I’ve oft played with ways to get a cheap lightbox setup. A lot of people online will take cardboard boxes and cut holes in them, or balance objects on top of poles, or whatever. I used to take a sheet of typing paper, prop it up against my keyboard, and desk lamps with flexible arms over, and hunt around until I got the shot I wanted.

There is another way – replace the propped up sheet of paper and keyboard with a bit of poster board and a bookshelf, and replace the lights with a wireless flash (or two). Conveniently, I’ve got two Nikon speedlights that work with Nikon’s Creative Lighting System, which saves me from having to mess about with 100 watt light bulbs.

Using a little bit of strobist magic, you’ll figure out that once you set your flash power, ISO and aperture, you can easily vary the exposure by rotating your finger on the command dial and moving the shutter speed up and down. Here are a few shots I did this morning with this setup: