Photography Light Box

Photography Light Box to take pictures of small to medium items.

:: Parts ::
Large cardboard box (thicker box will hold up to the abuse of cutting and working on it)
Several yards of white cloth (I got 3 yards)
Wide/Think Double stick tape (I used Shurtape carpet tape)
Thin double stick tape.
[2] thin poster boards
[3] Reflective lights (I got mine for $5 at Job Lot {Local discount store})
[3] Light Bulb (I am using standard 100 watt bulbs)

:: Tools ::
Sharp Knife (I used a heavy duty box cutter)
Writing implement
Straight Edge (I used a a large shelf)

Give me your feedback and Please don't be one of those people who says, "there are already Instructables for light boxes." I know there are and sadly I did not get inspiration from Instructables. I love what trebuchet03 said, "I personally think it's better to have each variant in separate instructables - -and link between them ;)"

:: UPDATE :: I mentioned before that I was going to make a frame for this. Here is the link to my new Light Frame

:: THANKS :: Thanks to Peter at http://www.photoequipmentstore.com.au for publishing this Instructable to his photography site http://www.photoequipmentstore.com.au/How-to-build-a-Light-Box

Step 1 Preping the box

To allow light to enter all sides you will need to cut open three sides of the box. GO from the sides and leave the top and the bottom the way they are.

[Pic 1] :: Here is the box I used. It is a large heavy duty printer box.

[Pic 2] :: From all four corners measure in 1.5 inches and make a cross hair.

[Pic3] :: Using a straight edge line up the cross hairs on each corner and draw a line.

[Pic4] :: The completed lines on one side. Continue this on 3 sides. I cut out the sides that had the handles

[Pic5] :: Cut the box on the lines. I used the straight edge to cut. This works well when cutting against the grain of the cardboard. (warning :: as you are cutting the second and third side try not to push to hard. You do not want to crush the box.)

[Pic6] :: Completed cut box.

NOTES :: After I was almost finished with the light box I decided to cut off three of the box flaps. I only kept the bottom one. So lay the box with the uncut side down and remove the Left, Right and Top flaps. You will see what I mean in the last couple of images.

Comments

[nipsip]

can you see the seam where the two sheets of posterboard are joined in any of your photos?

[tekjock]

Alas ... you can ... I have been thinking of covering it with a thicker cloth then I used on the sides so you dont see the seem.

[nipsip]

Another thought!

Get a piece of vinyl flooring, reverse it and paint the backside a matte white. Then if it gets dirty, you can touch it up.

You can cut it to any length or width you want.

[nipsip]

You might want to consider cutting a white plastic tablecloth to fit. I don't think it is shiny but matte.

Take a look.

http://www.amazon.com/Tablemate-I4010WH-Plastic-TBLI4010WH-Category/dp/B000CD4FZQ

[jj37]

is there any way to soften the shadows under the objects without adding much cost to this project?

[nipsip]

Couple of ideas.

Use a piece of white foamboard angled below the object to reflect light upward. Probably need a clamp and stand.

You also might want to try the piece of foamboard inside the box. Move it around until you get the desired effect.

Cut out the bottom of the box and place the box on a piece of white translucent plexiglass between two saw horses and light from below.

[tekjock]

hmmmm .... One thought is a foreground light. Place an other light below the camera.

[WendiG]

Have you tried this outside in good natural light? That is supposed to work well too-this looks easy enough, I'll let you know when I've attempted it-in the process of moving so lots of boxes to experiment on!

[tekjock]

never thought of that ... I will have to give that a try

[A_Str8]

I just finished making mine and taking some test shots. i didn't have any large paper around for a seamless background, but otherwise it works great.

Test shots and a picture of the box are here: Flickr

[tekjock]

that looks great. I might do that when the bottom and back. I hate having to clean up my pics of that line. Im glad my instructable helped you.

[tyshef]

I am gonna try this, but I am gonna make one change and try to give the white background solid construction. otherwise very good!

[tekjock]

Also ... if you do PLEASE post pics, I would love to see it. And thanks for wanting to make one based on my Instructable. OR ... If you do something different then what I did, post your own Inscrutable.

[tekjock]

yea ... the dark lines on the side. I might try to cover them up. I was not very concerned as most of what I take pics of I will be cleaning it up in photoshop.

[davidkimmel]

I don't suppose energy efficiency is a big deal here but the fire hazard situation could be improved upon by using 100 watt equivalent CFLs. Not only are they cooler in degrees F, choosing "Daylight" spectrum will provide better color balance in the final photo (degrees K).

[tekjock]

I was planing on trying those, going with softer light

[Einsteins Circuitry]

I would actually suggest the opposite. Bigger, and brighter lights are always better. They allow you more flexibility. PS: Here's a picture from my iPod speaker project taken in my lightbox...

[davidkimmel]

More light can certainly be better and CFLs come in greater levels of brightness or one could even add more CFLs. I kinda stole the idea from a photo page where a fella use five CFLs as the source in a diffused light box. http://alexcampagna.blogspot.com/2008/04/diy-spiderlight-softbox.html

[davidkimmel]

That is, of course, not to say that bigger (150 W equiv.) and brigher (more CFLs) wouldn't have a positive effect.

[ve2vfd]

Nice lightbox! I love simple and efficient photography articles. You may want to add that a builder would want all the lights to be the same type (tungsten, fluorescent, halogen...) and to not forget to ajust the cameras white balance to avoid funky colours.

[mrigsby]

It looks very good--I tried a variation that was too flimsy (the sides caved in--and it used paper for the walls). I'll watch for the next big box that comes in and try this!

[PKM]

That looks like a nice simple build. As well as the usual "pretty product on a white background" thing, you can have some fun using a completely black background and underexposing, possibly with only one of the side lights turned on and no top light.

I, and possibly the rest of the photographers, want to see your shots! Just because nobody asked, here are a couple of mine, and here are three I did of a friend's Ames Orkshop models.

[tekjock]

I have a bunch of shots I have taken using my light box. I will be putting them on Flickr later and I will post them here later. thanks for the comment .