This is a photo of my light box I use for my website photography. It's an ugly affair, but it gets the job done. It's about 18 inches on every side. We built it from PVC pipe and then stretched white nylon tent material over the outside. We can aim lights at the sides, or swivel these clip on lights around to the front to shine directly on the subject being photographed. If you are photographing something shiny or that will glare, you'll need to shine the lights at the outside of the tent instead.

I have found that I still need to use a flash to get the best color and detail. With my Nikon D40X, I can adjust the Flash Compensation, which basically lowers the output of the flash so that the subject doesn't get washed out and lose its vibrant color.

First, here is a photo taken with just the floodlights, no flash. This is 150 watts total, two 75 watt daylight bulbs.



I first tried -3 on the Flash Compensation and this is what I got:


As you can see, the photo is dark and very yellow. I had both of the floodlights on the front of the box aimed directly at the card and still the light quality is very poor.

Next, I took this photo at -2 on the flash compensation. The color is better, but not great, and the photo is still too dark and the colors are not well represented. For those familiar with Stampin' Up! colors, the card is Apricot Appeal, Sage Shadow, and Rose Red.


Here's the final photo. The only editing I have done is cropping out some of the background and adding the watermark. The color is much better, but not washed out. Rose Red is a difficult color to photograph in it's true form anyway.


Thus we reach the end of my photo tutorial 101. Now that I have things figured out, you can expect to see the contest submissions posted on my website any day. I'm also starting a gallery of my work as well.

Watch next month for two new contests coming to Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts. Here are a couple of hints: Polka Dots.....Christmas/Holidays.....now what's that about? Watch in early February for the announcement!