I used to place the items on a table or another surface and photograph them. However, the problem with this strategy is there's usually not enough light for our item and there is always something in the background that ruins our photo or at least distracts us from the main item.
After browsing the internet I have found out about the Light Box. You can purchase a light box online for $40+ or you can make your own. I decided to make my own.
My girlfriend was very interested in the idea as well so she came over and helped me make the box. Ok, I admit it, she made the box all by herself while I was writing an article for my blog.
The light box is perfect if you want to take photos of small and medium-sized items. We could put our object on the table and put a lamp next to it - however this will create too much direct light and the picture would be spoiled. The background would also be distracting.
A light box allows us to create the background we want, it also allows us to control the light. So here is what you need to create a light box.
Supplies:
- A cardboard box
- Scotch tape
- Scissors or cutting blade
- White tissue (t-shirt, pillow cover) etc.
I already have a light box, however I will destroy another box for the sake of this tutorial. Make sure your box is not too small because you might want to put larger items in it eventually, like a bottle of wine or a small fruit basket.
Step 1: Take a Box
Step 2. Cut the Box.
Cut the insides of the 4 walls and the top of the box leaving a boarder, leave the bottom of the box intact. Make sure your boarder is about 2-3 cm wide (1 inch). Thinner boarders will make the box unstable and the box will be harder to work with. In the following photo I cut a little too much leaving the boarders not wide enough. DO NOT repeat my mistake.
Step 3: Measure and Cut the Fabric.
You can use white paper for this, however I highly suggest using fabric. The fabric will not rip like paper - so the box will serve you a long time.
Also the fabric let's the light through in a different way than paper. I can't tell you all the details, I am not a professional photographer but most people suggest fabric, so that what I did.
You can use white t-shirts for this, I opted for a pillow cover. You certainly have a few extra pillow covers that haven't been used in a year or 2 - use them.
The fabric will cover the back, the top, left side and the right side of the box. The front will be open since we need it to actually be able to see inside the box and take photos. Glue white paper to the bottom of the box, I used regular A4 printer paper. If you want, you can also cut strips of white paper and glue them to the boarders (walls) of the light box in order to cover the brown color.
at this point I decided to leave my new (bigger) light box unfinished since I already have a smaller box and I will use the smaller box for the rest of this tutorial.
The final result should look like this:
As you can see in the first photo (with dice inside the light box) I also added a loose sheet of paper, this is the actual background for the photos I'll be taking. The awesome thing about is that you can put a Black sheet of paper, a Red one, a White one - whichever color background you want to have. And since the paper is not glued - you can change your background color whenever you want. I'll concentrate on WHITE background for the rest of this tutorial.
Congratulations, your light box is ready. In the next step we'll talk about the light source.
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