Introduction: 3$ Photography Lightbox
Make a very cheap lightbox to click high quality pictures!
and it costs only 3 dollars! (atleast in my country)
Step 1: Materials and Tools
What you need :
- A box to enlighten. (Free)
- A4 Paper (Free)
- Scissors (Free)
- Pencil (Free)
- Ruler (Free)
- Glue stick (Free)
- Knife/Something to cut the box (Free)
- Ceiling LED light w/ 12V adapter (200INR/3$) PS. I find the square ones better for the purpose. there are cheaper no brand ones and more expensive branded ones (ex. by Philips) the branded ones have a much cooler color and are much brighter but cost ~500INR/10$. They all come in a standard size.
Step 2: Preparing the Box
On the smaller side of the box, mark your LED's dimensions with a pencil.
Measure the LED internally and mark the distance where the plastic starts getting a height, cut according to the internal lines. this will ensure a snug fit inside the box.
Start by making the hole a bit smaller, try mounting the led and cutt it down to the LED size, this will ensure that you can get a good fit.
You can also mount it on the top, but securing it there is gonna be a problem.
Step 3: Inside the Box
Lay out A4 Paper inside the box, so that least part of the brown box is visible and more of the reflective white is there.
My box had the perfect size to fit the A4 sheets :D
Step 4: Fitting It In
Fit the LED inside the cutout and make sure it fits and stays there.
connect the 12V adapter (or stick it there with double tape) and power it on!
The lightbox is ready to shed some light.
Step 5: Photos
These photo's were taken with my Redmi 2 Prime, which does not have a great camera.
Step 6: Improvements
Some improvements that can be done :
1. Using higher quality LEDs.
2. Using a wood box.
3. Using foam board instead of paper.
4. Mounting it on the top and a higher box.
You can make you photos better by fiddling with the exposure and other settings.
Participated in the
Glue Challenge 2016
6 Comments
5 years ago
What a Lovely idea! We can also connect one on each side for even better result!
6 years ago
nice,
This wil be 1 of my next Instructables also!
i made a similar box also atime ago i now use for cool pictures, but also as commented, i ordered some sheets of A3 paper different colors. white,black and some others.
to lay to the back so you got a nice curve and no edges seen on the pic`s.
and mine has LED lightning (dimmable) and is portable (wireless) and also mains of course. and the last 4 pictures are UN rendered so just as is. made with a pretty good PHONE camera i must admit, the Huawei P8 Lite. (4K full HD)Amazing Phone also and CHEAPPPP 200 USD,
hope somebody likes it.
WannaDuino!
6 years ago
you should 1. let the paper from the backside on the bottom in a curve so you don't have a sharp edge, that will make your photos look much nicer. and 2. go to your camera settings and turn the light exposure all the way up. all the wrinkles in the paper should vanish. Also light from slightly above would look much better. But this is a really good start and a good idea
Reply 6 years ago
To get the look you are talking about, a white cloth would be much better instead of paper.
I did turn the exposure up and it made the images much better
6 years ago
I'll let you in on a little photography trick I figured out. Turn off all the lights in the room, put your camera on a tripod with the shutter open, use an LED flashlight to paint in the shadows. Hold the light in the first position (usually above the subject), count to five and watch where the shadows fall, then point the light where the shadows were for a couple of seconds each. It takes some time to figure out the camera settings, but it will make your box look like you have five different floodlights pointing into it.
6 years ago
Nice...