Alan has put together a light box for photographing my work. Using plans I brought home from Medalta we adapted the size and shape and now have an affordable and very effective apparatus.

We bought 1″ diameter plumbing pipe, Ts and Ls, some foamcore for a light-weight, non-combustible frame for the lights, sheer fabric for a light diffuser

and the most expensive item, a special plastic-coated backing paper. Ordered online from alzodigital.com, it is black at one end gradually becoming white at the other. Attached with peel-and-stick velcro to a cross piece of pipe at the back it curves down to and across the base, forming a horizonless background for the pieces. 

Now, when Al uses a tripod and his digital SLR camera he can have maximum depth-of-field and the photos look really professional. There are no shadows or harsh highlights.

I am posting some photos of what we did. If you are interested in the exact sizes of the pipes, foamcore and fabric, and the prices please let me know. We may purchase better bulbs. At present we have two full-spectrum fluorescent ones so the colour is good but perhaps not bright enough. Aaron Nelson has given me details on what they used at Medalta so we’ll probably buy them next.

I hope posting the process will help other potters to make a lightbox of their own. It was time-consuming but very worthwhile. There’s nothing like having good photos to get your work out there! Please comment here if this is useful.