Today the weather is truly dreadful. Cold, relentless rain and high winds. While, for photographers, there is no such thing as bad weather, some delicate souls (me!) might be tempted to stay firmly indoors. But that doesn’t mean the photography has to stop. The top image was taken in my kitchen using a lightbox. My A4 lightbox set me back £50 but has been worth every penny. It works best for semi-transparent subjects where the backlighting of the lightbox reveals internal details that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Some tips:
– lightboxes can take a while to warm up and reach maximum brightness. You can use that time to make your arrangement.
– the bright light may fool the camera into underexposing so dial in some exposure compensation.
– if your subject is wet, use a sheet of clear acetate to protect the lightbox. This also makes it easier for you to move the arrangement round to find the best composition.
– for an arrangement like the one at the top here, try to select as small an aperture as you can to get maximum sharpness from corner to corner. Using a tripod will help. As will making sure your lens is parallel to the arrangement.
– don’t be afraid to experiment with your processing. Inverting the image can produce some weird and eye-catching results. In the shots below, a physalis fruit became an alien pod and a sea thistle exploded!
Focused Moments 
These look amazing! I love the veins in the blue one 😀
Thanks! They were fun to do.
Great shots but will you STOP tempting me !! I have wanted a light box for months but have to stop spending sooo much money on photography stuff!!…soon though
He he. At £50, it is a relatively inexpensive bit of photo kit… And you know you want one really…
I know I do !! I do I do… but just bought a 2nd battery for my camera, a 500GB external harddrive to backup my best photos and a remote cable !! Oh and a photoshop 7 book ( only cheap on ebay I admit) so I can workout how to use it as I have a copy that was given to me !!.. so light box will have to wait! What make is yours??
Lovely post Rachael, I need to pull the lightbox I have out and give it a go (hopefully it still works, as it is years old!)
I look forward to seeing the results!
These are brilliant photos. Great!
Thank you very much!
Fab photos – the kiwis look lovely and “fresh” in the lightbox!
I’ve always been intrigued about lightboxes. I love doing macro and close up photography, and often wonder if it’s worth me getting one just to have a bit of a dabble.
Thank you! I have been happy with mine. I don’t use it very often but always enjoy the results when I do. It was handy when I was doing project 365.
Another piece of equipment to add to the wish list :O) I love what you’ve achieved with yours.
Thank you, Barbara. It’s a handy thing to have around!