Build Your Own Light Box

How do you take pictures so they look like studio ones but for a fraction of the cost? Make your own light box. Yes, this looks pretty basic and simple but the best thing about it is that it folds up flat and I can store it very easily.

When I decided I needed to invest in a light box, I was floored at how much they cost so I sat down to search the web knowing that there had to be a way to make one – I mean, I can a few things with paper after all……

I found The Instructables website and specifically this link to a Photography Box.

So what did I use? I used the 12×12 light cardboard sheets that come in the back of designer paper. I cut a large square in one and taped tissue paper to the outside. Now one thing I did was only tape the uppermost seams together. That way, I can take it down and fold it flat for storage – this was a key thing for me to be able to do. 

Then, when I want to take a photo, I just slide in a sheet of grid paper so I get a curved back edge and I’m off to the races. Oh, for lighting, I shine my OTT Light very closely through the tissue paper for real crisp lighting.

Here is what the box looks like unfolded, gives you a good idea of really how to put it together: