Lightbox instructions?

:mad2: So I finally bought a light kit - very basic, cheap, a good starter kit for me to start photographing until I figure out what I really need (or just add on to) and the bloody light kit didn't come with assembly instructions. I finally figured out by trial, error, and almost losing limbs with flying softbox parts how to put the light box together... but there are extra pieces parts. There is a smaller white cloth with velcro - does this go on the inside? Are there two layers of diffusion? Frelling manufacturers.... I know it's cheap, but sheesh! Tell me how to put the stuff together!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by megan

I know it's cheap, but sheesh! Tell me how to put the stuff together!

---

Hi Megan. FWIW, paying more for gear doesn't make it any more likely that they'll include easy-to-follow instructions... :cryin:

The cruelty of lightboxes in general is that even the smaller ones sometimes need two people to quickly get them up and going. Or at least a contortionist's body and a mighty strong set of hands.

And just try tearing one of these big suckers down with a pair of sweaty hands. Pert near impossible. There have been shoots where I just gave up and threw the whole assembled box in the rear hatch of my car to deal with when I got home... :nonod:

Calumet makes a QuickRing Speedring that makes assembling (and disassembling) the boxes much much easier, but they're $50 to $75 a pop. That seems to be the tradeoff: more money for gadgets that make life easier. For me (especially on location), it's worth it...

Another grip (no pun intended) gear tidbid I picked up was a set of those "no slip" mechanics gloves with the textured rubberized surface. They can help a lot with this kind of equipment.

As for the extra panel, if it's smaller but in proportion to the main front panel of the box, then yeah, it's meant to go inside about halfway in as an optional way to get more diffusion. The choice is yours, as using it will cut the light output a bit. And if you have a small black panel with a hole in the middle and velcro edges, it's probably meant to go in the back, wrapping around the flash to block any light leaks.

Any more questions, fire away...

What brand of box did you get, do they have a web site that you can download the instructions from? As Steve mentiioned, the boxes can be a real pain, I have the option of cheating and making my slaves, uhm, I mean students set and tear down our gear when necessary and I don't even need to pay them. I just make it a speed challenge and give extra credit for completing the task quickly and neatly to the winner.

::sigh:: I wish I had slaves.. er, minions. Yes, minions.
I got Smith-Victor - I'm starting small. I'll move up to stronger stuff later on, but I have to start with something so I can make the bucks to buy the expensive stuff! I went to the website before posting here and they just had tech sheets - no instructions. I finally DID figure it out - though, not after almost losing body parts!

Cool, thanks. Hopefully, for now, I will just be shooting in my studio, so I'm hoping to not have to set up/break down too much. Then, fate is fickle. When I start making money (instead of constantly sinking it into more necessary stuff) I can buy the fancy expensive lights. Like those oh-so-sexy Westcott spiderlights. Or... stroooobes. Someday... a girl can dream!