'No Frills' $75.00 home studio tent/lightbox

[Ansoknives]

Great post Coop!...I made my first light tent yesterday before seing this post....a friend sent me some halogen spots and I made a "Tipi" out of some rods and thing drawing paper.....worked pretty good...will take a picture of the setup and show one of the pics I shot in it later....I was really happy with the results it gave me but ofcourse it takes some getting used to....

 

[SharpByCoop]

Hi Jens,

I would love you to post your version. Everything that works is valid.

those appear to be all yardlights and not the worklights. I'm wondering if the bulb (replacement) will only work with their lighting or will it work from any receptical?

Murray, in that link are yard lights, work lights, and bulbs alone. Look closer.

No, the bulb is that strange BIG screw-in socket. Not household.

Coop

 

[Dr. Thor]

Are there any light bulb that will work ina regular (incandesant) lamp and still provide the whitest light possible? If this has already been discus, then please forgive me.

 

[Osprey Guy]

As long as you don't exceed the wattage specified for your lamp, the 75 watt equivalent, "Daylight" fluorescent bulbs I got at Home Depot should work just fine.


Dennis Greenbaum

Yeah Baby!

 

[Ansoknives]

Here is my newly made setup havent taken much with it yet so I am still trying to figure out the tecnic...but it works great so far. I use 3 lamps with halogen energy savers.....comparable to 60W each apparantly....the tent is made from 3 carbon arrows and drawingpaper......easy as pie....!

 

[Stumpy]

OK I followed most of Coops advice and this is what I ended up with.I have to say with my limited experience I'm very happy with the results of the pics.I need to try some other light bulbs and back grounds but these are easly the best pics I have been able to take inside with very little effort.

 

[Murray White]

now, move the knife off horizontal to a diagonal position and add some reflector light to the front side and you are in business.

 

[Megalobyte]

I like the idea of the white garbage bags. Much cheaper than my spandex.

Well, thank god for that, the recurring image I have of you wearing spandex is quite disturbing...

 

[SharpByCoop]

Well, Jens, that is about as simple and effective as I have seen. I gotta try THAT! Thanks for filling us in.

Ari--your setup??

Stumpy--Hooray for you! Your setup looks smart and easy. You are on your way to good clean images and now working with the subtleties of composition and lighting. There is more in there, but you got the basics down.

Notice how the colors on the dark handle come out better on the busy background vs the blue one? It has more to do with the overall contrast between the handle and the background. Never try to capture a dark handle on a very light background. The blue is better than white, but a darker color would do it that much better. Lose the busy backgrounds and concentrate on clarity first. Then compositition.

Good work!

Coop

 

[Stephen F]

Well I built my 110Euro No-Frills set up today based on Coops design - I am delighted with how simple it was, and seem to be getting pretty good results - THANKS COOP for the motivation and inspiration!

Stephen

 

[Murray White]

we all would love to see the images.

 

[Stephen F]

Ok Murray, your wish is my command:

first a very bad picture of my set up:

I could only get 60W light fittings so I am using Philips 60W Daylights, there are some clamped lights for the top bar which are not shown in this photo. The front side is warapped in foil to fill the shadows. It all flat packs in 5 mins - I am so impressed with Coops idea!

My first images have been for the production knife and book comp on another forum - heres on:

Need to work on front reflections, and due to the low watts I am on very long shutter speeds so a tripod is essential.

Cheers,

Stephen

 

[SharpByCoop]

Geez. I'd pay a better pro than me to take a shot of THAT quality!

Congrats, Stephen! That is amazing work.

Coop

 

[RogerP]

GREAT job Stephen!

Roger

PS - Now go shoot some of those bowies of yours.

 

[Murray White]

notice a couple of hot spots but the setup looks kewl. nice that more folks are getting these lighting setups and the images are looking very good.

 

[JoeMason]

Well Coop, you got me sold on this setup. Will build a new photo setup soon. Thanks for this thread.

Joe Mason

 

[SharpByCoop]

The aspects that make this accomplishable are the availability of all the components at local places. Nowadays those elusive bulbs are turning up more and more.

There are better and easier diffusers than garbage bags, but they will get you off the ground.

Also the simple 'build it anyway that suits you' PVC frame that supports the lights in a critical area for placement. BTW, don't use any glue if you don't wish. Just press it together and pull it apart.

Lastly the foamboard needs to be cut with a knife.... Nothing like a 'sense of purpose'!

I'm enjoying those that this helps.

Coop

 

[JoeMason]

Al the materials will be easy to get, but will have to look for the reflective paper. Thanks again Coop.

Joe

 

[SharpByCoop]

...Use tin foil. Better than white.

Coop

 

[Pontiaker]

I also got the bug to make something after I saw this thread, finally got to it today. I went the super simple route and will build on what I started with in the future. I just needed something I can move around and set up quick to take some shots inside the house when I dont have daylight outside. I used a cardboard box, some thin foam packing material and a couple $5 bedside lamps from Target. Iam thinking of lining the box with white poster board and some kind of reflector in the front? I will try some different bulbs too. The backround is a shirt I was wearing, talk about low buck:~) I think I need a new camera,these pics were done with my 5 year old 2.1 MP Sony Digi cam. All feedback welcome!
Thanks
Matt