Building A Softbox For Automotive Photography

[4Nines]

I have a large workshop at my home where I mostly work on my own hobbies and projects, but lately I've been getting more and more requests from people that want to take photos of their cars and motorcycles in my shop. So I was thinking it would be cool to have a softbox large enough to photograph a car or truck.

After a quick search it seems like I would need a softbox that is at least 10' x 30'. I found this Chimera light box, but it's pretty pricey: Chimera F2X 10 x 30' Light Bank 8980 B&H Photo Video

Since I have a workshop full of fabrication tools and have the ability to bend and weld metal, I was thinking I could build my own.

Has anyone had any experience building a massive softbox such as this? I would assume that aluminum tubing would be the best and lightest weight material to use, but it is also expensive. Also, any ideas what fabric would be best for this and where I would be able to buy it this large?

 

[tirediron]

It's dead easy. Buy yourself a butt-load of 1" PVC tubing, and assemble with connectors like these. Cover with white rip-stop nylon (helps if you have or know someone with access to a sewing machine), and put a few lights in it. Dean Collins was an expert on this, and his "Tinkertubes" book is the be-all and end-all reference. Not counting the lights, the whole thing shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred dollars!

 

[fmw]

I used to do car photography with a surplus skydiving canopy. It acted as a light tent. If you plan to do much of it, it could be a worthwhile addition to the studio.

 

[Designer]

Also, any ideas what fabric would be best for this and where I would be able to buy it this large?

After a quick glance at the PVC book that tirediron mentioned, I see that the author has devised a way to make the PVC a bit more rigid, but a frame that large might still be a bit wobbly. The Chimera uses metal tubing, and I still think that would be better than PVC. I would like to see the Chimera without the covers so I could see how it was constructed.

As to the fabric, I bought "sport nylon" at my local fabric store, but of course it was only 42 inches wide, which worked for my light tent, but I have no idea where you find that fabric 10 feet wide. Start searching. When I was looking for fabric, I had the impression that rip-stop nylon was a bit more translucent than the sport nylon, therefore I chose the sport because it looked as though it would diffuse the light better.

Even with aluminum tubing the thing is going to be heavy enough that you probably won't want to move it around much, but you should factor that in, so you can hang it from the ceiling or stand it on the floor. Due to the weight of just the box, I think I would make the light supports separate so they don't add to the weight and balance problem.

Pictures when it's done, please.

 

[tirediron]

Here's some interesting info here. Whether you choose PVC, aluminum or steel, you're going to need a few thousand feet of aircraft cable to brace the whole thing with. It's going to be a bit wobbly, but once it's in place it should be fine.

 

[Designer]

Excellent link, tirediron! I book-marked the site for intensive study later.

 

[Dave442]

We had a bunch of old aluminum irrigation pipe in 2" size and 20' long and that would make an excellent frame of the size you want. If you have a TIG welder then your all set, otherwise I would go with PVC. Buy the Aluminum irrigation pipe used and it is very cheap, but not easy to transport.

For PVC and a large frame of 10' x 30' I would make it a box shape of about 2' deep with 1" pipe. The box would need Tee's placed every few feet to connect the front and back section to add rigidity.

Then on the back side along the 30' length would add multiple Tee's, again about every 3', then use 3/4" SDR21 pipe bent in an arc and connected to the other side. The Tee's can be installed with the outlet at a 30 degree angle and the 3/4" pipe bent in an angle over the 10' distance would add just over 1' to the maximum depth. You can play with the angle depending on the size and class of PVC pipe used.

With Sch40 1" pipe for the whole unit, the box frame and rear arcs would weigh in at 80 pounds. With the rear arcs in 3/4" pipe the weight drops to 65 pounds. With no arcs on the back and just the box frame in 1" pipe then it weighs in at 42 pounds. Add a couple pounds for the fittings.

 

[chuasam]

I made a silk out of pvc piping and ripstop nylon. If it's for just one shoot you can rent them. They're called silks

 

[smoke665]

Since I have a workshop full of fabrication tools and have the ability to bend and weld metal, I was thinking I could build my own.

Steel electrical conduit is lighter than pipe and much cheaper, more rigid than pvc, and can be welded with a wire welder. If you didn't want to weld it, there are a lot of fittings available.