DIY Light Box/Light Tent/Macro Studio

My interests in photography are two fold 1) to be able to take photos of my family and my adventures while utilizing a DSLR and 2) to take photographs of my products for the e-commerce site that will soon be going live.

With that said, and with a bout of insomnia this weekend, I decided to figure out #2. In the past, I have looked into purchasing a light box/light tent/macro studio (whatever you would like to call it, we will refer to it as a light box from here on out). However, even on amazon, the smallest and chintzy light boxes are $50 minimum, once you figure in tax and shipping. Since I know I will need more than one light box in the future, I decided I had to figure out an inexpensive way to make one. A quick search online yielded several excellent websites.

First, here's an early sample of the photos I've been able to take with my brand spanking new, DIY light box. I will then share with you the light box itself, a couple of useful websites and a list of materials that I utilized.

The Tiara

This is an Erica Koesler tiara that I purchased for the fabulous bridal shower that my bridesmaids threw for me in June. It was Breakfast at Tiffany's themed and everyone knows that its just not Tiffany's without a little bit of glitz and loads of glamour. I absolutely adore the delicate details and the dark aging on the metal.

The Gift

The gift below is for one of my favorite clients of all time. She's a wonderful client who has become a wonderful friend. Her birthday is this month and I found a vintage English bone china tea cup and saucer at this month's Long Beach Antiques Market. I covered a decoupage chipboard box with some haute couture paper.

The Slave

Initially, I used my husband as the holder of the third light from above. Luckily for him, I eventually figured out that the light could be clamped on to the top of the box.



How to Do-it-yourself

Since the whole point to this is to save money, the first thing that you should do is look through your home for materials.

The ingredients:

1. A box or something to use as a box like structure of at least 12" x 12" x 12" (I used a styrofoam box liner I had lying around)
   
2. Material to diffuse light, I covered mine in 1.5 yards of white muslin sold at Jo-Ann for $1.49/yard (you can also use any thin white fabric, tracing paper and even cut up white t-shirts
3. 2-3 lights that can accommodate 60w bulbs and at least 60 watt full spectrum bulbs
   
4. Posterboard, paper or fabric to serve as your backdrop.

How-to? Check out these links below to see the instructions.
Strobist
Digital Photography School

Happy Shooting!

P.S. You may want to keep a fire extinguisher handy just in case you let those bulbs get too close to the fabric.