# My Studio in a Box



## Tea Clipper (Dec 8, 2005)

I know nothing about cameras and such, so after telling a co-worker what I wanted to do, he gave me some ideas.  I went with his recommendations and once I received everything, I brought it all in to work so he could give me a demo.  

Studio in a Box, $71.24 with free shipping from Amazon.  I really like this. It seems to work well, and it folds up nice and compact for storage.  The lights do get pretty hot though...






And here's a few pics taken on my new Canon A520:
($168 at Butterflyphoto)

Jr.Statesman in Blue BEB:  I should have used the grey background...





Ligero in Chechen Burl:




The included batteries started to die on me and while I was in such a hurry I didn't realize I placed the cap upside down after previously knocking it over.  Doh! [}]

The highlight on the nib is from one of the overhead lights, not the studio box.  My friend also recommends I get rechargeable batteries. [}]  Anyway, I need to practice more, but with his help the above photos look pretty good, imho. 

Oh... finding a manual camera nowadays is getting tough.  I had to pass up some of the newer cameras because they are mostly semi-automatic - and unfortunately, the camera doesn't always pick the right settings. damhikt.[}]

Finally, the pens are glossy but you can't really tell from the pics.  I'm not sure if I want to show specular highlights or not.  What do you guys think?


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## Gary Max (Dec 8, 2005)

Hey Ron you are sure getting better at the pic thing. I see folks with $50.00 lathes and $800.00 cameras???? Glad to see you did not break the bank.


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## wayneis (Dec 8, 2005)

I think that you need to show exactly what the customer will recieve.  Say they pick out something that has kinda a matt looking finish and when they recieve it the thing glows in the dark its so shinny.  Most of the time its only a matter of shooting at an angle to get the shine to come through in a photograph.  Also if you have a off white background you can get some real nice shots.

Wayne


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## rduncan (Dec 8, 2005)

OK, someone is in for it!!!   [] 

After seeing this thread it prompted me to buy the same thing.  Ah, what the heck....it's only money.  I'll call it my Christmas gift to myself.


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## Dario (Dec 8, 2005)

Nice setup but I don't like the fabric pattern on the background (maybe it is just me?).


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## tinker (Dec 8, 2005)

I just bought a Canon FT-QL off ebay for $65.00 total. Three lenses included wide angle and telephoto and a doubler. I am looking forward to setting up a photo box soon.
I can't afford one of those $1,000.00+ digital cameras, so I figure back to film for the wrestling pictures and then pens.
I like your box set up, makes a great photo.


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## Tea Clipper (Dec 8, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Dario_
> <br />Nice setup but I don't like the fabric pattern on the background (maybe it is just me?).



The moire effect is an artifact from the resizing of the picture.  The full size pic shows a non-descript background.  Although, some closeups that I did, will show the weave of the fabric.


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## Johnathan (Feb 21, 2006)

Just ordered this also from Amazon. I can't wait to see it and try it out. A little more expensive than doing it myself but time is money and I'd rather spend it turning a pen![] Thanks for posting this.


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## Tea Clipper (Feb 22, 2006)

I have played with it for a few months now and I'm glad I bought it.  I appreciate how it folds up nice and neat and also that it is a complete setup with tripod and all.  The background became a problem as illustrated in the above pics, so I'm trying different replacement materials.  Lately, I've been using some stiff paper that I bought from Walmart sold as scrapbook paper.  The one I bought has 25 different colors, but it seems I keep digging out the light gray one... I chose the solid colors for now, but they also had metallic and patterned paper...lot's to choose from.


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