On Saturday, I did a little DIY project and made myself a light box (or "macro studio" as the author of the instructions I followed calls it). Of course, since then I've played around with it a bit. I've also decided to play around with the settings on my camera, in a more organized way than I've done before. I'm going through the camera manual and figuring out how to do all the nifty things my camera will do. Today, I played with the aperture.

Day 15: DIY Light Box



BTW, I did mine on the cheap. Everything I used was scrounged from around the house. So, total cost? $0.00. Whoo ya!

Day 16: Light Box Candle



This is my favorite of the photos I took on Sunday using my new light box. Admittedly, I didn't take too terribly many (as I was on my way to a Doctor Who mini-marathon). Still, I like this shot. I'm discovering that my little Ott-Lite is nowhere near a sufficient amount of light, so I'm relying on sunlight for now (which limits the times I can use the box). I might play around with artificial light at some point in the future, if I decide that I really dig light box photography. Or, I might get bored and chuck the whole thing in the trash. :D

Day 17: Queen Stands Alone



I set up this shot with a few of the pieces from Connor's replica Lewis chess set. Then, I played with the manual aperture setting on the camera. This shot was taken at f/4 (the smallest aperture setting on my camera), and I love how only the queen is in focus. Compare this with the shot behind the cut, which was taken at the other extreme - f/22 - allowing all the elements of the photo to be in clear focus. I think I'll have fun with this trick in the future.