I am thinking about getting a Light Box for my still life work and am wondering if anyone here uses one and can recommend what to buy? I suppose the main question I have is, is it really worth buying one, what are the pros and cons?
At the moment I am making do with a couple of cloths, one white and the other black that I drape over a chair to use as a background, this works but the colour of both cloths does tend to change quite considerably depending on lighting which is sometimes a nuisance.
Any tips and recommendations would be very useful.
Many thanks.
i've use a couple over the years, although i can't recall the brands... i believe both were equally effective and easy to use... the one "drawback" is that neither of them allowed me to really direct the light... i'm pretty sure one had a fixed light strip (excellent light though) and the other had a hole through which to direct light but allowed for comparatively limited angles...
now i tend to use paste board (i have both white and black) which i can set up in ways allowing me more flexibility in terms of directing light...
@northy Thanks that is very useful. I did wonder at how the lighting would work as presumably they are non-adjustable as far as positioning goes. Your pasteboard idea sounds good, did you make them yourself? Thinking about it I would want them to have a hinge (probably to boards joined together with gaffer tape) so the base and the back are covered. Think I need to do some web research!
i just buy paste board at a craft or office/school supply store... you can get large sheets, small sheets and presentation style... presentation style allows for free standing as it has two sides with "hinges"...
i have to hurry off now, but can add more info later if it would be helpful...
here's a link which should take you to the type of boards i use (i have in both black and white) but it doesn't seem to be working correctly for some reason... anyhoo... if you google "presentation paste boards" i think you'll see what i mean...
I have one, it came with different colour backdrop cloths and lights. It's cumbersome to set up and like northy I tend to use my artist boards (from HobbyCraft) as easier to direct the light and cast shadows
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
now i tend to use paste board (i have both white and black) which i can set up in ways allowing me more flexibility in terms of directing light...
i have to hurry off now, but can add more info later if it would be helpful...
https://www.staples.ca/products/324817-en-geographics-presentation-foam-board-48-x-36-white
and this is an image taken using a "lightbox" set up i created out of smaller pasteboards... off-kilter on purpose 🥴