Look at these wonderful pictures!
This one was taken with the light held toward the front.
Light held on the right side (casting a shadow on the left)
Light held directly overhead
Light held toward the front of the box.
I had a lot of fun shooting these pictures and seeing how different they look.
This is how I made the box:
I had a box leftover from a Christmas delivery.
It was not quite deep enough, so I left the flaps and taped them outward to become part of the box.
That made it deeper. Being very careful, I used a sharp knife to cut out one side, leaving about 1-2 inches all around that edge.
I then turned the box over, leaving the solid part of the box on the floor, and cut the other side.
I then set the box with the back on the floor and cut out the top portion of the light box.
The box becomes flimsy, if you don’t keep the solid part positioned correctly.
In other words, the way this box is sitting, you could NOT cut the top out, because it would simply collapse.
I taped regular white tissue paper over each side and the top.
I used white craft paper to do the sloped part, taping it at the top of the back, and folding it under the flap in the front.It sort of reminds me of a ski slope, don’t you think?
With the sun shining in the window, you can see how transparent the tissue paper is.My photo light box looks pretty crude, but you can see that it doesn’t really matter what the box looks like!
This is the clip on light I use. I bought this at Home depot for under $6.00.
If you have good natural lighting, you won’t need a light.
If you have an etsy shop, you really need to make one of these especially if you sell smalls, jewelry, etc.
If you have any questions, just shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment.
gail
EDITED TO ADD MORE PICTURES
Great tutorial, Gail! Now I want to create smalls, so I can make a light box to photograph them! Thanks for sharing!
yay! I’m so happy that you found this tutorial helpful Cynthia!
I guess I didn’t scroll down far enough, lol. (sorry) I am going to make one of these, too!
Brilliant!! I need one of these for taking pictures of my plants. Thank you SO much for sharing this.
Amy
The tutorial is awesome! Thank you for sharing it 🙂
I’ve made myself such a softbox.
http://hafija-arty.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for sharing this great tutorial with us, it really help me.
I for one, adore tips like these! Awesome awesome awesome! We need lighter brighter pics in blogland and this is the way to do it.
Thanks for linking up to SNS!
FJ Donna
So cool Gail! I’m going to make one! My sister runs an etsy shop and we were trying to figure out how all the pictures on etsy look so nice. Thanks!
You are so clever. I am constantly amazed by your projects!
Great idea! thanks…smiles.
I’ve needed to build a light box forever, now I have no excuse!
Thank you, this is just a wonderful tutorial, Gail! 🙂
Have a great weekend,
Anne
LOVE the light box idea! I’ve been trying to make one for myself using file folder frames. It KINDA works but I have to figure out where to put the light. Guess I know what I’ll be working on tomorrow! 🙂
Ooooops – forgot my link
http://adriennedepitera.blogspot.com/2009/11/photo-light-box.html
I’m sooooo spacey sometimes.
P.S. Love your blog and have been a faithful lurker…
I just made a light box. Not near as pretty as yours. Mine has holes in the sides for the lights (daylight bulbs only)
Using black poster board instead of white is fun. Also, you can put black on one side or the other and completely change the feel of the picture.
Steffany – You can make a larger box and cut the bottom out so it can be dropped down over your item.
This is too awesome. Thank you so much for the sweet comment. I was really surprised someone actually reads my little blog! -Jami
I love this, any suggestions for photographing slightly larger items. I have tried posterboard but I end up with very obvious seams.
Oh, I’m going to make one! Thanks so much for this
so… you cut 3 sides of the box out and leave the bottom intact?
Thanks so much for showing the light box! It is going to help me so much I just know it. I am off to find a box…:)
Thanks for the great tutorial Gail!
I feel your pain on the computer problem thing. I love my computer but oh when it acts up it makes me say bad things 🙂
Yay! You made it sound super duper easy. I’ll give it a try….hubby bought me a new camera for christmas, nothing fancy, so it will be fun to see how it does with a light box.