This particular model is fairly sophisticated, coming complete with lights and backdrops and, priced at £49.99, is fairly expensive. I have seen them from £12.99 upwards. Purchasing one of these, to me, makes sense simply because, 1. They fold away, 2. It saves you the bother of making your own and having to source lights, backdrops, cardboard and tape. You can set these up on a table, a worktop or any flat surface that will take 16” X 16” plus your camera. If you find the right place, this can be left in situ all winter, with your camera tucked safely inside. The one that I use folds into a 16” flat package, with pockets for the two lights and tripod that came with it. There are also four coloured cloths inside, which fit the base plus the back. I think it cost me around £15 or £20 a few years ago.

Just to show a totally different type at a much lower price, I have added the one below.

What can one do in a small square box? Over the years, I have had great fun setting up a host of different shoots, all in miniature. I have used the lightbox to photograph designs for workshops by making a Lego model, photographing it and then taking the photo to the area planned for the building, (This is also a great excuse to play with Lego). I have built miniature rock pools, complete with shells, seaweed, rocks and even small crabs. On another occasion, along with a friend, we built a miniature garden, complete with flowers, bushes and some 12” trees. The fun of doing this type of project is as much the creating, as the photography. There are a few things that you must remember; some of these projects are dirty, because you are using soil, sand, water etc., while your lightbox must remain clean for photographing jewellery and other clean objects. When you are doing a dirty project, always cover the base and partially up the sides and rear of the lightbox with clear plastic, then use something like a baking or roasting tray to actually create your project, (you can buy tinfoil roasting trays from most stores at this time of year). Remember you can build your project outside the lightbox and place it inside once it is completed.

The other interesting part of this type of photography, is to see if you can photograph your creation to make it look real, remember, this means that you cannot see the container or the lightbox, so you may have to do a bit of editing.

Trying to make a lifelike image of your own creation is one option, another is to photograph the engine of a model train and by, either hiding the bottom of the wheels, or by including a length of track and some small gravel plus using a backdrop, to create a photograph of a train travelling through the countryside. You can find many images that are free to print online. By either printing one of these and sticking it to the back of your lightbox, or by editing and bringing an image into you photo you can achieve some great results.

The following is an explanation of how to change the background of a photo using one particular programme. It is only one of many editing programmes that do the same job. I chose this explanation because it seems clear as to what may be achieved. I am definitely NOT endorsing this programme. 

How to Replace a Photo Background - The Simple Way

Let's say you have a picture. A photo taken on vacation, a portrait of your daughter, a picture of used stuff you want to sell on Shopify or Amazon. The picture is ok, but its background does not stand up to scrutiny. Rubbish objects, ruined landscapes, foreigners or strangers. You could bear with some of that debris on your photo, but with ALL of them in the background, the central object of the photo doesn’t look nearly as good as it should do.

The solution is simple: replace the background of the photo with a more picturesque one. That's it. But how do you replace a photo background when you don't even know where to start? Ok, not all of us are technically savvy, so here is a simple step-by-step solution to get rid of the terrible background and replace it with a more pleasant one using the following steps.

Step 1: Load the image to PhotoScissors

Drag and drop the file to the app, or use the Open icon on the toolbar.

PhotoScissors will automatically remove the background and show the result on the right side.

You can correct the result using the green marker tool or eraser. For smaller areas, select a narrower marker.

Step 2: Replace the background

Click the Background tab on the right side and select "Background: Image", then select an image file to set as a background. You can adjust the size, position and scale of the background image with the handlers shown in the preview window. Once you are done, save the photo as a new file.

As you can see, with PhotoScissors you can easily replace the old background of a photo by spending just a few seconds and without any designer skills at all.

