As I mentioned in my December 2020 Update, Holly gave me a light box for Christmas. It wasn’t something I was thinking about getting, but now that I have it and have used it a few times, I can say I love it and am so glad she got it for me.
Specifically, she got me ESDDI PKL-D550 Light Box.
She researched light boxes and chose a great one for my purposes and for our small apartment. It folds up nicely so is easy to store. Despite folding flat, it’s easy to set-up in under 5 minutes. It has a built in light (which is adjustable), reflective interior surfaces, an optional light diffuser, and 4 different backgrounds: white, gray, black, and tan.
It fits perfectly on our kitchen table.
Although I had never used a light box before, I was pleased with many of my photos. I do think I can learn more and get better with it, but it was pretty intuitive.
I took a bunch of pictures on Christmas day with the front panel folded unattached. I shot all these pictures with my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens.
The next day, I took more pictures with the same camera and lens set-up but with the front flap up (as in the photo above). The inside of the front flap is also reflective. I found shooting through the smaller opening a little awkward. I also used the diffuser which I had not with the first round of photos.
I did take one picture with my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens for the shallower depth of field.
The next time, I tried out a couple of things I had not before. One was the tan background. For these, I went back to the 24-105mm f/4 lens.
Yes, I have a thing for frogs.
The other thing I tried was shooting from the opening at the top of the light box that allows you overhead shots.
I took one more round of photos, this time of some of my pens and some food.
I took one picture with the 24-105mm f/4 lens.
Then I switched to the 50mm f/1.8 for the others.
I’ve had a lot of fun using the light box so far and look forward to learning more about taking better pictures in in.
My only complaint–and this has nothing to do with the quality of the product–is it’s really difficult keeping the backgrounds clean. Since most of the photos are close up, any bit of dust is pretty noticeable.
Mike Procario
Nice shots. I like that last pen shot with just the tips in focus. I noticed a light blurred line on the dark background shots. Were you expecting that? Do you have some sort of light leak coming from the bottom back?
Tom
Thanks. Since all these shots were experiments with the new light box, I didn’t know what to expect. The light line seems to be a reflection of the built in lights where the background panel curves. That’s either a feature or possibly avoidable with a different camera angel.
Khurt Louis Williams
For the images with a black background does the lightbox come with that?
Tom
The light box comes with 4 different color backgrounds: white, gray, black, and tan. Changing them is pretty easy.