Vince Pitelka on fri 12 feb 99
>Any professional photographer will no doubt tell
>you that this should be much more of a science, but I cannot argue with the
>results from that low-budget soft-box setup.
Someone asked me off-list about the soft-box. A soft-box is a very large
lamp unit in a big box, with a diffuser screen across the front. You bring
it down very low above the work, and it casts a broad shadowless light. The
lamps I was referring to are the halogen flood-lights sold for construction
work etc. Two of them in a home-made soft-box works great, but you should
mount a muffin fan in the side of the soft-box to carry off the excess heat.
The muffin fan is like the ones in computer casings, but don't try to use a
recycled computer fan, because they are the wrong voltage. Go to an
electrical supply and get one - they are about 25 bucks. You can build the
frame and housing out of wood, but make sure that the lamps are not too
close to any combustible surfaces, because they get pretty hot. A friend
built one with a frame made of PVC water pipe, and the fist time he used it
the whole thing melted. It was quite a mess. The soft-box housing should
be approximately 24" high, by 36" wide, by 20" deep, with the lamp units
mounted close (but not too close!) to the rear wall. The diffuser screen
should completely cover the front wall.
The diffuser screen is available from commercial photography suppliers, and
is the same stuff they use on the professional soft-boxes.
As mentioned in the earlier post, the soft-box by itself will flatten and
deaden shiny surfaces. To create variety and asymmetry in the lighting, use
reflector cards - both white ones and tin-foil-covered ones. And use a
small accessory floodlight to bring out highlights.
Others may dissagree, but I think symmetrical lighting is often a mistake,
especially on a symmetrical pot. I like asymmetrical lighting - it creats a
much more dramatic composition, without distracting from the piece at all.
Good luck -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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