today is a sunny day: DIY - Making a Light Box

Last year I opened my Etsy shop, Today is a Sunny Day. I experimented with photography and natural light to get photos to show off my products. The result was taking photos against my wooden coffee table on the back porch during sunset.

While they came out quite nice, I wanted that plain white backdrop that I was seeing so many sellers have. After Googling "how to make a lightbox" I created this. It's not actually a light box, but more like a light diffuser, creating soft shadows on a seamless white background.

The supplies I used:

Cardboard box
Scissors
White tissue paper
Duct tape
White poster board
Desk lamp

Step 1

Cut three sides out of the box, not including the open side and the original box bottom. Think about it like this: your new bottom will be one of the sides and the previous bottom will be your backdrop. Bonus: You will work on your forearm strength for sure!

Step 2

Tape the white tissue paper to the open box sides. Essentially, you are replacing the sides you just cut out with the tissue paper.

Step 3

Cut the white poster board to fit the width of the box. Slide it in to fit. Leaving extra poster board in hang out the opening can be beneficial for certain depth of field shots. Note: Since I didn't have poster board on hand, I used the back of a poster. It's not as study as a poster board and gives more of a shine in photos than I would like, but it works for now. Here's an very unglamorous shot of the inside of light diffuser box.

Step 4

Finally position a light on the outside of the box to create the brightness you desire. You'll want an exposed bulb pointing at the box. You can create different shadow effects by where you place the bulb and how strong it is. If you don't want any shadows, put lamps on either side of the box. It worked best for me in the closest corner to me.

Finally, I snapped some photos using my newly created box. I tried to take some of Twitch, my parrot, and I only got one good shot of him in the box. He kept running to the edge. Ha!

Here are some shots I took of my Etsy items. Before, I used to count of natural light for my photos, which limits when I can take them. I was able to add these items to my Etsy shop at 10 p.m.!