Photographing jewelry and other small things

I have tried a few different photo light boxes in the past few years. I've posted on them extensively on Orchid and have written articles that have appeared in the newsletter of the Chicago Metal Arts Guild and The North American Felters Network newsletter.

Shown in the picture is my original set up, made of foam core. My current favorite lightbox, for size, ease of use, ease of assembly, and presense of a back drop clips is: the Patterson Medium Light box. It was $44.00 when I bought it, I think it's up to $47.00 now.

You can find it in the studio section at B & H, then light domes and tents. www.bhphotovideo.com

It's a good size, so you don't have to worry about running out of backdrop room if you make something big. The backdrop clip is awesome. After years of using jerry rigged systems, I really appreciate this set up. Yes, you could build it yourself for less, but boy they've done a nice job for a reasonable price.

To go with that, you can buy seamless back ground paper in a number of colors from most any large photography supply place. If you want gradient gray, you can by that in small, affordable pieces from

www.setshop.com

It's hard to find. It's under backgrounds, then tabletop, then gradients.

Other folks recommend printing out your own at home using Photoshop and photo paper.

At a recent meeting of the Windy City Chapter of the PMC Guild, many of us brought our photo light tent set ups to show and for members to try out. People brought jewelry and took test shots.

One of the systems a member brought was the American Recorder "Photo Studio in a Box," here is a link to one place to buy it:
www.smithgear.com/ar-sib-100.html

This is apparently one of those products that came out to meet the needs of the eBay seller. I was very impressed with how it truly folded flat and also takes less than a minute to set up. It would be more accurate to call it Photo Studio in a bag. The whole thing is in a "bag" the outer parts of which are also it, the light tent. You unzip and unvelcro it, pop out the sides and ta-da! You're in business!

That is comes with lights and is only $99.00 is incredible. If I needed everything, I would probably get this one. When we used this at the Guild meeting, we added a "ramp" of foam core underneath the background.

Charles's book Small Scale Photography is what I used to create the set up pictured earlier in this lens.

You can also read excerpts from this, and many of his other books at
Ganoksin in the library.

This book is more technical than many may like, and it is black and white with drawings, no color photos. Still, I mention it because it has a great depth of information, and if you want to understand more, and the whys and hows, then this is the book for you.

My set up in the picture is made of foam core, with a piece of parchment paper across the top. Tracing paper would also work.

The lights are "blue bulbs," or daylight bulbs, 250 watts on each side and 500 watts overhead.

This set up served me well for many years, in part because it was all collapsable and stored in just one medium sized box.

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Thanks!

(c) 2007 Elaine Luther All Rights Reserved.