Build a DIY Light Box for Photography at Home

Build a DIY Light Box for Photography at Home photo 4

Making Your Own Light Box for Photography

From my experience as an amateur photographer, light boxes are super useful for product and food photography. I’ve faced situations where I didn’t have the right lighting setup and ended up with dark, uneven photos. So I decided to build my own portable DIY light box and I’m happy to share what I learned. Hopefully this article will help others looking to make their own.

What is a Light Box?

A light box is basically a box with translucent walls that diffuses light evenly over your subject. It allows you to control the lighting and eliminates unwanted shadows and glare. Light boxes come in handy for photographing small objects when natural light alone doesn’t give you the results you want.

How Does a Light Box Work?

The translucent fabric on the walls of the box serves to disperse the light from your lighting source smoothly and uniformly across all surfaces of the subject. This creates soft, even lighting without harsh shadows. Typically, you’ll have lights mounted on stands outside the box shining in. The lights bounce off the white interior and transmit soft illumination through the translucent sides.

Benefits of Using a Light Box

Here are some of the main benefits of shooting with a DIY photo light box:

  • Gives you full control over lighting angles, intensity, color/temperature
  • Creates consistent, diffused, shadowless lighting
  • Allows you to light challenging reflective surfaces like glass or metal
  • Isolates the subject from the background for clean, focused photos
  • Portable and easy to set up anywhere you want to shoot

Materials Needed to Build Your Own Light Box

Based on my firsthand experience constructing DIY photo boxes, you’ll need the following:

Build a DIY Light Box for Photography at Home photo 3
  • A cardboard box – should be large enough to contain your subjects. Can be a used shipping box.
  • White paper or poster boards – to line the inside walls and floor of the box.
  • Translucent fabric – thin white Diffusion fabric works beautifully to cover the box walls.
  • Scissors and box cutter – for adjustments and cutting fabric/paper.
  • Tape – masking or even duct tape to hold fabric in place.
  • Clamps and stands – to mount your camera and lights.
  • Camera – DSLR, mirrorless, or smartphone to capture images.

Of course, the size and types of materials may vary depending on your specific photography needs. But this basic shopping list covers the fundamentals for constructing a simple 20″ DIY photography light box suitable for most small objects.

Step-by-Step Process to Build a Light Box

Here is an overview of the key steps I follow to put together a custom light box on the cheap:

  1. Take a medium to large cardboard shipping box and cut off any unnecessary flaps with box cutter.
  2. Line the bottom and 4 inside walls with white poster paper or foam boards cut to fit snugly.
  3. Measure and cut out 4 pieces of translucent fabric to cover each side of the box walls.
  4. Use masking/duct tape to tightly stretch and secure the fabric pieces to box.
  5. Cut out a window on one wall of box to insert lens of camera or phone camera.
  6. Position and mount camera on mini tripod or stack of boxes to aim through the opening.
  7. Place small products/items to photograph inside the box and play with arrangements.
  8. Use desk lamps, flash, or continuous studio lights positioned outside the box to adjust lighting.
  9. Snap lots of test photos to check exposure, brightness, shadows and make tweaks.

It may take some experimenting to configure the camera settings and lighting angles perfectly. So take your time dialing it in. Once set up properly though, you’ll be able to capture professional quality product shots from the comfort of your own home.

Handy Lighting Options for a DIY Photo Light Box

While building your custom light box, also consider how you plan to light your subjects. Here are some effective and affordable lighting solutions I’ve used successfully:

  • Simple desk lamps – easy to adjust and mix daylight with soft white bulbs.
  • Clip-on book lights – handy for travelling and throwing in your gear bag.
  • Continuous video lights – offer constant lighting and intensity flexibility preferred by many photographers.
  • Basic speedlight flash units – very portable and pack enough power for light box use.

You can start small with just a couple $15 desk lamps as your lighting kit. Then upgrade down the road to more advanced solutions once you progress in your product photography hobby.

