Just built my first light box.

[Campbell]

http://www.pbase.com/wlhuber/light_box_light_tent

I was pretty intrigued by making a homemade light box just for fun, so I did a little research online and found a great site I thought I'd share. It's not like making one is very hard, but figured that people like me who think its harder than it is would get some great use out of it. I probably spent about $12 total, because I already had high-power lights and a white sheet. I spent about 10 minutes at Home Depot getting all of the PVC pipe, and it took about the same amount of time to build it.

Here is the finished product:


Here are my first couple of shots:








Just thought I'd share

 

[KristinaS]

Nice. Thanks for the info. I'd like to do this myself.

 

[astrostu]

Try adjusting your white balance.

 

[RKW3]

I think if you overexpose the shot a tad the background will be more white. I'm not positive though, I have no experience with light boxes.

 

[bango707]

I would pull the lights back from the sheet a few feet. In the film industry they call that 'dry humping' which basically defeats the purpose of having all of that diffusion there because its not being used effectively. When you are using any type of diffusion your light source should fill the entire diffused surface. If you look at the sheet/silk/vellum when there is a light behind it you shouldn't be able to see the light source. The whole diffusion should glow evenly with no hotspots. If you can see the light through the diffusion then back the light up till the diffusion is lit evenly.

 

[Campbell]

I would pull the lights back from the sheet a few feet. In the film industry they call that 'dry humping' which basically defeats the purpose of having all of that diffusion there because its not being used effectively. When you are using any type of diffusion your light source should fill the entire diffused surface. If you look at the sheet/silk/vellum when there is a light behind it you shouldn't be able to see the light source. The whole diffusion should glow evenly with no hotspots. If you can see the light through the diffusion then back the light up till the diffusion is lit evenly.

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize the lights were supposed to be so far back. I guess I'm going to have to find a new room to do my shooting in then.

 

[Trish1977]

I made 2 recently - one from a cardboard box and the other from a mesh cube I found at The Container Store for $11.99 (it folds flat, so it's more portable). So far I have used tissue paper to diffuse the light, but I will try out a sheet to see if that works better.

I have posted a photo of the mesh box here, and I also have a lot of photos taken in the 2 boxes in my stream:

http://flickr.com/photos/trish1977/2180042166/

Both were pretty easy to make and fun! I've loved using them so far!

 

[Campbell]

I made 2 recently - one from a cardboard box and the other from a mesh cube I found at The Container Store for $11.99 (it folds flat, so it's more portable). So far I have used tissue paper to diffuse the light, but I will try out a sheet to see if that works better.

I have posted a photo of the mesh box here, and I also have a lot of photos taken in the 2 boxes in my stream:

http://flickr.com/photos/trish1977/2180042166/

Both were pretty easy to make and fun! I've loved using them so far!

Nice setup you have there, what brand of lights are those?

 

[JoannaWilcox]

There's a great macro light box do-it-yourself how to here. I haven't tried it out yet but the results look very professional.