Game Pieces and a Softbox

The theme in the Macro Mondays group on Flickr was "game pieces" this week. We don't have too many games around here anymore. Most all of the games we play are electronic, so there aren't any physical pieces to photograph.

I've been looking around for better ways to light my subjects. I've been thinking about getting an umbrella and/or reflector. While doing some research and looking at other people's photo, I noticed that soft boxes are popular for light. I forget where, but I read one article about making your own soft box. I decided to give it a try. I took a shoebox and lined it with aluminum foil. I cut a hole in one end just large enough for one of my flash units. I covered the top of the box with some tracing paper to diffuse the light. I used that as the main light in the macros below.

I couldn't resist using Scrabble tiles to spell out the name of the group. I'm sure there will be a lot of people doing something like this.



I thought the colors of the pieces used to keep track of your armies in the game of Risk would make an interesting shot. I think this photo best illustrates how the soft box placed to the right gives a soft illumination but still casts a bit of a shadow to the left of the game pieces.



Finally, here are two photos of some Hanafuda cards.