If you do have the room to create a photography room/studio, so much the better, but plan it carefully. Don’t go out and buy every light, light stand, backdrop and accessary that you see online in some pro photographer’s studio. Decide what type of photography you like the best and set the room up accordingly. If you like Macro, then all you will need is a table and some different coloured sheets of card or cloth. If you prefer portrait photography, then have a look at a YouTube video by Sean Tucker: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuoc53wcnbc this video shows what Sean feels that you need to take portraits. Personally, I use virtually the same equipment because I sometimes have to transport it to someone’s house. If you are only going to be working at home, then a white sheet draped over the curtain rail, or a dark or black sheet, depending on the style of portrait that you want to achieve. An off-camera flash is ideal, but using a standard lamp or table lamp, positioned correctly, will work just as well. If you prefer moving targets, you can annoy your family by following them around photographing them all round the house. For faster action, throw a ball for your pet and try to capture the fun. Alternatively hang something from a string, (pets and children are not an option), swing it and try to, either freeze the motion with a fast shutter speed, or blur the motion with a slow shutter speed.

Your house can offer an endless supply of thing to photograph, but even if you only choose a few things, you can spend hours experimenting with different shutter settings, aperture settings and ISO settings. An example would be to see how many times that you can take exactly the same image using different settings, (your histogram will help, does it look the same in each photo).

Christmas is coming; the Christmas Tree and decorations make good subjects to photograph; they can be tricky due to reflections that the balls give off and the tree lights. The other side of Christmas, the giving and receiving gifts, means that there is an opportunity for you to be given some photography items. Non photographers really don’t know what we need, I have more camera cleaning kits than I will ever use. However, having a list of suggestions will save people wasting their money on items that don’t suit you. I have compiled the following list in three categories: - Inexpensive, Reasonably Priced, Expensive.

Inexpensive & Useful

·        Liner Gloves   £10 - £14   Trespass The are ideal in cold weather, you can still feel the buttons on the camera.

·        Small Rig Quick Release Wrist Strap   £16.99   Amazon  Very handy for shooting in a hurry

·        JJC Battery and Card Holder   £12.99   Amazon   Ensure you get the correct one for your make of camera. 

·        LensPen Camera Cleaning Kit   £7.99 - £25.00  Amazon   Various makes and styles won’t scratch the lens.

·        Flexible Tripod   £20.00 - £60.00   Amazon    Great indoors and outdoors, very useful

·        Memory/SD Cards   £6.00 - £50.00   Amazon   Sandisk Extreme   You can’t have enough of these. Make sure to suggest those that your camera supports

·        Memory Sticks   £6.00 - £35.00   Amazon   Huge range to choose from

Reasonably Priced

Ø Tripods   £60.00 - £120.00 K&F Concept   Amazon   Aluminium, Good Value, Slow Delivery

Ø Camera Bags & Rucksacks   £20.00 - £120   Amazon   Various sizes and styles

Ø External Hard Drive 1TB   £45.00 Upwards   Amazon   Don’t lose your photos store them safely

Ø Remote Shutter Trigger   £20.00 - £60.00   Amazon or Clifton Cameras   There are two types of remote trigger, Hard Wired to the camera and Wireless. Both work well, but wireless gives you more freedom. These are mainly camera specific so take care and get the correct one for your camera.

Expensive

     Lenses   £250 - £12000 Clifton Cameras or MBP   Do not let anyone else choose these, the range is vast and you need to decide the one that suits you and your camera.

     Cameras   £500 - £26000+ Clifton Cameras or MBP   You MUST choose this yourself, if it doesn’t feel right, you will hate it!

     Tripods   £120 - £700   Amazon   Manfrotto, K&F Concept, Vanguard, 3 Legged Thing, Whatever the make, ensure that it has a wide base for stability.

     Rucksacks   £50.00 - £300   Amazon       There are many makes and many styles, it is best to really decide what you NEED to carry and then choose one that suits.



I have shown the camera below, just let you see a £26000 camera. Personally, I don’t particularly like the design.

                                                      Kodak £2.99 - 1955                                               Hasselblad £26000 - 2022                                       

Note the shape!



Enjoy your photography. Kind Regards, Vic