Review: Photo Cube Studio

A mysterious box arrived this week and I was ecstatic to see it was photography equipment to test!  I was asked to review a pop-up cube studio and I thought, let’s just see how easy this process could be.

This was everything in a fairly compact box about 12″ x 12″:

photography-blog-cube001

This was the simple set up on my desk, no instructions included or needed.

photography-blog-cube002photography-blog-cube003

Have you ever tried to photograph a product DIY style? I used to use white sheets of paper and a desk lamp. Here’s what I did with a point and shoot on the “flower” setting which is the macro setting, years ago before I owned a DSLR:

photo-diy-jewelry

Decent. Until the editing part. I had to photoshop the seams together and correct the shadows if there were any. I think I spent like 40 minutes perfecting this image with my DIY method. Ain’t nobody got time for that! – haha!

Now with this kit, the cube pops up like a reflector/car windshield reflector. Just pick the background color you want (included are white, black, red and blue) and velcro the top to the inside corners. I think the best items to photograph in something small like this would be if you were trying to sell jewelry say on eBay or Etsy or you’re shooting a product for a business.

Velvet fabric helps minimize and soften shadows. and you can adjust the lights on the outside. Now look:

using the photo cube studio kit, everything for $70

After I perfected it in Lightroom, I opened it up in Photoshop actually played with the curves (and now we all cringe that I said that) and used the select tool at tolerance of 20, inverse selected and dragged it on a white blank background. Tada. Took maybe what, 3 minutes. I’m also a photoshop ninja. I smoothed the shadow lines by adding a new layer and white paint brushing with feathered edges and adjusted the layer opacity.

Let’s say you don’t want to do all the hassle I just did which was really an extra minute. Here’s the image I got just by a few quick edits and exporting it out of Lightroom which is sufficient for say any online shopping cart site:

ring-LR

Boom. You also don’t need a DSLR – your point and shoot on a macro setting will be fine.

Tips:

  • You don’t have to shoot through the cover with slit if it’s too constricting. Only use it when you are capturing something with a reflection, so it hides your face.
  • Steam the wrinkles out of the velvet backgrounds.
  • If you do use a macro lens on a DSLR remember to place the product all the way in the back so you can focus on it.
  • Use your favorite fabric, a print even to use!
  • You don’t have to use both lights, but you can have fun with your lighting.

c/o: 24″ Photo Cube Studio Light Tent Box Kit, $70 at TheLAShop.com. This was a sponsored post by TheLaShop.com.

Diana Elizabeth loves sharing good photography finds if they are worth sharing about. She wonders if anyone now needs shots for anything – she will tell all of her small business owner friends with products about this method.

Diana Elizabeth is an author, photographer, and obsessive thrift shopper. You can typically find her in the garden wrist deep in dirt, at a local estate sale or planning her next epic party. She continues to blog weekly.

4 Comments

POST COMMENT

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *