The Cheap Macro Photography Lightbox

Posted on February 19th, 2008 by mmj

As, I have stated before, photography is one of my hobbies. One of my personal goals for 2008 is to learn as much as I can. The first area I have been studying up on is Macro photography. Why macro? There are a few reasons for this.

  1. It’s winter. Better off learning indoors where it is warm and comfy
  2. Kids. Don’t have to drag them around on photo shoots.
  3. Can be done anytime of the day.

A while back, I found the Strobist website. It is a great resource for the use of lighting in photography. One of the early articles that David wrote was a DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio. Basically, it is a throwaway cardboard box turned into a mini studio. What a novel idea! So last week I went ahead and made one, but I did one better than $10. Mine came to $0. How? My list of ingredients are:

  1. Jumbo Pampers diaper box(from wholesale wharehouse)
  2. Gift wrap tissue
  3. Packaging Tape
  4. Craft foam sheets

I had all this stuff sitting around the house. I may want to spend a $1 on some better background material, but for now the foam sheets will do. It took me all of 20 minutes to make the box, which I am quite proud of.

Here is the finished product:

macrolightbox-small.jpg
Example 1: The light is 2 inches tall.
tripodlightmacro-small.jpg

Example 2: Goofy is a bit under 2 inches tall.

I plan on using this setup to photograph small items that were are going to sell on eBay. This will give the items a real professional look. I challenge all of you to do the same and show some results. I know that I am using a DSLR, but I am sure it can work pretty well for point and shoots.

Filed under: Photography

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4 Responses to “The Cheap Macro Photography Lightbox”

  1. Pete @ biblemoneymatters, on February 19th, 2008 at 12:03 pm Said:

    I made a similar setup at home - one made from pvc piping, and a piece of white cloth - along with heavy duty paper from a craft store and some work lights. It does a similar good job. Nice tip!

  2. iarenoob, on February 20th, 2008 at 11:46 am Said:

    Strobist is probably one of the best sites I’ve found for creativity on a budget and limited resources. You’ve built a great lightbox and I’m due to make one too. I myself am a photographer.. started as a hobby turning into a profession

    :]

  3. mmj, on February 20th, 2008 at 1:43 pm Said:

    Thanks guys. It was fun to do.

  4. » February 20, 2008 Link Payday Uncommon Cents: (Hopefully) simple personal finance, on February 20th, 2008 at 11:08 pm Said:

    [...] Money Journal has a similar interest to me: photography. This week they look at making a zero cost macro lightbox. I’m going to work on making one myself when I get a few [...]

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