Focus question ( white box )

So meter off the grey card, and keep it like that for the shoot ? The white looks much whiter though right ?

Yes to both.

Thank you, will do. Would this apply for any object ? Being that its not like a solid black ball.

You're shooting right up my alley; knife shots in a lightbox. I've got the perfect info for you...

First of all, you don't need anything special, a camera, a lens, a lightbox, a light, and a table. I put my camera on a tripod, but you can just as easily use the dining room table. A table big enough to fit the lightbox and the camera is perfect, put a few books under the camera to raise it, and that's all you need. Set the camera for center-point focus, use Manual, set an aperture between f/11-f/16, and set your timer or use a wireless remote shutter. All you need to do is shoot and watch your LCD to check for image brightness, and practice with different exposures to get it right.

Light, that's the easiest thing in the world. White balance, color temperature, can be adjusted in processing, all you need to be concerned with is exposure and aperture. Go to the local hardware store, Home Depot, Menard's, etc., and buy an "under the kitchen cabinet" light. Plug it in and set it on top of your lightbox. It will give you the best all-around lighting in the box. If you have a flash and a wireless trigger or cable, aim the flash inside the box at the top of the box. Experiment with the best angle to aim it, but it'll be all you need to get your shutter speed up and light the whole box.

For shooting a more "artistic" shot, I use a black background and the kitchen cabinet light, and nothing else.

You have Live View, use it. It's the best way to get critical focus, and you can zoom 5x or 10x to really see what you're doing. I love Live View for lightbox shooting.


Here are some examples of what I shoot. These were shot with a single flash aimed at the top of the box...

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90blackcrx wrote in post #9723655
Thank you, will do. Would this apply for any object ? Being that its not like a solid black ball.

Yeah. Shooting a continuous white background is just like shooting in snow and will throw off the meter reading.

I thought though if I focused on the object it wouldn't toss the meter off, I still got a lot to learn though. So I guess though that would also have to do with that metering I'm using right ? I forgot the name of the one I'm using, its the most common that people just leave it on from the factory.

katodog thanks for the help, I need some kind of light, I'm just using the light thats supplied to me in my bed room

Ok so I just metered off the grey card and left it like that, much better. I personally think the knife picture is a little blown out, but I think it could be because of the glare, the other ones I'm really liking.

Much better.

As for the glare on the knife, handling reflections and glare is the hardest part of this kind of photography. Is there an angle you can turn it so there's less glare?

Or maybe you could raise the knife up off the white surface so it doesn't get so much reflected light.

I've been using an office light lately, and it works better than the kitchen light and throws a better color temperature into the box. It's a basic fluorescent desk lamp, the kind with the articulating arms, and since it came with a clamp I just clamp it to the t.v. tray that I put my lightbox on. Another cheap idea for great lighting, and with the articulating arms I can move the light around and aim it where I want.


This was done with the office light. It doesn't give you a totally white background like a flash would, but it is obviously more than enough to light your subject. And now that I've been using a white paper background it looks a lot cleaner. This shot was with a cloth background, and I never liked the "white" of it, never looked good to me. I switched to a piece of white paper from a roll we have, and now things look much better...

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I'll ask in here in start of making a new topic , when shooting like a city landscape from a distance, how would you meter off a grey card ? Would you just put it in front of the camera since in reality where you are at, and the city are under the same light ( moon light ) ?

I've reread all the responses in this post...is the OP shooting in jpg or in RAW, is he doing anything in PP?
I find it a lot easier to shoot in RAW, include that gray card in one shot of a series, done under the same lighting conditions, and sync all the WBs in the series in PP. I have never taken my 1Ds Mk III out of the auto WB mode.
In the situations that I don't use that card, WB is adjusted by eye in seeking the "look" that I want for my image, thereby opening a myriad of options.

chauncey wrote in post #9745912
I've reread all the responses in this post...is the OP shooting in jpg or in RAW, is he doing anything in PP?
I find it a lot easier to shoot in RAW, include that gray card in one shot of a series, done under the same lighting conditions, and sync all the WBs in the series in PP. I have never taken my 1Ds Mk III out of the auto WB mode.
In the situations that I don't use that card, WB is adjusted by eye in seeking the "look" that I want for my image, thereby opening a myriad of options.

I'm shooting in RAW

katodog wrote in post #9723718
Shots with the kitchen light only, no flash...

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It's really simple to do lightbox stuff with the least amount of gear. If you have the room to shoot on a big table, you won't need a tripod. If you have something as simple as a kitchen light and a flash, you won't need any other light source. Just take your time and practice a few shots, things will fall into place.

Hi Katodog,

I love the artistic shots you did. I saw that you just used a black background and kitchen light. Was the light diffused at all? I'm having trouble trying to get the same results. It seems that my subject is getting too much light. Would you mind explaining a little more what you did to obtain that type of photo? Thanks so much!

Sure thing. I used a kitchen "under the cabinet" fluorescent light, and just put it on top of the lightbox so it shines through the top. The light itself has a diffuser, which is built-in. Picture it screwed under your kitchen cabinet, you wouldn't want a bare bulb there. Then, it gets a little more diffused by the top of the lightbox. However, it's bright enough to light the box pretty good. The hard part about it is that black doesn't look black in the lightbox, or on the camera, so you have to make it black.

The original shot is pretty nasty-looking, but after a simple brightness/contrast adjustment, it turns black, and is easier to work with...

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If your subject is getting too much light, you can change your exposure to compensate. If that doesn't work, and as long as you don't burn the house down, the easiest thing to do is take either a sheet of white paper or a sheet of white card stock and wrap it around your light to diffuse it.

Here's a typical setup for me, using the office light...

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