From time to time I am offered the opportunity to review products here on The Stampin' Bean. I try to only choose products that have a connection to crafting, so when YesComUSA.com asked if I would be interested in reviewing a photography tent, I was intrigued. I am always on the lookout for tools that will help me photograph my projects for the blog.
The 24" Photography Soft Light Square Studio Tent Kit arrived well-packed and I was surprised at how, for a 24" tent, it was fairly compact. I don't have a lot of storage space, but folded up, the tent kit could easily slip behind a door. As you can see, there are pockets in which the included tripod, lamps, and extras were packed.
The kit came packed with the following items:
The following photo is from the item page on YesComUSA. This was helpful when I went to unfold the tent as there were no instructions included -- it was not difficult to do at all and I really only used this photo to make sure that I did it correctly. It took less than a minute to unfold and another couple minutes to set up the lamps.
The above photo is of the tent completely unfolded in my dining area. It is large, but I liked that I was able to fit a background board inside and it is large enough to accommodate my layouts as well as my cards. (The photo stand is mine, as well.) I often have to photograph in the evenings, so I wanted something that would allow me to do that.
Here are the lamps that are included. Two replacement bulbs were included as well, which was nice.
Here is a photo from the product page of the whole kit:
The kit includes some fun extras, like an iPhone 4/4S tripod holder. I don't take photos of my cards with my phone, but I know several designers who do, so this seems like a useful tool:
I might consider purchasing larger lamps at some point down the line, but these were sufficient to take photos of my cards. The lamps do heat up so I would recommend letting them cool down every 10 minutes or so.
Here is an example of one of my cards taken at night, with no touching up:
And here's the touched up photo. I didn't use Photoshop, but a simple, free online photo editor:
The kit's price on YesComUSA.com is $59.99. They currently offer free ground shipping. Overall, I was pleased with the tent kit. I am not a professional photographer by any means, so I can't speak to the kit from that point of view. I liked that the kit was foldable into its own carrying case and I could stash it away. I am sure there are comparable kits that are both cheaper or more expensive than this one, but from what I could see, it wasn't over-priced.
Would I recommend this product?
If you are a crafter who makes cards, the size might be a trifle large for you. However, if you are, like me a crafter who makes cards, layouts, gift and home decor items, I found the size to be very versatile and the tent itself was easy to assemble and disassemble and store. You can read more about this item here.
Please keep in mind that as I was sent this item in exchange for review, I can't speak to things like ordering, return policy, etc., though I can say that the item did arrive in excellent condition. YesComUSA's FAQ page can be found here. If you have any questions about YesComUSA's terms and conditions, check out this page here.
Thanks for reading!
