Portable Light Box: The Basics
October 8, 2019 by avernos
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@avernos thanks mate, not got round to building mine yet , will watch with interest!
I got one from GSW and its cool piece of kit and works a treat
I think Gerry forgot some of the basics of mini photography here, so I’ll list them in a comment.
1.Take a picture from the back
2.Make sure they are out of focus
Two points but two very important ones
Give this man a biscuit!
don’t worry the photos I took were out of focus,
It’s not out of focus , its simulating movement
If they were in focus we’d be calling this a miracle product!
I think I speak for everyone when I say we are all proud of you
Battles shots Gerry! Battle shots in the heat of the moment……..
No thumb though get your coat!
And remember they call them thumbnails for a reason. 🙂
Pretty nifty – might get one for taking some good photographs of my B&B stuff
Some advanced pointers I found on the web relate to using non-phone cameras. For instance how to properly use ISO, aperture etc. This is important because one of the typical mistakes is thinking being as close to the model as possible is best. The distance, focus, and aperture settings all help you get as much of the model/s into focus. Likewise using a tripod helps loads, and of course if you really want to up your game shooting in RAW and editing that to be the final shot. Also if people want to know, I use a Sony A5100 slr… Read more »
It’s also worth noting that phone cameras tend to have either everything in focus or nothing.
With non-phone cameras (like the Sony mentioned by @doctorether or my OM-D) you can have fun (or get angry ) trying to focus on a specific miniature in a group.
This was the guide https://taleofpainters.blogspot.com/2016/01/tutorial-beginners-guide-to-miniature.html
And ‘RawTherapee’ a freeware raw-editor that can be useful to have if you want to experiment without spending money on the likes of Adobe Lightroom (which is now a subscription based service)
I’ve got a similar box, though cheaper because a) it was a promotional item and b) it has only one strip of LEDs. Use it to make “glory shots” of the finished minis. Still haven’t got the hang of if (despite having read through @lancorz guide)
I’ve got something similar but with one light strip, and the foam insert isn’t as white as it once was. Should I be plunging the room in to darkness if I can before taking any pics, or does it not matter?
What’s the Glorious Hole in the top for? Putting a lamp through, or for taking pics of very tall things?
It’s for taking top-down pictures, which can be useful when taking pictures of bases or flat surfaces.
Long ago I built a diffuser box and read volumes about photographing minis (even used DSLR camera at that time) but I never could achieve good results.
Nowadays I use two simple rules to get results that are satisfying to me:
1. Use only natural light (take your photos outside or in a place you have large window in front of your mini),
2. Use matt grey backdrops as my current camera seems to measure white balance on mid-tones rather than pure black and white.
I have a light box that come with two tabletop lights which I can move around, it’s better having the light source at the side rather than the top. I use daylight bulbs as well. I don’t have the space currently to make use of it but once I’ve converted my garage I’ll be using it more.
I have a very similar light box. I find that even with two light sources you sometimes don’t get light where you want it. Especially lower down details on a mini depending on the pose. My tip would be to slip somthing into the box that helps raise the lead edge of the base a bit without ruining the flow of the chosen back drop or tipping him over. As long as you take the photo at the right angle the person viewing will never know that the mini was at about 30 degrees from the flat of the lightbox… Read more »
Interesting, will look into this a bit more. With so many out there, its gonna be a pain picking one. 1 How much does it cost. 2 How many are there out there. 3 How much room does it take. 4 Whats the biggest mini you can fit in. 5 Can you put say a forest picture in the back, would it work. Just a few things bouncing round the old grey matter, maybe to make picking easier the OTT guys should do a top five and give there reason`s. Save us lazy lot the time and effort, which we… Read more »
looks great I think a piece of foam or something to rest phone/camera on if shaky hands are a problem.
Good stuff, got mine last week and really happy with it.
Bit of Altered Carbon going on there I see…
That light box looks a bit better than the cheaply one I got off Amazon. It’s not too bad but is a real faff still. I’m back on natural light at the moment but I might give this one a look. The extra strip of lights should make a big difference.
THANK YOU FOR THAT REVIEW
6 quid on aliexpress