When I decided to document my DIY Harry Potter Christmas Tree Advent Calendar project in the form of a blog, I thought a little about how to take good photos for the blog posts. I don't own a fancy camera, in fact all of the photos are taken with my mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 8. OK, so my phone has one of the best mobile phone cameras there are at the moment, but it's still just a phone, and I know nothing about photography or how to make the most of the camera.
I remembered that I'd recently read an article about making a mini photo studio for diffused lighting and a nice background for photographing small objects, and after doing some research on Google, I decided to make my own Photo Light Box. I made something very similar to the finished product they show in this YouTube tutorial, with materials and tools that I already had at home.
Unfortunately I did not document the process, but instead of making separate panels and taping those together, I just laid the cardboard box down on one side, and cut square holes in the sides and top with a box cutter. I covered the remaining cardboard with thick, white paper, making the inside of the box completely white. I then covered the square openings in the sides and on the top with two layers of thin white wrapping tissue paper, fastening it with matte transparent S(p)ellotape. Finally I made the infinity background with sturdy, white paper hung from the top of the back panel, curving seamlessly through the box and all the way out of the front hole of the box. It didn't take long, it was completely free, and gave me a very useful tool to make diffused light and shoot good photos for the blog.
I'm not saying that I feel my ornament photos turned out perfect or professional-looking or anything, but I'm still for the most part very satisfied with how they look, especially the infinity-background effect would have been difficult to achieve without my Light Box. I had to hide away from my daughter while doing this project, so the box was kept in a rather dimly lit room. I don't own any photo lights, but a very strong/bright LED headlamp on each side worked perfectly well as light sources during photography.
Below you can see how I used the headlamps as light sources for photography, propped up on a box on either side og my mini pohoto studio:
I remembered that I'd recently read an article about making a mini photo studio for diffused lighting and a nice background for photographing small objects, and after doing some research on Google, I decided to make my own Photo Light Box. I made something very similar to the finished product they show in this YouTube tutorial, with materials and tools that I already had at home.
Unfortunately I did not document the process, but instead of making separate panels and taping those together, I just laid the cardboard box down on one side, and cut square holes in the sides and top with a box cutter. I covered the remaining cardboard with thick, white paper, making the inside of the box completely white. I then covered the square openings in the sides and on the top with two layers of thin white wrapping tissue paper, fastening it with matte transparent S(p)ellotape. Finally I made the infinity background with sturdy, white paper hung from the top of the back panel, curving seamlessly through the box and all the way out of the front hole of the box. It didn't take long, it was completely free, and gave me a very useful tool to make diffused light and shoot good photos for the blog.
Infinity background detail:
I'm not saying that I feel my ornament photos turned out perfect or professional-looking or anything, but I'm still for the most part very satisfied with how they look, especially the infinity-background effect would have been difficult to achieve without my Light Box. I had to hide away from my daughter while doing this project, so the box was kept in a rather dimly lit room. I don't own any photo lights, but a very strong/bright LED headlamp on each side worked perfectly well as light sources during photography.
Below you can see how I used the headlamps as light sources for photography, propped up on a box on either side og my mini pohoto studio:
Detail:
Stay tuned for a special pre-advent-calendar post on ornament hooks in the next few days!
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