Help with light tent photos...

jeepinjeff · Jun 23, 2011

I recently began taking pictures of cell phones using a light tent. I was hoping to get nice, crisp, consistent close-up results that looked semi-professional. I have two lights pointed into the sides of the tent and one from the front of the tent. I'm using a higher-end point and shoot Canon camera mounted on a tripod. I use a white piece of posterboard for a background and have the white balance on auto.

I've come across a couple of issues that I could really use some assistance with. My background is very inconsistent...it will range from nice, bright white to drab gray. I can take shot of the front of the phone, turn it over for the shot of the back and the final shots will look like I was using 2 different backgrounds. Also, I find it EXTREMELY difficult to get the camera to focus properly on the phones. I've tried moving the camera to change the focal distance. I've tried shooting in macro...nothing seems to help.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Could somebody please lend me some assistance?

Thanks tons!

kundalini · Jun 23, 2011

........and have the white balance on auto.

In order to have consistent results, you need to have consistent camera and flash settings. This means your camera shooting mode should be Manual and the same for your flash. Since you are using flash, set your WB to flash or ~5500K.

Hang on a minute.... When you say "I have two lights pointed into the sides of the tent and one from the front of the tent", exactly what type of lights are you talking about? If you're using incandescent or fluorescent or some other type that has a different output color, then you would want to set your WB accordingly.

jeepinjeff · Jun 23, 2011

I'm not using the flash at all. The lights are 26 watt, compact fluorescent and are daylight, I believe.

--I tried to upload example photos to show what I'm talking about, but I keep getting errors