Simple Photo Light Box, Cardboard & Cloth
After fussing around with a PVC pipe contraption on and off for most of the afternoon, I threw this little beauty together in about 10 minutes with a box cutter and some dish towels. Pipes will be more sturdy and can be cut for larger sizes, but this is a nice solution for small stuff, especially since I don't have the bedsheet or the extra lights I need to finish off the bigger one. This also needs at least one more light, but this is all I have at the moment and it's workable at low shutter speeds with a little post-processing.
To make it, I took an old box I had laying around that matched the size of my dish towels, cut off the lid entirely and cut rectangular holes in the remaining sides with a box cutter; I didn't even bother measuring or drawing it out first ('cause I'm a rebel like that). Note that the open top is now the floor. For added stability while cutting, I didn't punch out the cutouts until I had all of them done. When finished, I draped one towel through the top to form the backdrop and floor, and another over the top as a diffuser. Be warned: cutting all this cardboard, I scored the worktable I was working on a few times and made a heck of a mess of little cardboard bits.
Idea borrowed and adapted from this one.
Incidentally, this is also the first shot I've ever taken in RAW, and I was impressed with the difference in quality between it and JPG, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Simple Photo Light Box, Cardboard & Cloth
After fussing around with a PVC pipe contraption on and off for most of the afternoon, I threw this little beauty together in about 10 minutes with a box cutter and some dish towels. Pipes will be more sturdy and can be cut for larger sizes, but this is a nice solution for small stuff, especially since I don't have the bedsheet or the extra lights I need to finish off the bigger one. This also needs at least one more light, but this is all I have at the moment and it's workable at low shutter speeds with a little post-processing.
To make it, I took an old box I had laying around that matched the size of my dish towels, cut off the lid entirely and cut rectangular holes in the remaining sides with a box cutter; I didn't even bother measuring or drawing it out first ('cause I'm a rebel like that). Note that the open top is now the floor. For added stability while cutting, I didn't punch out the cutouts until I had all of them done. When finished, I draped one towel through the top to form the backdrop and floor, and another over the top as a diffuser. Be warned: cutting all this cardboard, I scored the worktable I was working on a few times and made a heck of a mess of little cardboard bits.
Idea borrowed and adapted from this one.
Incidentally, this is also the first shot I've ever taken in RAW, and I was impressed with the difference in quality between it and JPG, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised.