JP Quick Tip – Build Your Own Light Box

If you need to take pictures of your products, sometimes hiring a professional photographer isn’t feasible, but taking a picture on your counter doesn’t put your product in the best light. Display the quality of your product and improve your close-up product photography with a do-it-yourself light box. (Look at how great JIM looks in his light box!)

Does a light box make that much of a difference? The answer is yes, it really does.  It enhances your photos by minimizing glare, softening the light and creating a uniform background color to make your product stand out.

You can make a light box for under $10.

All you need:

Cardboard Box – choose size depending on what you’re shooting
Packing Tape
Box Cutter
Scissors
Matte Poster Board – white, black or any background color you may want.
Tissue Paper
Desk Lamps 

What to do:

  1. Secure bottom of box with packing tape
  2. Lay the box on its side and mark lines about one inch inside each edge of the box on each side and on the top
  3. Use a box cutter to carefully cut along the lines you drew
  4. Cut a section of tissue paper to fit over each of the openings that you cut
  5. Use scissors to remove any stray edges from the front edge of the box
  6. Cut a matte piece of white poster board into the box and curve it up towards the top of the box
  7. Cut a matte black poster board large enough to cover tissue paper areas to block light when taking photographs
  8. Place lights (even your everyday desk lamps on either side of the box to produce the desired lighting
  9. Take some test shots! Add more or less tissue paper to soften the light

Voilá! Nearly professional product photography in minutes!

Anna Gonzalez, Outreach & New Media Manager