A couple of months ago, I showed you how to make your own light box. The only problem I’ve run into with shooting photos for this blog is the need to shoot things that can’t fit inside a cardboard box! If you set up your lighting to shoot photos sans-light box, the light filters provided by the tissue paper in the box are gone. This leads to over-exposed pictures.
My solution for dealing with this problem was to make little caps for my lights that look like shower caps, but are made from flannel fabric and elastic.
Supplies
1 yd. white flannel
2 yds. of 1/2 in.-wide white elastic
sewing machine
scissors
pins
Directions
Trace the widest part of your lantern, as shown.
Cut out the shape with an additional inch of space to accommodate the elastic you’ll be adding.
Cut the elastic into lengths that are slightly smaller than the widest part of your lamp. Mine are 25 inches in length because the circumference of my lamp’s head is also 25″ around.
Next, pin your elastic to the circles and sew in place using a sewing machine. As you go, you’ll be pleating your fabric to make it fit onto the elastic. Make sure not to stretch your elastic as you sew.
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To understand why a person would want to use something like this, some more photos are in order. Here’s what a photo looks like without using these light filters:
Photo shot in manual without the filters.
Photo shot in manual with the filters.
If you couldn’t guess, I’m a photography amateur for sure. Another trick I use when my pics are over-exposed (too bright), is to move the lights further from the subject being photographed. This isn’t always possible in my Chicago apartment, so filters are a huge help for me!
Note: Remember not not leave your lights on for hours with the filters over them. That’s probably a fire hazard… Just FYI!
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