Photography Follow-up -- My New "Studio"

Last month I told you about my most awesome birthday gift EVER, a professional light cube to replace my cardboard home-built version that was literally coming apart. I promised to show you my set-up, so here it is:





As you can see, I use the removable top as the bottom of the cube so I can continue to use my beloved dark woodgrain background (my kitchen table, in case you've ever wondered). Another side zips open - that's the side I shoot through.

To my surprise, the new lightcube actually lets less light in than did my homemade version. So I struggled to find the right camera settings for days on end before finally deciding that I simply needed a third light source (duh!). So I'm now using three office-type lamps, each with a 100 watt GE EnergySmart DAYLIGHT bulb, and I'm happy with the results. With just a teensy bit of contrast correction in Photoshop, here's what I get.