Here I want to show you how I built my studio light with a softbox.
The idea building this was in my head for a while, so finally I gathered the materials, the tools and started to work.
It is fairly simple so you should be done in max an hour.
Features:
- can be used as sot box and indirect white-lit screen
- strong, daylight lamp with 70W HQI Power-ball bulb
- mounted on a tripod
- (can be used as a freestanding lamp)
Surfing through Instructables.com I found two similar projects, you might want to have a look on, before you go to deep into the work.
DIY Fabric Softbox (14 x 56 Strip) by mark11photography
Build a photo studio - Collapsible Light Diffuser Frames by engunneer
The material you will need is:
1 x Lamp Lamp (work light or preferably an HQI light with a broad spectrum )
5 x wooden laths Frame and holder (20" or 0,5m , for example out of an old lath floor)
8 x wood screw Screw the frame (Choose them short enough, so they won't stick through)
1 x wooden block Frame to holder (3x3" or 8x8cm)
1 x pillow case as diffuser (20" by 20" / 0,5 x 0,5 m - 1case should gives 2 screens)
1 x screw with nut Lamp to holder
1 x tripod adapter Soft box to tripod (either you have a spare one, or you engineer one)
1 x tripod To mount it on
The tools I used:
Saw,
Scissors,
Staple gun and about 100 staples,
Drill with a 3mm drill bit and a drill bit for phillips screws.
Have Fun !
See here the finished soft box, used for indiret lighting,
and the materials I used.
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Signing UpStep 1: Make the frame
Let's start with the wooden frame which will hold the stretched cloth.
Our main goals:
- clean 90° angles
- min. 2 screws per corner
- screws shall not drill through to the other side.
I saved myself from the work of creating fancy corner connections.
Just let the laths overlap in the corners (see picture below)
Since we are already handling the drill and the screws, let's fix the connector between the frame and the holder before we go on
So for all four corners:
- align the two meeting laths in a 90° angle, use a right angle to be sure
- hold them tight or fix them with a clamp
- drill the first hole
- screw them together
- double check the angle
- dril the second hole and screw in screw number2
Fixing the connector:
The connector has to hold frame and the lamp holder together.
Better make it rigid, both parts are heavy.
- mark the center of one frame side (this side will become the bottom side)
- mark the center of the connector
- use an extra bit of the laths to figure out the right height for the connector block (see picture)
- fixate block and frame, and drill 2 holes
- screw in two long screws.







































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I was using a "Litval Power 70T", which is a lamp used in stores to light stuff in the shop windows.
Nowadays you get them very cheap on fleamarkets or in second hand shops.
The expensive part is the lightbulb which is usally 20 ... 50€
/Gerhard
www.theruralindependent.com