Using a Photo Box or Light Tent for Macro Photography
On a recent episode on Peter Mckinnon’s YouTube Channel https://bit.ly/2YR4PyM he discussed 5 Clever Photo Accessories Under $50. I ended up purchasing one of the items, the Photo Box or Light Tent. It’s a great item.
The Photo Box he talked about can be found on Amazon https://amzn.to/2DycXLV and its only $12. Its takes about 2 minutes to set up and it includes 2 lights in the front and back of the top part of the box that you plug into a USB connection to turn on. It also includes 6 backdrops in different colors. Here is a photo of the light box.
For someone that wants to get into Macro Photography this is a great choice. Of course there are better and more expensive options out there but this one is a good way to start. You can use it to take photos of Jewelry, Toys, Watches, Fruits, Flowers or anything you can think of putting in it. It’s not that big but you can definitely fit an item about 6 inches high by 6 inches wide. Most likely you will take a photo through the large opening as shown in the photo, but in addition, there is a circular opening on the top that can be used to take photos as well.
Once I set up the the Photo Box I put my Camera on a Tripod to keep it really steady. My camera was positioned about 2 feet from the center of the box. My camera settings on a Canon EOS R were ISO 100, F8, at 1/60th of a second and I used a Canon 100mm Prime Lens. It’s really important to keep the background clutter free otherwise you will have a lot of work to do in post processing. You also want to shoot between F8-F11 so that everything is sharp. So make sure there are no patterns under the item you are taking a photo of that will distract the viewer. Having a clean look will highlight what you are photographing and make it stand out.
So here is my first result, of some cherries, using the Lightbox. I really love the image and I think photographers will love using the Light Box. I added a few drops of water on the Cherries to give it a more interesting look.