Xanluna

In 2003 I read an article on how to build a custom light box on the cheap to take extreme close up photos. At the time I was still clearing off the kitchen table and grabbing a clean sheet off the bed to cover the table and then taking my close up photos.

After reading the article I got to thinking how could I build my own light box on the cheap too. The article suggested using white 1“ PVC pipe, a few fittings, and some PVC clue to build the frame. So I looked around my shop and I thought wait a minute I have some old tent poles I am not using for anything. I had been saving them for some other unknown project.

I dug around some more and came up with some used 2”x2“s and a little cutting and drilling I had the frame. Then I went to Home Depot and purchased 6 each shop utility lights with clamps. 6 each 75w wide angle flood lights, a couple extra extension cords and connectors. Then I went to Bed Bath and beyond and purchased 1 new flat pure white sheet. The really cheap ones that you would not want to sleep on as they are so stiff it takes 100 washings.

I had an old portable drafting table that I used from time to time and so I fashioned my box frame to be 36” wide x 24“ deep x 36” high. Once I had the frame built. I sat it on the drafting table and used to C-clamps to hold it down so I could still use my drafting table later.

I took the new sheet I purchased and carefully folded it in half and ironed out all the store fold wrinkles. Then I ripped the sheet along the fold line to give me two independent halves.

I Placed one of the sheet halves on the top of the frame and centered it so it draped down from both the right and left side about equal length. I tucked the sheet halve around the vertical tent poles and used a regular office stapler to staple the sheet together.

Then I took the second halve of the sheet and starting from the front cross piece I carefully folded it around and stapled the sheet so the staples could not be seen. I then pulled the remainder of the sheet over the top towards the back draping it into and between the frame so it would drape over the top of the table and a little down the front.

I then mounted the clamp lights on the top, back, right and left side and 2 from the front corners (see photos). The whole project took me about 1 day to build, including the running around to Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond for materials. My cost back in 2003 was under $50 so given todays prices I would expect it could be more.

In my case I could have used one of my old sheets rather than buying a new one, however I did not have any that was white. So if you look around you may have many of the pieces already to make your light box.

Taking really good close up photos

One of the keys to good close up photos is to have proper light balance, the right camera settings, the subject of your image positioned at the right angle to avoid glare if you do use a flash and a little patients.

I shoot all my close-ups using a tripod with the camera and I purchased a good close-up lens for my camera. For my artwork I use a Canon Rebel Digital 5 mega pixel camera with a Canon EF 50 mm 1:1.8 lens and a Fujiyama 52 MM UV lens cover. This is a great lens for shooting flowers as well.

I have a number of software applications that I use to manage photos, however the two I use the most are Firework and PhotoShop part of the Adobe CS3 collection. Both are Adobe products and have their unlimited number of image manipulation qualities. As I own a Mac I also use Acorn, Picturesque and Pixelmator from time to time. On Windows I use Adobe Elements along with a number of others. For the majority of my graphic design and photo editing however I prefer to us my Mac as this is my primary graphics computer.

Of course there are going to be times when you cannot place your photo subject in a light box, so I always try to pick a spot where I can get the best natural lighting and then add external to balance the light. So back to the kitchen table. Of course your mileage will vary depending on what your trying to shoot.

Backdrops

Did you ever notice whenever you visit most professional photographers websites that the website is done mostly in black or on a very dark background? The reason for this is black or dark grey make photos pop! They jump out off the page and take your eye directly to the photo.

Now this is great if all you’re doing is showing photos. Once you start mixing artwork, photos and images with text it becomes a little more tricky. We humans like to read text on a flat mat white background. For most people anyway white is the preferred color for text placement.

So we have to find a balance. For Xanluna! it was decided that white would be the preferred template color. As over 70% of the site is based or composed of articles. So to blend the photos onto a white background requires a little more work. This means that all photos and images have to be carefully trimmed or cropped and any portion of the image removed or changed to white for its border.

So when you’re taking close-up photos and the object you’re shooting is very light or the colors of the object have a lot of contrast it is best to take them with a bright and totally opposite color.

For example; I often will shoot my close-ups with an orange or bright green background. I go to my local craft store and purchase 24“ x 36” sheets of bright colored paper. I then drape the paper background into my light box behind the object or sit the object directly on the paper. Now when I edit the photo I can clearly see the opposing color difference and trimming the color off is easy to see. This trick works great if you’re shooting clothing for example. Sweaters or clothing materials that have a blend of color are very hard to crop and trim when you shoot on white as the colors are all blends of other colors.

The best trick I can share is what ever the subject of your photo is, to find a background that is opposite the blend of color in your subject. So back to the kitchen table. I have a very ugly green bed sheet. I don’t know where or how I acquired it, however it works great for shooting larger objects because I can cut off and crop out the ugly green color and my subject is all that is left when you see the photos.

Best photo Size

Back a few years ago when the majority of us used 35 mm camera’s we were all shooting onto film or slides. And actually it is still the preferred method for many professional photographers. The reason is film captures everything and it is permanent. The photographer will created the photo using the negative on an enlarger and depending on the subject change its position until the best size is achieved.

Now for us amateurs, we must start out with the largest format our digital camera’s can take. This varies depending on the number of mega pixels your camera capacity has. The higher the pixels the larger the size your camera is capable of taking.

The two best sizes in my view for all photos should be large or RAW. You will get the least number of photos on your camera and require dumping them off sooner, but you will get the best or closest to a film photo you can take.

Most professional photographers who use Digital cameras us RAW format. RAW is like a negative and does not actually look like a photo until it is manipulated with a software that can read RAW.

For more on RAW, JPEG, and TIFF I would read Bob Atkins article on Photo.net.

After you take your photo and transferred it to your photo imaging software, and done your touch up and cropping, I save a copy of the image that I want to place on the web site with one side always no larger then 1024 pixels. I prefer this as my standard size as most home computers today use 1024 x 768 as the minimum monitor size.

For placing photos into articles I am constrained to the limits of the template and the size varies depending on the available room the article has. The website template automatically creates thumbnail photos with the smallest at 90 x 90 pixels. Of course at this small size you’re not going to see much detail and that really is the key to your photo size. You want to make your photo size fit the subject or purpose.

Size of your photos also affects the file image size. When you send photos to your friends or family via email I recommend you always reduce your images to a minimum of 1024 as the largest side. This will render your photo at about 130-250 kb without having to zip or compress them. When I save photos I normally choose JPEG (JPG) or PNG and save at 80% of the original. This gives the best resolution and the smallest size. If you really need to save space then save your photos at 50% of the original. This will render your size to less than 100 kb. But remember as you reduce the percentage of size you also loose quality and depth of your image.

One final note. Backup your photos after you transfer them off your camera. Burn them to CD or DVD. Don’t just copy them. When you copy from your computer to a CD or DVD it may not be the one you want to restore them from. Once you copy any file from your local computer to a CD or DVD without actually burning them they are not permanent.

If you have any good photo tips or wish to make a comment about this article please do drop us a note or leave us a comment. Happy shooting!