Today, I started building my lightbox for photographing wares. So far, I’ve built the frame and I’ve been using clamp-on work lights. The pictures of the las tear or so have been made with this arrangement. All along, I’d planned to build a better lighting arrangement. Today, I got the hard part taken care of. I now have a base of 6 light fixtures, wired in parallel, to fit over the frame. I still need to finish building the box, but the electrical bits are taken care of. I’m using 6 LED bulbs that are the equivalent of 40W bulbs, for a total of 240W light equivalent brightness, theoretically.
The next step is to add sides, a back baffle, a front face piece and a switch on the front. That should be fairly easy to complete. I’ll post more build photos when it’s finished. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a big check mark on the studio to-do list. The motivation came from seeing the beautiful photo of my blue jar from the NC Pottery Center Auction site. I know they’re using a more sophisticated setup, but it made me want to improve my pictures, too. We’ll see how it goes.
Barley Hollow Pottery 
Joel, Nice work in the last glaze firing. Your pieces are photographed very well. I have been struggling with that aspect. I do not have an equivalent camera to yours but I would love to improve my lighting. If you can post a pic of your finished light box I would appreciate it. I was curious if you have the 6 lights from above only or if you utilize additional lights. Thanks, Richard
Hi Richard. I just have the 6 lights overhead. I started using over and beside, but upon studying other setups for pottery, the overhead-only approach seemed more common and provides more depth in the images. I do have a white reflective foam core panel on the left side, which helps with a little passive fill.
I’ll take a few more photos of the setup as I’ve been using it, and post those. I still have some modifications in mind, but it’s working well enough for what I need at present. Still, it’s always good to improve. Thanks!
Hi Joel, Thanks for the fast response I appreciate it. I will look forward to the pics when you get a chance. I also have to say I have been very appreciative of your willingness to share your experiences with setting up your studio and the follow on events. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holidays. Richard