Build a DIY Light Box for Photography at Home photo 2

Tips for Getting Great Results from a Homemade Light Box

Hopefully the instructions so far give you a good starting point for building your own custom DIY photography light box on a budget. Here are a few additional tips I’ve picked up for taking your results to the next level:

  • Watch your backgrounds – use colored paper or fabric for interest
  • Elevate transparent objects like glasses or vases for floating effect
  • Shoot bursts of images to nail focus and catch light reflections
  • Get creative with shapes and arrangements playing with heights/angles
  • Edit and post-process photos afterwards to accentuate lighting accents and details

Also, experiment with household materials as diffusers or backdrops – things like waxed paper, aluminum foil, colored tissue paper, etc. The possibilities are endless for crafting fun scenes!

Conclusion

I hope you found this light box tutorial helpful for your own product photography projects! Getting great shots of small items can be challenging without the right gear. But with a custom DIY light box solution, anyone can set up a portable studio on any budget. Just grab some cardboard and materials from a craft store, follow the construction steps above, tweak until satisfied, and enjoy photographing your wares like a pro! Feel free to reference my instructions above or see photos on my blog here. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Key Steps to Build a DIY Light Box
Step Instructions Tips
1 Gather materials such as cardboard or wood, tissue paper, tape, scissors, and LED lights Use translucent paper to diffuse the light
2 Cut out 6 equal sized pieces from the cardboard to form a cube shape Make the box slightly larger than the items you’ll photograph
3 Attach the tissue paper to the inside walls of the cube to diffuse light Avoid wrinkles and creases in the tissue paper
4 Cut out holes to insert the LED lights, pointing them inwards Use enough lights to eliminate shadows
5 Tape the edges of the cube securely Make sure no external light enters the box

FAQ

How do I build a simple lightbox?

Well, first you’ll need some basic supplies – a cardboard box, scissors, white paper or fabric, tape, and a flashlight. Start by cutting a hole on one side of the box to fit your flashlight. Line the inside of the box with white paper or fabric to help reflect the light. Secure the flashlight inside the box facing the hole, and tape over any gaps to make it light-tight. Basically, that’s the super simple version! You can decorate the outside and adjust things to control the light more if ya want.

What type of light is best?

LED flashlights work best cuz they’re super bright but don’t get hot. Old school incandescent flashlights kinda suck for this since they generate a lot of heat inside the box. I’d stay away from those. LED flashlight apps on your phone could work in a pinch, but may not be bright enough.

Build a DIY Light Box for Photography at Home photo 1

How do I make patterns and shapes with the light?

Cut shapes and patterns out of cardstock, construction paper, aluminum foil, etc. and tape them over the hole where the light shines out. Get creative with your cutout shapes! You can make a starry night, undersea world, anything you imagine. Sky’s the limit, my friends.

Can I use a lightbox for photography?

Absolutely! A homemade lightbox works great for product photography, macros, and all kinds of creative shots. Place your subject inside, use some scrap fabric or paper for backdrops, and experiment with angling your camera. The diffused, even lighting allows you to take some killer amateur photos.

How do I take lightbox photos with my phone?

Easy peasy. Creating a mini tabletop lightbox is perfect for smartphone product shots. Just make the box more shallow, like 6 inches deep. Cut a hole on both ends – one to shine your flashlight through, the other to photograph through. Then just poke your phone camera lens into the hole end. Mess around with angles and backdrops til you get some rad shots!

Can kids use lightboxes safely?

You bet! Building a lightbox is a fun, creative project for kids. Just supervise use of sharp tools during construction. Remind little ones not to look directly into the light beam or shine it at eyes. Use LEDs, not incandescents that heat up. And watch for tripping hazards if they decorate the outside. Other than that, it lets imaginations run wild!

What else can I use a DIY lightbox for?

Well, they’re great for shadow puppet shows! Trace animal shapes on your hands and cast fun shadows on the wall. You can also light up artworks you make – drawings, sculptures, and more. Or skip arts and crafts and use it as a glowing nightlight or reading lamp if you want. However you use it, it’ll add some cool illumination to your space!

Build a DIY Light Box for Photography at Home photo 0