Tyler Ingram has an ever growing passion for Photography and the world around him.
DIY Light Box And My First Results
The more I get into photography the more I try the different aspects of the incredibly fun hobby of mine and today is something a bit different. I decided to jump in and make my own Light Box since none of the local retailers have any light tents.
What did I do to make my light box? It’s pretty simple actually and I spend under $10 CDN for supplies I did not have.
- 1 Box - 12×12x12
- White Poster Board
- Tracing Paper
- Utility Knife
- Halogen Desk Lap
Instructions:
To make it is really simple. I followed the simple directions over at Strobist though all you need to do really is cut out windows in 3 sides of your box of equal size. Tape tracing paper to the outside, though I am sure some sort of white thin fabric would work better but I could not fin anyway. I cut the white poster board to fit snugly inside the box and allowed it to curve up towards the top. Cut the top and bottom flap but keep the sides (I guess for limiting light from behind).
I am sure using a better light would give me a better end result but I am not incredible picky at this time and wanted to see what I could get with spending as little money as possible. Just make sure you correct the White Balance via the camera or fix it Photoshop or something.
Overall I think they turned out alright, I mean for product reviews they are usable. Sure beats using a light blue sheet draped on two kitchen chairs on top of my pool table right? Until I find myself a light tent this DIY box will have to suffice. Though if I get any larger items I will have to figure out something else.
I plan on picking up a new flash unit for my camera, I wonder how it will turn out if I bounce it off the inside top of the box? Experimenting is fun!
November 14th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Nice light tent. I actually prefer the PVC piping style ones myself because it allows you to let more light in. Also, you can get white balanced material from Willam F White. They use it for movies and sell it in huge chunks or little chunks fairly cheaply. You can then cut it up yourself and have proper white levels when you shine your light through.
Halogen tends to go a bit yellow. Have you tried a daylight balanced bulb?
November 15th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Nice. I’m looking at getting a photo tent myself, but I don’t feel like spending $100 to $200 on a decent setup.
November 16th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I found the lady in Richmond who sells the 32″ and 48″ that Stephen and Ed use. They are like $35 and umm not sure the price on 32″ but not sure the price on the 48″.
I’ll relay the info to you once I find out the scoop!
November 17th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Wow this is a great tutorial Tyler! Thanks for posting this. I used to own some photography equipment back in the day (softboxes etc) for portraits, but I never had any stuff for product photography. Your results look really good! I think this is definitely something I’ll try when I need to shoot an object next
Or, if I don’t want the messy apartment in the background 
I really liked how the TomTom shot turned out. Colours and lighting look good… no crazy shadows and the colours seem very true!
Wow great work with this, and thanks for posting up your step by step!
November 17th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
So cool! I’m gonna make one…
November 18th, 2008 at 7:43 am
@vancityallie - I was getting tired of having to set up my little photo area on my pool table. Though looking into larger portable light tents is going to help when I move in December. Smaller area to work with
@Dayna do it! And depending on what you have laying around it might not cost anything at all.