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PicoLight - Minimalist Light for Product Shots

PicoLight is a minimalist adjustable light for low-light photography, based on the Raspberry Pi Pico.

One of the activities I really enjoy while working on a new project is documenting it. I love getting creative while taking pictures of the process and of the final products. A thing that has been really handy in this process is an adjustable studio light, which I use to add a bit of colour to the background (that’s why most of the pictures in these tutorials are purple hehe).

PicoLight is a smaller version of a classic studio light that is useful for playing with colours in low-light shots or for coloured shadows photography.

How it works
PicoLight consists of two PCBs and a white acrylic panel (which is great for diffusing the light) sandwiched together. One of the PCBs is a 4x4 Neopixel Matrix with a Raspberry Pi Pico on the back and a rotary encoder with push-button. The encoder is used for adjusting the colour and the intensity of the light.

The other PCB is a LiPo battery shield which includes a charging circuit and a power switch. PicoLight can also be powered directly from the USB, without using this shield.”

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