Homemade light box

I am not into product photography so I never paid any attention to the lighting requirements for such photography. Recently, I decided to sell some of my photographic gear online and hence needed to publish a few photos of them. This was my chance to try out some table-top photography. Even though I am not a product photographer, I understand that the key to good product photography is in the lighting. I know that direct lighting created by on-camera flashes or studio lights can hardly produce any good results. Such lighting produces harsh shadows and unwanted reflection from metallic or reflective surfaces. A soft, diffused light can make a world of difference in the resulting photographs.

A common solution for the small product photography is to use a soft light box or tent. There are many different types of light boxes or tents available in the market, costing anywhere between $50.00 t0 $150.00. I wasn’t very sure whether I wanted to spend that kind of money on the Light Box that I might not use very often. So I searched the internet and found this site with very nice instructions for a DIY lightbox. I decided to give it a try. It turned out to be an interesting weekend project for me.

After spending about $30 and half an hour, this is what I got:

Instructions provided on this site are very simple and straightforward. I must thank Joseph Holst for providing a well illustrated guide. I had a lot of fun experimenting with this light box. Here are some of the sample images that I took using this light box.

The only problem I have with this light box is that it is not collapsible and takes up a lot of storage space. Also, I cannot change the background easily.

In any case, it was a gratifying experience to build this lightbox myself.