Sights of So Cal

Believe it or not, all of these photographs are from the last week!  Two of my friends from college came out to visit me here in California and we did a whirlwind adventure through "SoCal" from Los Angeles to San Diego, hitting all the beaches in between.  It was a lot of fun, and although I am sad to see my friends head back east ward, I have to admit that sitting in my quiet apartment feels quite nice!  I had no idea how much I had tired my body out and it feels amazing to sit and do nothing!

I recently bought a new camera for my upcoming trip to Japan, so this week was a true test for my new baby: Nikon D3100.  I had no idea how powerful a DSLR camera could be and I have been oogling my own photographs for a couple of hours now!  I uploaded a ton of them into my gallery and I'll be trying to keep it updated as a travel about.  Enjoy the photographs!

Photography and You: Building a Lightbox

No matter what online venue you choose to use for your online store, we all know the value of good photography.  Your products can be amazing, but if your photos do not show that off then you might as well be promoting into the abyss.  I learned early on the value of the macro function on my small digital camera, the joy that is natural light, and importance of detail in each and every image.  I have even learned the ins and outs of improving my images via photoshop.  But one thing that all of my improvements could not fix is the constant depletion of my daytime hours (read: that small window of time where photographing my work is even possible!)

I tried rearranging my schedule to accommodate my photo-taking, but there is only so much I can give up.  Let's face it... the best time for me to photograph is between 8am-11am.  Due to the orientation of my apartment, any time before or after presents me with either too much sun or too much shadow.  So today I took the "plunge."  J. and I built a "lightbox"

I did a LOT of research online as to the cheapest way to accomplish the task and I came across two tutorials that I liked: This one by JYoseph and a derivative by NCharshaf Handmade.  In all, it took me 3 pieces of Foam core (foam board), two shop lamps, two daylight bulbs, a box cutter, and masking tape.  I am not going to go into the details of how to make one since both of these people do a wonderful job of outlining it, so please click the links if you are thinking of making your own!  I will say that it was an easy project, and the result is a lightweight box that I can transport when not in use.  

Here are some photographs of my new bookmark that I just took with my new lightbox... at 11pm!  This is so exciting to me.  Not only do they look just as good (if not better) than my natural light photographs, but this means I have an added ability to photograph whenever and wherever I want!  The lighting is more even and it eliminates the gradient effect I had been combating.  Score.  

If you have been considering a lightbox, do not wait.  Just do it.  You will not regret it!