Cloud Cubes - Buying...

[Intrigued]

Cloud Cubes... anyone have comments on such? I'm interested in them for eBay auctions in particular.

[Corey]

Wotsa cloud cube?

[gbrown]

Do you have one for sale?? I need one for doing some glass photography like this (one of my latest, by the way! ):

[Intrigued]

Here's an example:

http://www.clouddome.com/specs/prodShot_ccpt01.html

and...

Nice gbrown!

[gbrown]

Gee, looking at the site, and on eBay, it looks as if it's just as inexpensive to buy from the manufacturer. The lights look a bit pricey, though. I figure you could pretty much get anything and then adjust the camera to the correct colour temperature. Looking on eBay you even see some 5000K compact fluorescent lamps for around US$6 or so.

And...

Thanks for the comment! I love that iridized glass.

[Desmond]

That's really neat! I wonder if they make people-sized cloud domes/cubes . . .

[gbrown]

In further searching, I came accross this:

Light Box (on eBay)

It's about 1/2 the size, though.

GcB

[Corey]

Based upon experience I think you'd have a better quality system if you got a couple cheap 500W quartz worklights ($25 each) from any hardware store and 4 pieces of white poster paper from any art store ($12). Lay them on any table with the last few pieces curved upward against the back of a chair to eliminate corner shadows. You'll get way better quality shots and you won't be restricted by size quite as badly. That's how I did all the product shots for our stuff. Takes 5 minutes to set up and take down and the lights are great for using in your yard or work area year round... Plus it gives you the flexibility to use any color/texture poster paper for maximum wow factor. For example a glass thingy will often look more appealing against a stone or velvet texture. The danger with a small white box is ending up with a bunch of product photos which are basically. It's tricky hard to make your gallery/catalog appealing if all your shots are 99% similar...

FWIW These cloud cubes are extremely hard to use in terms of getting a professional shot. I don't know any photographers that use them. It's hard to get your lights and camera into that tiny window properly. Lots of people use whiteboxes but those are different, they have no "roof" and they are generally a lot larger than 18" X 18".

Desmond, The largest white box I've seen in a camera store was about 4' X 4' and maybe 24" tall. ($150 CAN) For photographing people they tend to use a white room with one wall curved from floor to wall. You can generally rent a small studio/whiteroom in town for like $25/hour. The thing is the lighting, it's *really* tricky to get your lighting perfect in a cramped space, and you lose a lot of flexibility in a very small space.

[gbrown]

I think, though, that the big benefit for me would be the reflection-less lighting, Corey. The fabric will provide a more-or-less directionless light. With glass, that's a biggie.

Further eBay searching shows this:

Lotsa light gizmos

GcB

[Corey]

Actually when shooting glass, a small reflection is often extremely appealing. Poster paper is perfect because it doesn't cast reflections but you have the option to use gloss/semigloss to get that "Apple Inc." white sheen when/if you want it. ($10) And that's the most sought after look in product photography today, bar none. Try getting that out of a cloud cube, *very* tricky. Anyhow if it's art ye be selling then it's art lovers ye be selling too, and art lovers respond less well to 50 identical product photos than they do to a diverse gallery/catalog. Using the cloud cube you have almost no flexibilty but creating a little white table allows you to do almost anything including glow effects, night shots, etc.

I would think for glass occasional dramatic lighting will often really set off the true appeal of the piece. Besides you can use any generic linen sheet ($3) to soften/mask light as needed. In my pro photography book that's how they shoot glass dishes, through a generic linen sheet.

Don't get me wrong, soft boxes have their place for sure, but I wouldn't bother with those cloud cube lights and I'd look for a bigger softbox for $99-ish. One with a removable roof is a big plus too.

[gbrown]

Hmmm.... guess it's off to the fabric shop this weekend! Hey, for ten or fifteen bucks what have I got to loose, eh?

GcB

[Desmond]

Desmond, The largest white box I've seen in a camera store was about 4' X 4' and maybe 24" tall. ($150 CAN) For photographing people they tend to use a white room with one wall curved from floor to wall. You can generally rent a small studio/whiteroom in town for like $25/hour. The thing is the lighting, it's *really* tricky to get your lighting perfect in a cramped space, and you lose a lot of flexibility in a very small space.

Just fool'n around. I got this image in my head of someone walking into a studio wanting to have their picture taken, and the photographer saying "now just lie down under this dome for me . . .

Made me giggle.

[Corey]

If you have a glass top table here's an easy way to get a professional looking shot in 5 minutes:

1. Remove the glass table top, set it aside.
2. Place a piece of generic velvet/fabric under the table, arrange your art on that attractively.
2. Place a sheet over the table so it touches the floor on all sides except the front.
3. Move your lights right up against the outside of the sheet, one in front-ish and one on the side-ish until you get the right look. If you don't want to buy photo lights, just use inexpensive 500W quartz shop lights. Use a cheap dimmer if needed. Voila, under $50 total, and you've got 1000W. Ready, aim, shoot.

Voila. If you don't have a table frame, you can easily build one out of thin stock to fit any table/stand. The weight of a sheet is nothing. you could even use fishing line.

Using this method you easily can match the color and texture of the background to your art pieces, use different sheets to get different lighting, and you'll have room to shoot larger objects unlike a soft box which will only aloow you to shoot very small items properly. You'd be amazed how little room there is with these portable soft boxes. I tried to shoot a DVD in one once but there was just no way to make it look like it wasn't in a box... Eventually I did the poster board technique and was very happy with the result.

[gbrown]

Ooooo.... I just thought of something . I could get one of those big plastic storage bins that I seem to always have lying around. Cut a hole in the bottom of it big enough for the lens. Ta-dum! Light cube.

GcB

[Corey]

You'll want a bit of leeway in terms of camera angle, the best is when the front edge is either open or flexible, like a sheet, so that it can be easily draped over the camera in any position. A lot of product shots like a sort of top-left angle that is tricky to get if you don't have a little bit of room to move around. Anyhow that being said, I say try it. You'll never know how good it works until you try it and trying is 75% of the fun. Hee.

Anyhow the best thing is to visit a camera store and try out a soft box, they usually have one on display and they won't mind if you walk in with a camera and try a test shot, most camera stores are happy to have people coming in and trying stuff out. That will give you a really good idea if it's worth the money for you. If you're shooting anything tall like wine bottles or DVDs, you'll quickly figure out the minimum depth you need to get great shots.

FWIW the real benefit of these new ultra-small soft boxes is portability as opposed to quality for the most part as I understand it. They'd be great for shooting jewellry on location, etc.