Quick test shot in the new lightbox.

Jut grabbed something handy to do a test shot in the Cameron Photobox, in this case a plastic treasure chest for holding game dice.



It does seem to diffuse the light better than the DIY one, and I was able to fire the flash without an issue so I'm happy with the result. The background 'whiteness' is a step up, and it also includes gray, blue and green backgrounds, so that's a plus.

The only issue I can see is that the 50mm was sharp enough to pick up the weave of the fabric background/floor of the box. This is untouched though, so this looks like it would be very easy to clean up in post.

Let's try this again!

Second attempt at the dice macro.



Same 'basic' composition, with the following changes. I brought the ISO down to 200 and let the shutter speed come up to 1.3s to compensate. The colour of dice is obviously different as well, which really helps the contrast, I think. Lighting was improved, and the white balance is better. Less clutter in the frame as well.

The obvious problem is the reflection on the table surface. They are minor, but I should have diffused the light better.

Still, I like this picture better than the first attempt.

Take two!

After getting some critiques over at DPS, I'm going to try the dice concept again. My lighting was off, the white balance is way off and the composition is too cluttered.

I'll try another take tonight, and see if those few changes will help the picture.

This is how I roll...

This is one of the compositions that I was running through in my head prior to getting the extension tubes. When I shot it, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I'm not sure what it's missing.

Anyhow, this is how I roll, and I roll 20s.



I guess I've let the nerd out of the bag.

This was taken with the 12mm tube on the 50mm/f1.8, ISO 800, f5.6, .6sec exposure, no flash on the tripod with a cable release. Again, not exactly what I was looking for, but I'm happy with the colours, and the long exposure did give me the deep wood grain that I was hoping for without letting the orange on the die become overpowering.

It's still not quite right, but I'm not sure what it's missing.