# DIY light box, home studio lighting?



## Gary

I built a 4x8' table at home for my slot car track and am thinking about also using it as a base for macro work. The plan is to go the cheap route with PVC pipe and maybe a bed sheet for diffusion like this guy did in the pic below. BUt I am wondering about light. Are plain old incandesant bulbs ok, or is their something better and still cheap and easy to get at Home Depot? Outdoor flood lights? Maybe one thats colored? Or maybe halogen?

Thanks.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100539063&N=10000003+90008+501093


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## Arlon

Halogen gets REAL hot. I've had better luck with compact flourescent. Just use a custom white balance off of your light combo and you're good to go.


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## Gary

Arlon said:


> Halogen gets REAL hot. I've had better luck with compact flourescent. Just use a custom white balance off of your light combo and you're good to go.


That makes sense Arlon. CF should diffuse pretty good. Put them in those hoods like that guy did?


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## Pocketfisherman

Rather than bedsheet, pick up some Muslin from a fabric store. It's more transparent than bedsheet. For lights, I'd look for color corrected bulbs with near daylight spectrum. That will give you the richest and most natural colors. You can find them in incandescent or flourescents. I've used compact flourescents tha tI found at Home Depot that have a color spectrum of 5000K. I think they're made by Sylvania. I also use them in my home office where I do all my digital photo processing. 

But, if you use flourescents be aware that most residential type fixtures and compacts use a ballast that is 60hz, which means the light is turning off and on 60 times a second which will cause weird color shifts if you use shutter speeds quicker than 1/60. Commercial ballasts can be had that are at a higher frequency.


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## Arlon

I use the CF bulbs in those same clamp on light like in your picture. I like the larger size clamp on lights (larger reflectors) I've only found at a "true value" hardware store..

I also use off camera flash a lot. I get those $10 remote slaves that fire a hotshoe flash. I have a handful of mixed brand flashes that all work fine for that purpose.


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## Gary

Thanks guys. I sure am glad I asked. I didnt think about the color temperature from one bulb to another. I see Home Depot has what they call "Daylight" CF bulbs that should be close enough to natural daylight. But what I cant find is what Hz they are. For what Im doing, Ill be wanting alot of DoF. Small aperature and long exposure. 60 Hz bulbs should be ok huh?


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## Pocketfisherman

Gary said:


> Thanks guys. I sure am glad I asked. I didnt think about the color temperature from one bulb to another. I see Home Depot has what they call "Daylight" CF bulbs that should be close enough to natural daylight. But what I cant find is what Hz they are. For what Im doing, Ill be wanting alot of DoF. Small aperature and long exposure. 60 Hz bulbs should be ok huh?


Correct, no problem for longer exposures. Some brands of CF's have the color temperature right on the box. You have to look for them, but I've bought them at both Home Depot and Lowes.


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## grayfish

MT Stringer did some experiments with a light box he built a while back. He and others that is. I could not find the threads, but I know they are here somewhere. He has been busy repairing his house but you may want to PM him. He does drop in now and then.


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## MT Stringer

Here ya go, Gary. Adjust the pvc to the size you need.
I didn't even glue anything so it's easy to disassemble for storage.
NOTE: I bought a sheet Walmart that had a higher thread count so hopefully it would diffuse the light better.

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

Hope this helps.
Mike


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## Arlon

I shot all my old short lenses ( http://www.pbase.com/arlon/mf_lenses ) in this box last night.. It doesn't have to be too fancy.


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## Gary

I just finished the framework during lunch. Nuttin to it and I had everything I needed here allready. I just need to hit walmart and home depot and Im ready! 

Thanks guys!


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## stargazer

Gary, check this link, a bunch of DIY stuff

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=256773


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## Gary

stargazer said:


> Gary, check this link, a bunch of DIY stuff
> 
> http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=256773


Read every one of em Fred. 

I've been doing alot of reading lately. lol


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## stargazer

Well alrighty then, Ill go back in my corner and be quiet


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## Gary

stargazer said:


> Well alrighty then, Ill go back in my corner and be quiet


No, I appreciate it bro! How was you to know, I knew what you didnt know I knew? You know? :slimer:


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## stargazer

:rotfl::biggrin:


Gary said:


> No, I appreciate it bro! How was you to know, I knew what you didnt know I knew? You know? :slimer:


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## samurai_ag

I would like to add that the power of flourescent light falls off very quickly. It is great for a balanced light but it doesn't produce the brightness some others do.


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## Gary

Took a few shots with the wrong lens, the 55-200 with WB balance set on the Flour setting. Way too cool! Tomarrow the 15-55 will be here and I will work on it more. Plus I havent picked up a sheet or muslin yet, used some stuff I had laying around at work. And havent tried moving the lights around yet. I have some work to do yet.


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## Gary

A little better. Now if I can rember what I did. lol

Scuze the noob yall.


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## Gary

Getting a better handle on it. I like this a little better in B&W.


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## Gary

Besides using a 55-200mm lens for macro, what am I doing wrong? For the Canon guys, I'm playing with the WB SHIFT/BKT option and dragging the little thing around the grid trying different settings. Is this where I should be adjusting for WB?


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## stargazer

On the XSI, there is a button on the back for WB. it give ya options of cloudy, sunny, etc. Not sure what camera you have though.
found it, Pg 64 of the manual AF/WB on top of the camera, press it and turn the wheel on the back while looking at the top LCD
What you are pressing now "WB correction" is for color temp correction and color filter correction. again per the manual....I know real men dont read the manual, LOL.


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## Gary

stargazer said:


> On the XSI, there is a button on the back for WB. it give ya options of cloudy, sunny, etc. Not sure what camera you have though.
> found it, Pg 64 of the manual AF/WB on top of the camera, press it and turn the wheel on the back while looking at the top LCD
> What you are pressing now "WB correction" is for color temp correction and color filter correction. again per the manual....I know real men dont read the manual, LOL.


Im using a 30D Fred. I tried the standard WB options like the flour and AWB settings. AWB looks really grey and the Flour setting looks really blue. What I havent tried yet is the daylight option. And looking at the manual it says something about shooting a white object and _THEN _using the custom WB option. Ill try that too.

Thanks


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## Gary

I used the trick of shooting a white object and using that as my custom WB setting. Not knowing how true white the object I shot was and not having a calibrated monitor doesnt help much either. Ill have to get a grey card.

It looks a little better though. The first shot went through P&P and this one didnt.


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## Arlon

For background material on small things I like to use that thin 1/8" craft foam. It's VERY white (or any other color you might want) and has a very even smooth texture. It's just a very flat seamless background.
That little engine might look pretty good on a black background. Shoot under exposed a little and bring it up with contrast to make the black REALLY black.


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