SPA Modeler

I bought a lightbox back in April for the ability to take better indoor photos of my models. When it was first set up, I had to experiment with it, and since I was just finishing my M41 Bulldog, I thought of my other two tanks. Both of them were posted here many years ago with pics taken out at our farm. But, I used them as guinea pigs for getting a feel for the camera and the lightbox.

I started with my Italeri M24 Chaffee and then placed the Tamiya Panther A in there. I only took a few experimental shots of each, put them in a folder and then in all the bustle of getting the Bulldog ready for photos, forgot all about them. Just the other day, I discovered them again, uploaded them to Photobucket and thought I'd show a few of the pics here. They are nothing too special, but do show these two old (both are 20 years old-give or take a year or two) models in a different light.

I only took five pics of the M24 and there's really only one decent photo:



The Panther seemed a bit more photogenic. Here's a few shots of that old veteran:



















I've got a plan to photograph some of my aircraft models in the lightbox to see how different they'll look from the outdoor airport sessions. I did have a lot of fun with the M41 Bulldog lightbox session experimenting with different lighting, camera placement and background colors. I think it'll be interesting seeing the planes like that too.

So, I hope you like some of these, nothing to brag about but a whole 'nother look!

Nice work, Gary.

LyleW wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 4:20 pmNice work, Gary.

Thanks, old timer!

I have a light box at home but didn’t really get it to work properly. Primarily because of the lights that came with it. Do you have a photo of the box itself? I would like to see what your set up is. Because I really like the results you are getting.

Thanks Remco! I will take a few pics of the lightbox later today and get them posted here. It's not very fancy, but it seems to work pretty well. The pics in this thread were among the very first ones taken; I had no prior experience with a lighbox and I was using our Nikon DSLR in manual mode, which had not been used much previously, so I was sort of "finding my way" in these.

Here are more photos from the lightbox that were taken after some experimenting and exploring. These were taken of my M41 Walker Bulldog, back in April and turned out a bit better:

https://www.spamodeler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6737

Gary, getting a light box is a major game changer for upping your indoor photography of your builds. Even if you’re just using your phone camera it improves the quality of photos by removing background clutter and providing excellent lighting.
Have fun with your experiments.
Between these and your airfield photos, you’re builds will now look even better in presentation.

You are so right! It's something I've wanted for years because I could never make indoor photos look good. That was the main reason that I turned to the airport for photographing my models. I remember being somewhat shocked by the first airport pics after getting home and downloading them to the computer. Wow, even my rather average builds looked so much better out there in their natural environment in natural light as well.

But there's a limit to what one can achieve out at the airport (well, for me there is anyway, a good photographer wouldn't have the problems I have ) and I think a lightbox adds a whole new dimension to photo work. I'm looking forward to trying some aircraft in it next!

Wow…

Tom, do you have a lighbox yet? It seems to open up a lot of opportunities for indoor photography.

Tom, have you seen the original posting of these two tanks, photographed out at our farm many years ago? Natural lighting and a pastoral setting give them a different "look", I think.

https://www.spamodeler.com/forum/viewto ... ffee#p7454

No, I don't have a light box.
My camera needs a new SD card and have put off getting another one for a couple years now.