracing paper tomorrow and a box. Thinking about it, the tracing paper will probably be a lot easier to stick to the cardboard.

im still thinking of getting one of those 5000k photography lights though instead of using a 'normal' lamp. Surely the results would be better? and would i need just one or one for each side of the box?

 

[Don Kondra]

Have you been here yet ?

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/photography_studio_kits.htm

 

[beastman]

Have you been here yet ?

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/photography_studio_kits.htm

I have now. Its something like this I need...

http://alzodigital.com/online_store/alzo_300_3light_tent_kit.htm

what i want to know is why are they so expensive and can it be done cheaper? I have seen light tents on ebay for just £10 are those going to be any worse than the expensive ones?

what is the difference between a 5500k lamp and a 5000k lamp?

Im completely new to all this so any help would be appreciated.

I wouldnt want to pay so much for equipment I know nothing about. $542.55 is about £270 isnt it? I just want someone to justify the price for me, and then I can make a more informed decision about what to buy.

 

[Don Kondra]

The difference in k values is slight but I prefer the 5500k bulbs, it's best not to mix lights...

For the tent I cobbled one together to try and decided it was easier to just buy one, Smith Victor 48" off of ebay for $89. You won't need one that big

Clamp on light reflectors are less than $15 new, three of those with bulbs from Alzo and something to clamp them to and you're set.

The difference is the kit has three bulb heads and the stands are nice to have. Easier to set up and adjust and you won't be lacking for "light".

Cheers, Don

 

[Don Kondra]

I should qualify my reply by saying I'm not a fan of flash BUT you should also consider them before you purchase a system.

Cheers, Don

 

[DeadEye]

Hmmm. I'll get me some tracing paper tomorrow and a box. Thinking about it, the tracing paper will probably be a lot easier to stick to the cardboard.

im still thinking of getting one of those 5000k photography lights though instead of using a 'normal' lamp. Surely the results would be better? and would i need just one or one for each side of the box?

I used three lights ,one for each side in that shot. It all depends on what you like. You might want to look on ebay for a studio flash set up. I would check out speedotron brown line stuff, best bang for the buck. The lights you are looking at are better for a beginner though. The k differance is a film balance issue so if I were you I would go 5500k not mush color differance though.

 

[Don Kondra]

And this was shot on a light table, two 65w CF bulbs with shoot through umbrellas in Cameron light stands. The paper is banner paper and there was a 26w CF bulb from underneath.

And this is the cobbled together light tent sitting on the light table....

to shoot this maple burl turned box by Jamie Russell....

I've since bought a light tent, built two soft boxes and ordered larger bulbs

Cheers, Don

 

[DeadEye]

Impressive stuff here Don. :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Don Kondra]

Another shot with softboxes and a back light on "focus gray" backdrop.

I can already see I need another smaller light tent, couldn't bring myself to haul out the 4 footer for one shot :mrgreen:

Although I'm fairly pleased with this shot, a light box/tent would have been even better.

The purpose of this post is mostly to show the results with 5500k lights in a traditional configuration.

Cheers, Don