DIY Small Softbox Quick and Dirty Tutorial

[ViceOfFire]

Sorry guys but I'm not too sure where else this would go, as I didn't see a tutorials sub-board. I was with my girlfriend today, and fiddling with a tissue box I had this idea.

You will need:
Scissors
Tape (preferably masking tape AND clear too)
1 External flash (no brainer?)
Empty tissue box in tact (preferably with a white cardboard inner)

You need to take your tissue box and flip it over, cutting out the rectangle that makes up the base of the box.

Once you've done this, you should notice some inner flaps lightly glued to the shorter sides (there should be two on each side) That will completely unfold what's left when unstuck. You can lightly pry these until they come unstuck, allowing you to make the softbox as wide as it allows. when you have these flaps positioned how you want the final product, you can cut off protuding corners and stick with tape.

Do this to all of them and you should end up with something like this:

Reinforce what you have already with tape, fix light leaks if you like etc.

The rest is fairly self explanatory. You cut the paper to size, tape it while fixing leaks etc, and just poke your flash through the hole where you used to grab tissues. Obv this is the biggest light leak so I would recommend cloth, but this is quick and dirty and results are alright in any case.

Here is what you end up with

note that it is wider than it looks from that angle. Here is a real quick test shot I took of my girlfriend shooting through one of these with an SB-26 fired by redirected onboard flash:

They aren't really long enough to disperse light throughout themselves like a proper softbox, but are a 5 minute alternative if you want something quick. Please tell me what you think.

Also please try and ignore the artifacting in the test photo, I did a few minor re-edits to optimize quality vs that washed out Photobucket look.

Thanks for reading!

Edit: Just thought I'd say that the work in progress shots were all taken with one of these things to camera left for fill light

 

[ViceOfFire]

Nobody's interested? Bump in case someone finds use for it .

 

[Captain IK]

I think that's a cool idea. Well done.

 

[rlcphotos]

not bad,,,I like it,,,kepp working at it some day you just may come up with a revolutionary product:thumbup:

 

[chrisburke]

it just doesnt do it enough for me.. i mean a soft box is suppose to soften up the subject, and judging from the test subject image, i would still have to soften it up in PP...

i made one a while ago, using a cardboard box and some fine white material.. it aint pretty, but it does the job

I've since made it look nicer by painting the back black, and it does a pretty decent job softening up the light/subject, which is great in my books, as it took 30 mins to build and saved me piles of money

 

[Katier]

Excellent idea. Just made one myself. When I get my flashes ( got two coming ) I will use some extra cardboard to do seal round the entry hole.

 

[ViceOfFire]

Chrisburke I understand what you're saying. They do provide sufficient soft light for my needs, though. For instance, the test shot was taken with the softbox only being about a foot away from the subject.

The idea is just a quick and dirty few minute kind of thing. I think your softbox looks great.

Thanks everyone for the comments