Photography Lighbox Made Out of Cardboard

Have you ever been in situation where you had to take a perfect photo of something and you didn't have perfect lightning or nice background ? Are you into photographing but you don't have lot of money for expensive studio equipement ? If so, this is perfect DIY project for you.

Supplies

• Cardboard (pieces or box)
• Ruler
• Pen
• LED strip/s
• Colored paper
• Tape
• Knife or scissors
• Soldering supplies (not necessary if you bought pre-wired led strip)
• Power supply (voltage depends on your LED strip)
• LED strip brightness regulator (optional)

Step 1: Make Decision About Size of Your Lightbox.

The dimensions of my lightbox are based on the size of colored paper I had at home. My paper is 34 cm long and 24 cm wide.This was the factor why my box is 24cm wide.

What about the depth and height?

I decided to use 20cm depth and heigh based on my formula which i created: length of colored paper devided by two and then I added few centimetres (in my case 3cm) because there will be spots which won't be visible by camera.

This means my final dimensions of my light box are 24cm x 20cm x 20cm .

Step 2: Cut the Cardboard to the Length.

1. Get the cardboard
2. Use pen to mark locations where you need to cut
3. Cut the cardboard to the desired pieces (you can use ruler as a guide for the knife)

Step 3: Line Up the Pieces and Use Tape to Put Them Together.

Step 4: Cut Small Piece of Cardboard and Use It As a Stopper for Colored Paper Background, Testfit the Paper in the Box.

Step 5:

1. Cut LED strip/s to the size (mine led strips are little bit smaller than width of box - it's because LED strip can be only cut by the segments and when the strip is a bit shorter that means you have more space for wires)
2. Solder wires to LEDstrip/s as shown on the picture and test the led strips
3. Use double sided tape to stick the led strips on the inner side of top piece of the box
4. You can use electrical tape to fasten the wires in the place
5. Complete the box

Step 6: Connect LED Strip/s to the Power Supply and You Can Enjoy Your Lightbox :)

I used arduino with transistors to separately control brightness of warm white LEDs and cold white LEDs. This is not necessary but it provides better control over the photos you make.

I highly reccommend adding connector to the wires. I haven't added it yet, because i couldnt get one, because all the shops are closed due to the pandemia.