[Lynn O. Doughty]

Another thing I forgot to mention was not to use the camera's flash.

Go down to the Camera shop and buy a flouresent light meant specifically for photography. They cost about $20 for a 150 watt color corrected bulb. They used to be called PhotoFloods but now they are all flouresent and they'll last just about forever.

Next, got to Walmart and buy a 100 watt coolwhite flouresent bulb and a 100 watt warm flouresent. This will give you the $20 dollar bulb which will be your main lighting, the 100 watt warm bulb which will go on the other side of the piece to balance the color of the other, and a weaker cool light to backlight the piece to give it a slight halo effect to set it apart from the background.

From you photo it looks like the cloth in the box is loose. If it is pull it forward so it has a gentle curve from the front edge to the top of the back. Set your piece just inside the front edge and take a photo. That curve should do away with most of the texture of the backdrop and give a pleasing shadow effect at the bottom.

Those light boxes are nice and convient but they really limit your options in controlling the subjects lighting and placement. A piece of posterboard, a few cheap clip-on reflectors and some white gauze to use as diffusers will give you great results quite inexpensively.

[Irish]

Thanks Lynn! Your advice and suggestions on just the type of lighting I need will really save me a lot of guessing.

The cloth in the front is loose, I will move everything forward.

Usually I do all my photos on the front porch where I get excellent sunlight, have lots of room and know my settings. But with this new little box I hope to be able to work inside more easily. Like today ... don't want to be standing in the cold and ice ...

Susan

[Kenny_S]

That answered my question about theses cheap clip on lights ya can get at Wally World and colored poster board from Hobby Lobby.
I have those spiril Flouresent lights and thought maybe one on each side amd one over head of the subject would work. Sounds like the lights on each side are out in front a little of the subject and the overhead is above and to the back of the subject. Hmm, PVC pipe and elbows may make the base and backdrop.
Look like one of the main items I need to purchase is a good tripod!

[BobD]

What we did for the Photography article is use those florescents in work lights. We stretched the lining material dressmakers use for wedding dresses across the work lights, and it worked great.

For most of the things we do in the magazine, we use just a two-light system (a fill light and a main light).

Bob

[Dean_Scott]

I had a photographer tell me that for quick shots , tape some kleenex over the flash that will stop some of the light flares, sounds wierd but works for a cheap quick fix