How to Make a Light Box

This post is brought to you from Melanie of Violet's Buds. Melanie has Bachelors of Science in Photography and provides product photography advice and services to entrepreneurs.

A light box is a handy tool for photographing small to medium sized products. The translucent material creates a soft, flattering light & allows for more flexibility on when you can photograph your stuff, rather than waiting on just the right light for a photo shoot. Light boxes can be intimidating because they are expensive & not everyone can afford to purchase a light box, but luckily its easy to make your own & then you can be on your way to wonderful product photos in no time!

 
Get a box large enough to fit your products. Don't have a box? You can do what we did and use 5 panels to make your own box. We used corrugated plastic signs that were being discarded for our panels, but you could use cardboard, plastic board, or foam core, for example. 
 

Cut off the top of the box completely. Then cut large rectangles in 3 of the side panels of your box, 1" shy of the edges.

Now, cover these 3 windows with gift wrap tissue paper, taping it down to the edges of the box. If necessary, piece your tissue paper together with clear packing tape so it will fit the openings.

Cut a piece of poster board the width of your box, and place it in the box so that it curves inside the box. This creates the seamless effect for photos. 

Now, place your box in as much light as possible. It works in sunlight or bright indoor lights, but you may have to adjust the white balance on your camera if you photograph with indoor lights. If shooting inside, use daylight bulbs & position lamps around the sides/top of the box for even lighting. Be sure to adjust your settings so the background is white or true to color - it's easier to use the correct settings than to try to correct the color later in a photo editing program!  

Do you use a light box for photos? Will you be building one to experiment with?