Testing Out the New Light Tent

[h00blah]

Needa get me one of those!!! I looove spider nanners!!!

[midnightLeo]

Oh my beautiful

[Mr.Spence]

Great pics.

[JoshSloane]

When I first saw this thread I thought we were going to discuss ultra light backpacking gear, haha. Great pics though

[Eric Alan]

Needa get me one of those!!! I looove spider nanners!!!

Yeah - I finally jumped at the chance when I saw this girl was available. I absolutely adore her.

Oh my beautiful

Why thank you!

Great pics.

Much appreciated. Thanks!

When I first saw this thread I thought we were going to discuss ultra light backpacking gear, haha. Great pics though

I don't think she'd be a practical choice for a backpacking buddy. Let me run it by her though - she seems curious enough.

[JMinILM]

Great pictures!

[Chkadii]

Awesome pics! What lights are you using if you don't mind my asking?

[Slowcountry Balls]

Picture looks great. The snake's color really pops and your background is a real clean white. Nice!

[Eric Alan]

Great pictures!

Thanks, Jay!

Awesome pics! What lights are you using if you don't mind my asking?

Thank you. It's a 5500K lighting kit I found on Amazon which included the bulbs, reflectors, and stands for ~$100.

Picture looks great. The snake's color really pops and your background is a real clean white. Nice!

Thanks! That clean white background is a piece of 50 cent white posterboard in a $30 light tent. Real high tech stuff goin' on over here.

[Eric Alan]

Since a few people have asked, here is the rundown on how I am able to get these kinds of results without breaking the bank. Just like everything in life, you have to know where you want to end up and make a plan to get you there. Hopefully this helps you do just that!

The equipment:

• Camera: Nikon COOLPIX L110 (an inexpensive point and shoot I received as a gift years ago)
• Tripod: Brandless 60" Aluminum Tripod
• Light Tent: NEEWER 20" Cube Tent
• Lighting: Fovitec StudioPRO 450W Continuous 5500K Reflector Kit
• Background: Staples White Posterboard, 22" x 28" (trimmed down to 19.5" wide)
• Flat Surface: Totally Bamboo Kauai Cutting Board (under the background to ensure a flat surface)
• Color Balancing Software: GIMP (yes, there's a learning curve - it's simple once you get used to it)
• Photo Editing Software: Inkscape (yes, there's a learning curve - it's simple once you get used to it)
• Watermark Software: FastStone Image Viewer (yes, there's a learning curve - there's also a thread on this site to help)

The educational tools:

• Reptile Photography 101 by Anthony Caponetto
• Best camera settings for indoor still life photography by Digital Camera World
• Ten Product Photography Tips by Smick.co.uk

The reality:

• I only have auto-focus mode - no manual control at all in these pictures.
• I don't have any additional lenses - just the original camera and that's it.
• The only setting that I can actually fully control on my camera is ISO, which I have set at 100.
• I also have some control over the white balance, which I set to the "Daylight" setting.
• I have almost no control over the shutter speed, but it usually ends up in the 1/60-1/100 range (which it chooses itself when it focuses).
• I have almost no control over the aperture. The camera only allows for 3.5-5.4, and usually ends up in the 4.0 range (which it chooses itself when it focuses).
• Once I have these things "set", I take a ton of pictures and pick out a few that I want to work with.
• Once I sort through the pictures I like, I use GIMP to quickly white balance one of them and then apply that setting to the rest of the shots in the session.
• I then use Inscape to crop the images to the size I want and make sure the background is a crisp 255 white.
• Finally, I add my watermark by batch converting the finished pictures in FastStone.