At Virtual Breyerfest, one of the things I did was watch all the workshops, how-to sessions, and seminars I could fit in. One was about making a DIY light box from a cardboard box, tracing paper, and some office supplies. I watched twice and took notes, and then let it percolate for a while. I did stash a couple of large boxes over the summer, and ordered a roll of tracing paper from Amazon since the local Michaels & Jo-Ann Fabric didn't have any. Last week, I googled some more blogs on DIY light boxes and found another similar version, since I misplaced my notes.
Step one - assemble components |
I got motivated last week and rounded up all the parts, after reading the how-to blog again. Very large box, wooden yardstick, utility knife, pencil, tape, tracing paper, and scissors.
The Breyerfest version didn't include a roof/lid, but I thought I'd leave it for stability.
Cut windows in the sides and roof |
I left a good margin of cardboard all around, for structural integrity and to give me something to tape the paper to.
Add tracing paper |
Measured and cut the tracing paper, tacked it down with scotch tape, then trimmed it up and taped it with box tape for sturdiness.
Cell phone shot |
Canon Powershot |
Stablemate |
Traditional |
The test run was on the dining room table, with a bankers lamp on either side, and the dining room light overhead. Took pictures with iPhone (SE2) and the camera (Canon Powershot A2200). The phone does better with white balance for quick shots, but it's eternally out of free space. The camera has Macro mode and other nifty things, but I'll have to remember how to tweak the white balance. I also need more light, especially overhead. I found an Ottlite floor light at the local auction this week and won it for a good price, so that's going to help the lighting issue. It might make the white balance a little more difficult though - the camera has WB presets but I may need to do a custom WB instead.
And that's the first installment of the DIY light box saga. This will be a lot better than the cluttered, distracting pics I usually take on the office desk, with keyboards, computer monitors, and other stuff in the background. It needs a little work on the backdrop, and I probably need to find a larger box for Trad-scale photos.