# homemade light tent



## ahoiberg

i've seen a few of you build your own light tents, i followed a link with one made from PVC, etc...

i've got a few questions.

1) what are the best bulbs to use for pen photography?

2) for diffuser material, can you just buy some nylon from joann fabric or something? is there a particular kind of fabric that works best?

3) i know backgrounds are personal choice, but is polyester a good one?

thanks!


----------



## stevers

I just used a couple of flood lights from an outdoor light set up from the borg. I guess they wood be 500 watt floods. And for certain affects, I'll put a 100 watt lamp behind the tent. 

I used a standard bed sheet.  

The back ground is personal choice. 

Here is a pic of my light set up.


----------



## bob393

I use color balanced compact florescent bulbs of at least 5000 deg kelvin,I use 42 watt which equals 150 watt incandescent. Sometimes I use a tent sometimes I don't. Usually right, left and one high.


----------



## BigRob777

I've heard that grow lights are best.  
Rob


----------



## Glass Scratcher

> _Originally posted by BigRob777_
> <br />I've heard that grow lights are best.
> Rob


Grow lights are made to emit more UV spectra and some red spectra.  Plants absorb light in the UV range for chlorophylls and those that contain carotenes absorb light in the red spectra.

Daylight balanced are best.  Between 5500k and 6500k spectrum.  Here are 2 good websites that have probably been mentioned before but they are worth repeating.

TableTop Studio has a good page on lighting myths.
http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/HowTo_page.htm

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/index.html

I ran across a test of CFs at photo site and ironically the tests showed the N:Vision brand in the full spectum to produce better light than many of the other off the shelf Cfs available.  Again they are full spectrum in the 5500K - 6500K range.

.


----------



## MDWine

These are excellent!  Hadn't seen these before, Thanks!!


----------



## ahoiberg

Ok, so compact flourescent bulbs that have a daylight finish on them are the best for picture taking? Will these fit in any old light bulb harness? And what watt should they be? I've found some that are 30 watt that have a 6400 color temp, would these work?


----------



## ahoiberg

can these be found at walmart/home depot etc.?

yes they can!


----------



## exoticwo

Andrew,
Not trying to be a Smart A_ _ but sometimes we have to go out and find the answers for ourselves. Perhaps while you are there looking you might find what you need. We all share but you ask questions that might be best answered by a fieldtrip to the stores in question.
The answer to your color temp. has all ready been answeredDaylight balanced are best, Between 5500k and 6500k spectrum)


----------



## ahoiberg

right Albert, but i was trying to find out if the wattage and the color temp made any difference. and i figured since someone's already probably been looking at home depot or lowes or something, they could say specifically which store was the best to go to instead of me driving around to 10 different stores trying to find what i need. and trust me, i've done plenty of finding answers on my own.

questions withdrawn.


----------



## Glass Scratcher

> _Originally posted by ahoiberg_
> <br />right Albert, but i was trying to find out if the wattage and the color temp made any difference. and i figured since someone's already probably been looking at home depot or lowes or something, they could say specifically which store was the best to go to instead of me driving around to 10 different stores trying to find what i need. and trust me, i've done plenty of finding answers on my own.
> 
> questions withdrawn.



in most photography I have found you can never have too much light, but you can always have too little.  If you have too much light add another diffuser panel or shutter your light if your lights have barndoors or shutters on them.  If you don't have enough light... get more light.

My local Walmarts carry the GE brands of daylight CF bulbs in the 5500k and the 6500k color range.  I have several 20 watts and several 30 watts and 1 Top bulb Spiral cone that Walmart carried for about 2 weeks before changing them off the counter.  

the local Home Depot carries the N:Vision bulbs as well as most other brands.

On a saftey note with CF bulbs always store them safely in a rigid container best if separate.  They do contain Mercury in them and if broken, precautions need to be taken when cleaning up after them.

.


----------



## ahoiberg

cool, thanks for the info!


----------



## ahoiberg

thanks for everyone's help. you saved me driving all over town in search of what i need. if it had been a small town, no problem, but in denver all our stores are scattered widely. thanks to glass scratcher, i found exactly what i needed at walmart. including the aluminum reflector clamp lamps. these now serve dual purpose as extra shop lights and photo lights. i found the 20 watt GE bulbs with the 6500k temp. I ended up getting four of them, hopefully that will provide enough light for the pics, I have a feeling some have found better success with 30, 42 or even 50 watt bulbs but they didn't carry those and the price for the 20 watt bulbs is pretty good at 6.50 for two.

i'll get some pictures posted once i get the tent set-up built.

again, thanks for your expertise in the area!

here's to better picture taking!


----------



## samuel07

Here is some interesting reading. There is a guy about halfway down the post that takes great pics in low natural light. 

You don't always need a light tent to take great photos (depending on the camera[])

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29551&hl=low+light


----------



## Glass Scratcher

> _Originally posted by samuel07_
> <br />Here is some interesting reading. There is a guy about halfway down the post that takes great pics in low natural light.
> 
> You don't always need a light tent to take great photos (depending on the camera[])
> 
> http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=29551&hl=low+light



But a $50 tent setup with lights and a $100 Canon A510 vs $400-$700 Nikon D50 body, now choose your lens and plug in the appropriate $$$...  I know we are talking taking better pictures of your pens but unless you are a real photo hobbiest/semi-pro/pro then you don't need that kind of hardware.  And yes I have my share of toys as well...


----------



## ahoiberg

alright, here's a few pics of the light box i provided the link to in another thread.






another view






and a test picture with a photoshopped border, other than tweaking the white just a tad in PS, this pic is straight up how it came from the box. when fooling around with my white balance and exposure after i took this pic, i think i got it to where i won't need photoshop to adjust the background... pretty happy with the results for $10 worth of posterboard... []


----------

