Light Tent

[Marvin McAbee]

   I have just bought a Light Tent for table top shooting and was wondering how others get the best results out of these.  I have shot with a white background outside on a cloudy day and had good results,.no QC fail. With this and my Novatron strobe system I could have a much better controlled lighting situation.  Also just using the tent outside even on a sunny day should be able to get no shadows.

Marvin

[Betty LaRue]

I use two continuous lights in soft boxes, the bulbs are fluerescents with a sunlight kelvin. I bought them on Amazon. Very reasonable. They come complete with soft boxes and stands. Not the quality to be broken down and hauled all over the place but everything I need to stay set up in a corner of my bedroom. 2 years and going now. The table is a sturdy dog-grooming table left over from my poodle grooming days.

 

I made my own light tent out of PVC pipe and covered it with filmy white fabric. See E4CTB8. I do it all indoors.

I tried at one time using strobes with a roll of white background paper. I hated it. I only had two strobes and the background often looked gray. I used an onboard flash on my camera set low to trigger the strobes. I had to take too many practice shots to get the strength of the lights just right, and had to do way too much post to fix the gray BG. I needed a third light for the BG.

People proficient in the use of strobes will scratch their heads at my remarks but I never claimed to be proficient.

 

I usually have my lights one at each side, but sometimes I angle one a bit to the front/side. A breeze compared to strobes for me, because I see the light, how it falls, adjust, no guesswork. Lighting for dummies. Oops, I just called myself a name.

Betty.

[wiskerke]

For amateurs a light tent is a means to get *professional results*.

For professionals a light tent is mainly used for highly reflective surfaces, like cutlery or a chrome kettle.

 

My generic Chinese one got yellow as a lemon within 3 years.

My Foba was about as expensive as my whirlpool bathtub it resembles.

The best tabletop studio ever is a cardboard box that is either flat black or flat white on the inside.

Put it on it's side. Cut out the bottom and place a black or white seamless at a distance. Put a camera in front on a tripod or a pile of books.

Put some lights around it, so that the whole box is lit.

Cut out holes where you want the lights to go. If it's a highlight, make it small. If it's flat light make it big and put tracing paper over it. Or replace a whole side with it. Use black paper or board as flags or to correct wrong holes.

Advanced use involves gels and reflectors, that can be tiny and mounted on sticks. A clean 1st exposure will enable you to paint out all the sticks an flags in post in a couple of minutes.

It's how you teach studio lighting to beginners, but it's still a most powerful tool for professionals.

 

wim

 

edit: in old skool there is no 1st exposure and no post of course: all is done in 1 take.

[Marvin McAbee]

Thanks for the info just hoping to get good results.  I have had good results with a large white poster paper background  curved up behind the item but this was outside on a cloudy day.  What wim said makes sense about reflective surfaces.  The continuous lights might make it easier to do without having to meter the strobes.  

[Betty LaRue]

PBL Studio Photography Video Light Kit Continuous Lighting Kit Video Lighting EZ 24"x 24" Softbox Photographic Lighting

by PBL

[giphotostock]

Strobes are not that difficult to learn, but they are so much more convenient to use compared to continuous light. These days you do not need to meter anything, you get an instant review of the results on the camera's screen. You can shoot many frames and adjust lights to your heart's content. Plus studio strobes always have a modeling light. AlienBees are very popular and not that expensive...

 

GI

[Marvin McAbee]

Strobes are not that difficult to learn, but they are so much more convenient to use compared to continuous light. These days you do not need to meter anything, you get an instant review of the results on the camera's screen. You can shoot many frames and adjust lights to your heart's content. Plus studio strobes always have a modeling light. AlienBees are very popular and not that expensive...

 

GI

I currently have a 3 light Novatron system that runs off of a power pack that I would use.  You are right about metering I have have done that before, just shoot a random shot look at the histogram and adjust.

[Betty LaRue]

Strobes are not that difficult to learn, but they are so much more convenient to use compared to continuous light. These days you do not need to meter anything, you get an instant review of the results on the camera's screen. You can shoot many frames and adjust lights to your heart's content. Plus studio strobes always have a modeling light. AlienBees are very popular and not that expensive...

 

GI

I used Alien Bees. Fine for portraits, but I much prefer continuous for tabletop. I take far fewer shots with a lot less PP. but that's just me. I'm sure strobes are just the ticket for others. My setup fits in my room better, too. Sold the Bees.

[giphotostock]

 

 

I much prefer continuous for tabletop. I take far fewer shots with a lot less PP.

 

 

If it works, it works. I'd be curious to know why you need to do less post-processing with continuous lights?

 

Reading your post more carefully, are you sure your ABs were not confused by a pre-flash that on-board flashes tend to emit?

 

GI

[Betty LaRue]

I only had two Bees. I needed a third to light the background. Without it, the BG was gray. I wanted white. So I would have to correct the BG in PP, and brush out the correction on my subject. It was tedious, and I'm not good at doing cutouts, so that was out.

 

The Continous light soft boxes light the whole light tent and about the only PP I do is remove a fold here and there in the fabric occasionally with larger items. Sometimes, with smaller subjects I just curve up white poster board in the back (which takes more room in the tent) and avoid fabric folds.

 

No, there was no problem confusing the Bees, the subject was lit fine after trial shots, it was always the background that was off. Plus I didn't enjoy taking that many trial shots, then adjusting output until I finally got it right. Now it's just a matter of tweaking my shutter speed to get the right exposure.