I do love innovative solutions!

So, I'm one of those people that has a stupid number of tabs open on their browser at all times - I just closed a few since I couldn't see when new post notifications popped up on my tumblr account, but I still have 17 open at the moment!

Anyway, one that I rarely have open is my twitter feed - mostly because it pops up with new messages every few seconds and tries to distract me... that and BBC Sport are ridiculously bad at warning for spoilers when you're waiting until later to watch the repeat of a given Formula 1 race, but that's a whole other rant. So I popped on the other day and say a message from Folksy linking through to this blog post.

Well, considering how bad my chances are at winning giveaways (I have a bad track record) and the fact that when I clicked through to the kickstarter page there were still the first tier of early bird rewards available, I figured I'd back the project anyway! (And I like the idea of supporting smaller companies like this!)

Image from here and copyright lightcase.co.uk

Basically, it's a portable lightbox! Anyone that has ever tried to photograph their work knows how tricky it can be to get a decent photograph, what with variable lighting, finding a stable surface and something to use as a backdrop and then when you finally get sorted, the light has changed cause it's started raining or... well, you get the picture, if you'll pardon the pun.

I know it's possible to make a lightbox with a bit of ingenuity and a spare cardboard box, but it's something I never quite got around to doing, and then I stopped selling jewellery online and never really needed to worry about it after that... until I started trying to photograph things for this blog and for instagram.

I also know that there are other solutions out there that you can buy, but the last time I looked at those, they either took up too much space when not in use, required their own lighting system or were simply too expensive. This one just needs setting near a light source and off you go! And, the best bit about it? It folds up again when you've finished and seems to take up about the same amount of space as an A4 cardboard folder!

Now, this obviously isn't going to be suitable for photographing larger objects, in fact the space is around about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, but it's a great idea for photographing the smaller objects I've been making recently. And for updating my jewellery shots should I get around to popping those back up online.

It's already passed it's funding goal, but there are still second tier early bird rewards available if you head over there soon-ish, and the whole thing is open for another 30 days if you decide it's something you want to fund and try out for yourself!

The kickstarter page is linked above but is also HERE.