# Latolite



## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

Just invested in one of those Lastolite Photomaker thingys, and this is one of the first shots taken with it.

This was with the Lastolite just thrown together and laid on the bed. Lit with a 40 watt spot, cam adjusted to balance for tungsten and set to flash off and 50 ISO.

Also set to max resolution (3.2Meg pix) and finally, hand held with me kneeling on the floor beside the bed. So all in all, a bit of a lash up.










I'm hoping to get more time to play later, but I'm impressed with the set-up so far. I need to practice to get the lighting just right.










Two things:

Any tips on lighting with the Lastolite Photomaker?

Any one know how to fold the bl**dy things...


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> Any tips on lighting with the Lastolite Photomaker?


Tentative sugestion??

maybe a circular polarising filter to remove some flare from the crystal?

Roger


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

George,

Which size did you buy? 30 cm x 30 cm x 30cm or one of the bigger ones?

I'm getting one for my Xmas pressie!

Cheers

Paul


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

I don't have a Lastolite tent George but I normally use a 60 watt tungsten bulb in an anglepoise with my homemade tent.


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## MIKE (Feb 23, 2003)

ESL said:


> Any one know how to fold the bl**dy things...


Theres me thinking I was the only person who could not fully fold it up









As for lighting it I use three anglepoise lights (about Â£5 for the three off the carboot







)with daylight bulbs as found in craft shops etc. One each side and one over the top.

Mike


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

Three lamps wouldn't work Mike, the E Photomaker is designed for only one lamp, from the left. The right hand side is reflective coated and not translucent, so a light on that side would not work.

Another lamp for over the top might be an idea, but having said that, from the pics shown here, there seems to be no deficiency from that direction.

I think I might need a brighter lamp though. Although having said that, I was hand holding my cam at about 1/40th, so using a tripod would sharpen things up a lot.

Mine's the smaller Lastolite, which is plenty big enough for my watches and such. A polariser mught be an idea, but I suspect most of the problem was to do with the crystal on the Seastar - its a bit of a sod to photograph.

Here's another equally lashed up shot: Sam camera settings and also hand held at 1/40th ish.


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

George,

Set your film speed (sensitivity) to 100 ISO, aperture to at least f8 and get a tripod.

An increase in luminosity is not a bad thing as long as it doesn't defeat the ability of the light tent to defuse it.

One key light and a reflector is all that has ever been neccassary to produce a good portrait.









Read some tomes that relate to portrature, most have good advice on how to highlight features and how to light them.

Most of this job is about controlling light, something you can't do in nature.

You have to have patience for that type of work.


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## ESL (Jan 27, 2004)

Hmmm. I would have thought setting to ISO 100 would increase the noise levels a bit, Stan. But I'll give it a shot over the weekend when I get a bit more time. I'll use my tripod as well mate, like I said - these were very quick lash ups, set up - shot - put away and online , all in a very short time.

I'll have to make sure I also turn off all of the in-camera processing as well. My cam does not have a RAW mode, but I know I can turn off all the processing and do the bare minimum with Photoshop.

My City and Guilds photography was a few years ago now - and did not include digital or Photoshop 7 (of course) but like you said, the basics of lighting will always remain the same.










Now - where's me dev tanks....


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

ESL said:


> Hmmm. I would have thought setting to ISO 100 would increase the noise levels a bit, Stan. But I'll give it a shot over the weekend when I get a bit more time. I'll use my tripod as well mate, like I said - these were very quick lash ups, set up - shot - put away and online , all in a very short time.
> 
> I'll have to make sure I also turn off all of the in-camera processing as well. My cam does not have a RAW mode, but I know I can turn off all the processing and do the bare minimum with Photoshop.
> 
> ...


Covered in dust, if they're anything like mine.


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## MIKE (Feb 23, 2003)

ESL said:


> Three lamps wouldn't work Mike, the E Photomaker is designed for only one lamp, from the left. The right hand side is reflective coated and not translucent, so a light on that side would not work.


Sorry George, didn't realise







My tent dosen't have any reflecters in it, translucent on all sides.

Mike


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

To fold it just hold each side of the loops when flat, then twist your hands in opposite directions (no it doesn break your wrist!) you will find the thing if your lucky usually will then fold in a figure of eight, try and keep it together in a small circle and stuff it in the bag fast!









Your think you have problems try folding the eight foot background up!









Best regards David

BTW you may need to play with a black card in the tent to stop those reflections on the crystal, its all very "suck it and see" I'm afraid, every object requires something slightly different......the polarizer is worth a try but on a curved crystal you might get problems especially if its acrylic, depends on the stress on the crystal and the light direction. (Try taking it though a polarizer on the lens and one on the light......great effects in the crystal then







but a great technique for showing stress through plastics.)


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