|
|
|
Article Looking at Light Cubes
Why use a Light Cube Using direct lighting for flower or product photography can cause harsh dark shadowing and unpleasant reflections particularly on shiny objects. The light cube can minimize shadows and isolate the subject from the background. The material a light tent is made of can acts as a diffuser and therefore softens the light and reduce glare, and the light can come from any direction, using most forms of light. Because of their range of sizes it also means you can get a cube for just about any situation from a table top studio to something large enough to hold people. They also offer a way of making your lighting studio self-contained and portable. Cubes are often used with pet photography not only to ease the lighting but to keep the pet within a manageable area. Models where the front can be partially fitted allow you a fully walled area for smaller pets. In the past I have seen special models produced for pet photography with a more resilient and cleanable base, but have not seen any of these recently. A light cube is a self contained studio often with its own background, so is particularly convenient for all types of product photography and for photographing items to sell on eBay. A Range of Sizes Light Cubes come in a range of sizes, the smallest we have is about 12inches in each direction suitable for photographing jewellery, while the largest we have is 5ft in each direction. Larger ones are available but given that you and the lights are outside the cube you would need quite a large room to use a much larger one. Most have removable door, with a slot allowing a camera to look through the door. Some come with velcro fitted backgrounds in a variety of colours. Other versions have bottoms that come out to stand over plants and other removable panels. The following table gives some examples of sizes on the market and an idea of what item you could take a photo of in them.
DIY You could make one yourself, but as economy models are widely available its probably not worth the effort. You can get similar effects by using a number of reflectors and diffusers. Light cubes are a useful tool and I use one for flower and product photography. You can get them from photographic equipment suppliers, and specialist photographic studio suppliers, but you will also find a large range of them in their various sizes on eBay.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|