DIY Photography Softbox / Light Tent
January 27th, 2007 at 12:35amI had a little spare time today as I recovered from a cold. I've been trying to get into photography more and really figure out how to make pictures that aren't just ordinary. I wanted to try my hand at some macro photography when I read this article. The project involves making a softbox (light tent) out of ordinary household supplies (was free in my case) and then shooting into the sides. The tissue paper on the side diffuses the light very nicely and it then bounces around filling in most of the shadows. I'm using my flash, but a bright lamp would work just as well.
Here's a few shots of stuff I grabbed off my desk and tried in my new cheap-o photography tool.
The Setup
Light being diffused by the tissue paper
Swiss Army Knife (in the full size pic my fingerprints are very clear)
The old trusty point and shoot that needs to be retired
Compact flash cards have never looked better
A lonely battery
Not so lonely batteries
Exact same setup as above but using direct onboard flash, flat and boring
The softbox still needs some work, I'll probably make a larger one and count this one as a prototype. As I continue to dabble I'll post more stuff up. Any suggestions for something to shoot?
7 Comments Add your own
1. nathan118 | January 27th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Way cool. Now just need some small stuff to sell on ebay. This would beat pictures of ugly carpets anyday.
2. amy | January 28th, 2007 at 11:00 am
those pictures turned out pretty sweet
3. Milkinator | February 8th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Action figures
4. funkkybebel | March 7th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Pretty good !
You need a second flash to reduce the shadow.
5. Andrew Charlton | March 7th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Yeah another flash and bigger box. I was having trouble getting enough light in to fill the dark side without blowing out the other side. Definetely a lot of room for improvement.
6. Jonathan | May 22nd, 2007 at 9:18 pm
At the “Makers Fair” in San Mateo a DIY booth had a Iglo cooler open with a sign: “$14.99 portable light box studio”. The resulting photos were excellent. Maybe theres a shortcut for you.
7. Mahen | June 14th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
I’m just getting in to photography, and am current on some courses. They suggested putting the light source inside a box
(1 m x 1m) and cutting different shapes on the sides.
Then use draughting paper or ordinary tracing paper to cover the cutouts.
They showed us one with different coloured lights etc.
Very cool for macro photography :)
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