Let There Be Light

Even the most carefully crafted prop is going to look terrible if you can't get a good picture of it.

I bring this up because I keep coming across items that look interesting, but the photographs illustrating them make the props look terrible.  Getting good shots is a problem I've struggled with myself, so I wanted to draw your attention to this tutorial on creating a low-budget lightbox. 

You'll be amazed how the relatively small investment needed to put it together will pay off.   I use an almost identical setup for all of my prop pictures and it makes capturing good snapshots much easier.  Last week's preserved fetus project would have been nearly impossible to photograph without one.  The soft, even lighting brought out the details of the piece while keeping reflections from the shiny resin finish from washing out the image.