Light Tent background question

Hi,

Quick question. Im going to be doing some product photography coming up next week and im building a light tent as we speak. I will be photographing powder coated rims up to 22 inches in diameter.

How do i know how big of a poster board i should get. i know it needs to be at least 24 inches wide (probably go 36inches wide to be on the safe side) but how do i know how long it should be?

and my second question is where can i got such big poster board.

im following this guide to make my light tent http://www.pbase.com/w​lhuber/light_box_light​_tent

I'm can't directly answer your question, but I'd like to steer you in a different direction...

22 inch rims are too big for a normal light tent and it's impractical to try to coble this together like that for your application. Instead, I'd go with a muslin or paper background. You can make a background paper holder from PVC pipes if you want or get a system for around $100 from B & H.

Then use two flashes/strobes at 45 degree angles with umbrellas or similar and you should be able to get good results.

I agree most tents you can buy will be way to small. However if you are making it, you can make it sized right.

As far as the background, most ready bought backgrounds will not be wide enough With out post procesing off the sides. I personally use vinyl flooring turned face down and painted white. you can buy small rolls that are like 6X12 feet. I cut mine down to 4 X 10 because I have a 4X4 table the extra falls off the front and gives a soft edge to the table. This gives me a 4X4 background as well. But a lot of times I wish it was wider when shooting bigger items.

24 will not be wide enough. Keep in mind the perspective...a 24 inch background 2 feet behind a 22 inch subject will not appear as wide as the subject. So the 36 would be the minimum for me.

Is the down side smooth enough? And what kind of paint do you use?

Depends on the manufacturer. But it can be very smooth. To paint it I just use flat white latex. I did 4 coats if I remember right. Latex is still flexible when dry and will not wrinkle...unless you decide to fold it for some reason. It may not be smooth enough to do say a full frame shot of a cell phone, some thing small that would make you be very close up. But is absolutley fine when more than 2 feet away.

Here is a quick job on the vinyl I did for ebay.

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Wow, that's nice. I'm convinced.

And the best part is if it gets dirty, just scrub it a bit, then repaint it. Brand new background for the cost of a quart of paint.

How do you put it on, brush, roller, spray?

With the "smooth" roller. The smoothest you can get. The shortest nap they have. Short nap does not hold as much paint so you will end up painting small areas. I painted it in stripes basically. First time down the long way, working from one side to the other. Second coat, the short way. third coat, diagonal, fourth, diagonal the other way.

I'm glad I asked now. I will be giving this a try soon, as I have some larger stuff to shoot.

you can even put a black or white sheet under a plexiglass in order to obtain reflection like i did here in my pictures

hope you like

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wow great shots! thanks guys im going to be finishing up my light tent this weekend and ill make sure to post pics

honestly i don't know if latex will be fine
there are some non reflective plexiglass or other material
try on B&H website you should find something

here 2 more pics

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Mauro, you said your using plexiglass with paper under it. Glass and plexiglass normally will give a double reflection that is very distracting. But I see your shots don't show a double. Were you using very thin plexiglass for that?