Homemade Light Box

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The Ficus Guy
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Homemade Light Box

Post by The Ficus Guy »

Hi Australian bonsai mates!



So this week is my last week of break before I head back off to college, so I've been sitting around thinking of things to do to entertain myself. Well, I decided I'd try my hand at building my own light box from materials I had lying around the house. This should help me take better pictures of my trees.

Materials used:
-Box
-Box cutter
-Tape
-Poster Board
-Wax Paper
-Lights

First I got a box:
001.JPG
Cut out three of the sides:
003.JPG
Placed my poster board:
005.JPG
Covered the sides with wax paper:
010.JPG
Added my lights:
013.JPG
And snapped a couple of pictures:
016.JPG
012.JPG

Hope this helps you all!



Comments are welcome.
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by MoGanic »

Hey mate,

Love the set up! See if you can line it with Suede cloth instead of paper though (craft stores should have this) as it will not reflect the image of the light bulbs... also they reduce shadow. :).

-Mo
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by The Ficus Guy »

MoGanic wrote:Hey mate,

Love the set up! See if you can line it with Suede cloth instead of paper though (craft stores should have this) as it will not reflect the image of the light bulbs... also they reduce shadow. :).

-Mo

Ah yes thank you, that is an excellent idea. Didn't even think of that. Maybe if I can manage to suspend the lights above the box you wouldn't be able to see the reflection though....I've got a lot of toying around to do.
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by kcpoole »

Nice idea and I wish I was looking for things to fill my time in :palm:
Not enough hours in the day for me :crybye:

Ken
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by The Ficus Guy »

Thank you Ken, I'm sorry to hear that :( :cry:

I'm wondering, would black make a better backdrop? Or would that be a bad idea, and eliminate the idea of "depth?"
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by MoGanic »

Suspending the lights above would give poor definition, you want some light to hit as mamy leaves as possible.

As for black, id say get a few different ones! Get black AND white... Lighter green leaves would pop more on black and darker colours on white.. Also a defoliated/dormant tree would not do well against a black background unless it was a light color :-)
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by The Ficus Guy »

MoGanic wrote:Suspending the lights above would give poor definition, you want some light to hit as mamy leaves as possible.

As for black, id say get a few different ones! Get black AND white... Lighter green leaves would pop more on black and darker colours on white.. Also a defoliated/dormant tree would not do well against a black background unless it was a light color :-)
Thanks! Good points all around. I think I'll just stick with white for now, until I can find some more colors to use.

I made a bigger box using a bed sheet and a PVC pipe frame, should work for my bigger trees:
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by MoGanic »

The bed sheet is working very well =D.
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Re: Homemade Light Box

Post by Sean M »

If you put the lights on the outside of the paper it diffuses it and stops shadows.
There are some very helpful vids on youtube on this subject.
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