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Get better photos of small items by building a low-dollar lightbox.

The Results
This may seem out of order, but I figure if you don’t like the results the rest of this won’t be worth reading…;)

These are a couple of the products I shot using the homebrew lightbox.  These images were snapped using a 2MP Canon Powershot S200, running the Remote Capture software so white balance can be configured to Tungsten.  They were then brought into Photoshop Elements for cropping and resizing, and I applied the “Auto Levels” and “Sharpen” filters.  I’m sure someone more skilled with Photoshop could make them look even better, but I was pretty happy considering the low-buck approach used.

Here’s one I had “cut out ” and optimized by someone more skilled in Photoshop than myself:

The Light Box
I did a little web searching, and came across this article on building a lightbox out of PVC pipe.  Since the author seemed to be using it mostly with lights on just the sides, I looked for a way to accomplish the same effect even more cheaply.  Our card table became the first item commandeered, serving as support for the bedsheet - which diffuses the light:

Rather than buy lights specifically for this task, I grabbed my desklamp, nightstand lamp, and 2 table lamps from the living room:

The outer lamps have 100 Watt bulbs, the desklamp has a 200 Watt bulb, and the nightstand lamp has a 60 Watt bulb.  Inside/under the table, the desk lamp is pointed up to bounce the light.  On the underside of the table, I’ve taped a large piece of white construction paper to better reflect the light. 

To create the “seamless” background I started with a piece of newsprint - we have a roll-end that we purchased from the local newspaper for the kids to use.  I taped one end to the top of the table, then unrolled enough underneath for the objects to sit on.  In practice though, I found the newsprint wasn’t quite white enough, so laid another piece of white construction paper on top of it.

The one item I did have to buy was the tabletop tripod - a $6.99 purchase at Circuit City.

One note - it’ll be better on your back to do this on a carpeted floor…;)

Comments are closed, but you can read the comments other people left.

1. Matthewjaymz on January 29, 2007

   I am now doing product photography with a light tent, 2 lights and a PowerShot a620.  I am shooting brass and copper very reflective stuff. I was just wondering if you had a thought on how to light reflective material.

2. Michael Boyink (Author) on January 29, 2007

   Lots of indirect light?  Dulling spray?

3. Eric on January 30, 2007

   I am wondering how long it took for the guy to do the Photoshop work on the image you had “cut out”.  I would like to have about 16 images done like this.  Thank you.

4. Michael Boyink (Author) on January 30, 2007

   Depends on the complexity…someone skilled in Photoshop could probably do that in an hour or less. 

   I’ve some of that sort of work, but only have Photoshop Elements, which gets kind of quirky with it’s selection tools while zoomed in.

5. losbellos on January 30, 2007

   it should not take more than 3 minutes, even drawing it around..

6. narsing on January 30, 2007

   This simple setup really helped me alot because as i am student of photography.

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