Light tent for shooting people

    There's been talk on some of the photography websites about a portable studio that's about seven feet by four feet.

    The Konseen Photo studio, includes a tent, backgrounds and LED light system. The larger size goes for about $380. The concept is not bad, considering light tents have been used in product photography before, so it could be used for portraiture, especially when you have limited space for a proper studio.

    But the price tag could be a bit off-putting, especially for people whose Gear Acquisition Syndrome is kept in check by their wallets. It was disappointing to see another DIY photo website highlight this product without suggesting a cheaper way to get the same effect.

    That's why I'm here.

    Taking a quick look at Home Depot's website, you can get enough PVC pipe and fittings to construct the frame for less than $25. It's essentially a larger version of the tent I recommended for product photography. For the side walls, I would go with shower curtain liners from your local dollar store, and I would suggest using whatever light system you have, be it clamp lights, speed lights or some other rig.

PVC Lightbox improves quality of product photos

    Between Etsy, eBay and other online commerce sites, there are a lot of people hawking wares on the internet.

    And to promote these products, the sellers put up pictures, and the quality varies from professional-looking product photos to something someone took with a cheap phone camera on a kitchen table with no thought for lighting.

    Poor photos don't necessarily lead to sales, or getting the best price in an online auction. People can't see how good the product looks.

    But there is a way to get good looking product photos. Use a light box. It's a device that surrounds the product in soft light from multiple sides, eliminating reflections and shadows, as well as distracting backgrounds.

    There are some DIY versions made from cardboard boxes, but the best, in my opinion, is the one made from PVC pipe. PVC Fittings Online has a Youtube video showing how they put together one for product photography.

    I built one, using two 10-foot lengths of ½-inch PVC pipes, with four three-way connectors and four elbows. I use the elbows to put the extra two-foot sections across the bottom as feet. It cost me less than $11 in PVC parts at Lowe's.

    While the video calls for making the walls out of curtain, I found that blank newsprint works as well. You can usually get a roll of the material from your local newspaper for a dollar or two.

Frugal Filmmaker's $5 PVC light stands a practical way to hang lights, back drops.

    As most makers know, PVC pipes are a versatile medium.

    You can make quite a few things out of the pipes for a relatively low cost. The limits are just your imagination, just like with Lego bricks or Tinker Toys.

    (The pipes have been nicknamed "Tinker Tubes" for their use as a modular building material.)

    One of the more popular uses of PVC among DIY photographers is light stands. If you go online, you'll find a variety of stands online, holding a variety of lighting rigs, from speed lights to modified work lights.

    In my opinion, one of the best is the one designed by Scott Eggleston, also known as The Frugal Filmmaker for about $5 a stand. The stands are modular, which makes them adjustable to any height you need while being easy to transport. And you can use them to hang back drops, hold mics or position reflectors or sound-absorbing material.

    I built a set of four stands for about $25, which included extra poles to use for hanging a back drop, and extra connectors. I did try to cut some corners on Scott's design by eliminating end caps on the feet, but I quickly discovered that the caps are not there for aesthetics. They help stabilize the stand, because without them the stand is resting on the center pipe connector, making it unstable.

    My wife and I gave them a battle test recently, when we used them to hold up a limbo bar during a Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet. The stands survived a parade of Scouts trying to get under the bar.

Night-photography lighting in your pocket

    The folks over at Digital Photography School had suggestions on how to use your cellphone for dramatic night photos.

    In the article, it suggested using the LED lamp on your smart phone as a key light for portraits. It throws adequate light on the subject, while at the same time preserving the ambient light. It works better than flash which tends to create a harshly lit image of the subject against a nearly pitch-black background.

    This is not the first time someone has suggested this. Jared Polin over at FroKnowsPhoto.com has also advocated this technique for years. The best example is his photo of a meetup in front of the Kolner Dom in Cologne, Germany.

    But the DPS article acknowledges that there is a problem with this technique. The LED on the phone is not the brightest light, as it's a single bulb. That means you have to hold the phone pretty close to the subject and possibly boost your ISO to boot.

    But there's a way to shed more light on the subject without breaking the bank. Harbor Freight has 144-lumen led flashlights for less than $4 that can put out more light than a phone. I keep a few of them around my house (I usually pick them up when I get the coupon to get one free) for emergencies, but I think I might add it to my photo bag as well.

Free copy of ON1 Effects. (LIMITED TIME OFFER)

                              

    The people at ON1 are giving away some software.

    The company, which makes the ON1 suite of photo editing software, is discontinuing support for ON1 Effects 10.5. So, the company is allow people to download it for free.

    There won't be any new updates, but at least you can use it to apply various effects to pictures, such as making it look like a tintype photo or giving it an HDR look without having to pay $60 for a software license.

    The software works as a stand-alone app, or as a plugin with Lightroom and Photoshop.

    To get your copy, go here.